Sell Oakland condo as rental with tenants or as a home?

[Arthur Wilson]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post, and I'm a real rookie as a landlord/investor, so bear with me. I own an up to date high rise condo in the Lake Merritt area of Oakland that is paid off and rented to excellent tenants in a month to month currently. I anticipate the selling price to be close to $650K, considering comps in the area, and will be selling and doing a1031 exchange into a DST. I'll be retiring and am looking for steady, less hands on cash flow.

My question is, currently in this area, will it be smarter to keep the tenants in residence and sell as an investment property, or move the tenants out, repaint, and sell as a home or investment property?  Which choice is usually the smartest in the East Bay area at this time?

Thanks for any advice or opinion!