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Updated about 6 years ago, 11/23/2018
sell rental condo 6 miles from Crystal City, VA Amazon location?
I have a condo that I used to live in that I've been renting out. Two months ago I put it on the market to sell. The condo is in northern Virginia, 6 miles from where the new Amazon headquarters will be in Crystal City, and 5 miles from where the new Virginia Tech campus will be. It's close to a yellow line metro station that goes to Crystal City/new VA Tech campus. Over the past two months the condo had a moderate amount of viewings, but no offers until now (coincidence?). With the new Amazon hq news, I'm tempted to keep the condo & continue renting it out. I live a few miles from the condo & manage it myself.
Here are the numbers:
Value: ~$230,000 (approx. the same as when I purchased it in 2010... the main reason I put it on the market two months ago)
Rent: $1,600/month (current market rate... might be able to get more but the # of applicants would significantly decrease)
P&I: $800/month on a 2.5% 15 year fixed rate mortgage (with 156 months remaining). Currently ~$220 goes towards interest and ~$580 towards principal. The current loan amount is $106,475.
property tax: $240/month
HOA fee: $360/month
So, a monthly cash flow of only $200, but the principal is being paid down pretty significantly with the 15 year fixed rate mortgage. I have a stable job & emergency savings, & don't need cash flow.
Approx. 20% of my net worth is in this rental condo & my own home (the rest is invested in tax deferred accounts- Vanguard & Fidelity index funds).
If sold, I would need to pay 5.5% in real estate agent commissions & approx. $1,800 in other fees.
If I sold the rental condo, I would either:
1. Pay down the mortgage on my own home by $50,000 to reach 80% LTV (because I only have 5% equity on a 30 year 4.5% fixed rate mortgage with $80/month mortgage insurance).
and/or
2. put the proceeds from the sale of the rental condo in a tax efficient index fund, like VG consumer staples index or total stock market index.
Given this info., would you recommend keeping the condo & renting it out to see if the value/rent increases?
Any feedback would be much appreciated.