Grand Rapids Multifamily - to sell or not to sell

[Catherine Lacey]

Hello! I am hoping to get some solid advice here :)

We bought a 4-plex in Grand Rapids, MI in 2017, thinking it was a wise location for investment since we travel there 1-2 times a year to visit family. We got it for a decent price but it's a 1907 build - a much older property than we've worked with before. It needs a lot of work, as we expected, but we've got kids and other projects that are demanding more and more time, and it's challenging managing the upgrades on the units from afar. After replacing the roof and renovating one unit, we're still in good shape financially, but a little unsure on how aggressive we should be in updating the units from a quality perspective or whether we're just going to end up investing more than we should since we aren't quite as hands on as we're used to. When we purchased the property, our realtor said we could be making $1,200 per unit (HA!) after renovation, but other knowledgeable contacts in GR have told us that's only possible if we do very high end renovations. Currently, in the non-renovated units, we're charging $700. These are 2-beds, one bath units. 

So - do we carry on or sell it at break even and let someone else take on the investment who might do better due to proximity? We wouldn't be nearly as stressed about this if we lived in Grand Rapids. This is our first remote investment. Any advice for how to make this decision?

Thank you!

[Catherine Lacey]

@Jay Kadlec OK - thanks. Good to have this option in mind.