Keep Current Condo or 1031 for better margins?

[Paul Ellington]

Hi BP forum,

My wife and I recently moved in to our first single family home and stumbled our way in to real estate investing after house hacking our condo and keeping it as a rental property. With high HOA fees we break even every month on the property and are hoping to increase the rent next August. With a property that is appreciating well and is a break even property, would it make more sense to do something like a 1031 exchange and look for a better property like a SF or townhouse for a better ROI? Another option would be to hold on to this property and potentially use the equity for a down payment on another property some day. Any advice is greatly appreciated. We live in Northern VA for anyone who knows the market. Our condo is a 2B/2BA in Tysons Corner with a ton of new development and looks promising from an appreciation standpoint but that's a gamble considering all expenses aside from mortgage, HOA, and utilities will be on us.

Thanks!