Hold or Sell, that is the question

[Russ O'Leary]

I've lived in a duplex for the last 2 years. Identical apartments top/bottom. The place is nicely redone, but was done by another flipper in town, and isn't really up to my overall quality of work standard.

I get $1010/month rent upstairs and would likely get $1200/month for the unit I'm in now. Another living opportunity just came up (a SFR on a family ranch) that we decided to move into (still in the process of moving). I am now struggling to decide if I want to keep this duplex or sell it.

Pros for selling:
-I would net about ~100K after paying off existing loan (market is acting a little irrational, IMO. I purchased this property for $165k ~3 years ago, and now I could likely sell it for $275k+)
-Because I've lived in the property 2 years, I believe it qualifies for the section 121 exclusion (I wont pay capital gains on the 100K if I sell)
-The cash would allow me to invest in other properties that I own and bring them up to my desired rental standard
 -Frees up cash to potentially acquire a 3 unit building I've had my eye on for a while in an equally desirable area (Somewhat distressed, would be a BRRRR project)

Cons for selling:
-I would lose a cashflowing rental with a good location and desirability.
-Takes me a small step away from my goal of having 30 units in the next 5 years.
-Loss of potential future appreciation. The owner of the distressed property next to me is in the process of doing a major renovation that will likely end up being a SFR worth $300K+. Maybe this building will be worth $300K next year...
-Holding large amounts of undeployed capital seems like a stupid thing to do with so much craziness going on, but maybe this is a perfect position to be in?

Here are my questions.
-Does it make sense to sell the property? (more philosophical questions than anything)
-Does the 121 exclusion still apply if I rent it now and sell it a year or two from now? (my reading of the exclusion is that you only need to live in it 2 of the last 5 years for it to qualify, is this correct?)
-What other considerations am I not thinking about?

[Whitney Hutten]

@Russ O'Leary "Houses are meant to house people, not money" is one of my favorite quotes.  If you are ready to start scaling, that $100K could be your launching pad. 

As far as your goal, I'd refine that further to say it's 3K/mth passive cashflow.  How you are going to do that is by owning 30 homes.  You may find that you can move that needle further by only getting 15 homes that cashflow $250/mth.  Be attached to the lag indicator... not the lead.