Hold or sell second home after a year

[Kyle Wingate]

Hello all,
I purchased a small 1 bedroom vacation house on a lake in a rural area the week before the country shut down for Covid-19.  This property has since skyrocketed in value due to folks leaving the cities etc...I am debating selling the property to use the profits to purchase a multi family else where and kick off my real estate investment goal.

The other option is to rent the house for $1200/month.  My mortgage, taxes, insurance are 800/month so I would have a little cash flow coming in.  I'm unsure about renting if I could make the money up front with a sale.  I've read up on 1031 but with this intense market I do not have a property in mind to purchase as they sell within days here.  I would probably end up having to pay capitol gains I would imagine.  

Any professional insight would be greatly appreciated.  

[Dave Foster]

@Kyle Wingate the short timelines of a 1031 exchange are real.  But there are some ways to mitigate that.  One of the first things to explore would be selling that property contingent on you finding a suitable replacement property for your 1031.  

My greatest concern for you is that although you're cash flowing $400 after fixed expenses that doesn't include anything for contingencies, repairs, etc. And if/when the trend of moving out of the cities reverses you may find rents falling.