To Sell or Not To Sell

[Erica Larence-Penna]

We have a 4-unit property in Pawtucket, RI that we purchased in October 2019 for $245,000. We put about $20k into completely renovating one unit and redoing the floors in another. We currently gross about $3385/month and net $1200 after all expenses. The seller was paying all utilities even though electric was separately metered, so we immediately moved electric to the tenants and rented the renovated unit out for $300 more per month than what the seller was getting.

We are out-of-state and self-manage. We have great tenants who have been pretty easy. All long term who pay on time. We originally planned to renovate each unit as tenants moved out so we could get market rents for them, but that hasn’t happened yet. One of our tenants told us they have started looking for a bigger place and that prompted us to look into selling.

I know the Zestimate is not usually accurate, but it is showing $438,000. I’m thinking we could possibly get $400,000 for it. We owe $235,000 on the mortgage and would end up paying capital gains unless we did a 1031 exchange. It just doesn’t seem likely that we’ll find another deal in this climate. So being conservative I think we could net about $115,000-$130,000.

The other option would be to cash out refinance, but that might be difficult as I’m self-employed and my wife (who is the sole owner) is a per diem physical therapist and doesn’t have 2 years of work history. If we did that though we could likely pull out about $50,000 in equity and have a mortgage payment that’s about $200 more than what we currently pay.

What would you do? Would you sell? Refinance? Keep it as is?

[Patricia Steiner]

How about a different starting point:  What is your overall investment strategy?  

As a former wealth manager, those who have achieved substantial wealth have a strategic approach to investing that is different than most.  While you have a good appraisal of what the opportunities would be now, what would the long-term play of this investment (Is it an appreciating asset?  Has the return been maximized? What is the net - not payment - but the net of refinancing versus not? How would you employ any net gain? Would you be doing something just to be doing something?).  It's also critical at this stage to determine if it's worth it.  Running a real estate business can get in the way of real life and other goals.

My recommendation would be to consider how this property fits in your overall asset allocation and whether it remains a viable and appreciating asset.  

Bottom line:  Congrats on acquiring and successfully managing the property to the point where you have options. That's the win...