To sell or not to sell my home in paradise

[Sungyong Kim]

Hello BP!

During my time on active duty in the military, I purchased a condo in Oahu, Hawaii using my VA loan. I have now left military service and my new work landed me in Northern Virginia. My condo is currently occupied by a tenant but my condo has depreciated almost 10% this year due to COVID and I was also new to real estate investing when I first purchased the condo and did not consider how the HOA fees would impact my finances. Unfortunately, even though I have a tenant that is covering my mortgage, I am losing several hundred a month due to HOA fees. I am now considering selling the place and would like to use my VA loan to purchase a home in Virginia. I am torn about selling the place because I absolutely love my condo and I always imagined it to be a long-term hold and have plans on returning to Hawaii as soon as an opportunity arises. On the other hand, I do think that selling the place may be the right decision so that I can minimize the loss and be better about investing in real estate in Virginia. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!