Considering Property Sale

[Cole Starin]

Hello BP Community, it's been awhile since I've last posted or have had downtime lately. Over the last several years I've been in a heavy cycle of acquiring and building rental portfolio, flipping, contracting, and being a realtor. Although the journey has been worth it, I've sacrificed quite a bit from a personal lifestyle perspective, relationships, etc. I've learned that it's extremely important to find balance in this industry as your passion for your business can impact your personal life greatly! As I've come to terms with this I have taken the last five months to regroup and really think about the future which brings me to my post and what I'd like to get the communities opinion on.

I successfully negotiated and acquired one of my duplexes in 2017 that I nearly have paid off (note balance is $54k, property value $230k). Historically this property has cashflowed, but not yielding an annual amount that's really making a high impact towards overall business growth ~12k per year. Although I've considered a future line of credit against the property as my best long term option, I would need to pay down the remaining balance first. My dilemma has been that I've gotten a little behind on some revolving debt that selling this property now could eliminate in addition to giving me cash on hand to trade into some better value or start a new construction duplex project I've been wanting to start. My question is, would selling this asset now to clean up all my personal debt (~$50k) with the leftover used to reinvest be my best move currently in your opinion? Getting this cleaned up now would push my credit score over 800+ and eliminate nearly $3k per month in revolving debt payments and bring me quite a bit of peace. Or should I continue to stick it out and pay things off each month until caught up? Your opinions/experience on this situation are greatly appreciated.

[Dominic Mazzarella]

I know how you feel because I was in a similar situation about a decade ago. Selling your duplex could be a solid move if it helps eliminate your revolving debt and gives you a financial reset. With the equity you’d free up, paying off $50k in personal debt and boosting your credit score while freeing up $3k/month sounds like it could significantly lower your stress and open doors for future projects.

That said, selling means you'd lose a cash-flowing asset, even if it's not huge. If you're confident the remaining funds can be reinvested into a stronger opportunity, like your new duplex project, it might be worth it. Just ensure you've got a solid plan for reinvestment and aren't rushing into the next deal too quickly. Have you considered all the tax implications of selling? Sometimes a refi or HELOC can be an alternative if you want to hold onto the property.

If I were in your shoes, I would start looking at a refi first and see if that would be the most beneficial choice.