Seeking Advice on Fix/Flip Property Decision - Rent or Sell

Seeking Advice on Fix/Flip Property Decision - Rent or Sell

Member since 2024 · 63 posts · 38 votes

Hello BP Members,

I hope you're all doing well!

I’m looking for some advice on a fix/flip property that I purchased with two friends almost two years ago. At the time, we were new to the market and, admittedly, didn’t conduct thorough due diligence before buying.

We purchased a property in the Atlanta area, renovated it, and listed it for sale. Unfortunately, it sat on the market for about 6 months without selling. Since it was over 12 months with my HML, I ended up taking the property under my name with a 30-year conventional loan. Since selling wasn't working out, we decided to rent it out. However, our tenant turned out to be problematic—late payments, issues that led to an eviction, and additional repair costs before we could relist the property for sale.

Now, after months of making mortgage payments out of pocket, we finally have an offer. However, to close the deal, we each need to contribute an additional $7K. My two partners are willing to pay their share, but they’ve also offered me the option to take over the property completely since the loan is in my name.

Here’s my dilemma: If I keep the property and rent it out, I could get around $2,300 in rent, but my mortgage is $3,300 at a 7% interest rate. That means I'd be covering a significant shortfall every month. Would it be wiser to sell and take the loss now rather than continue dealing with this financial burden and uncertainty?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the best course of action in this situation. Any insights or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

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Residential Real Estate Agent · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2009 · 381 posts · 134 votes
1y

Selling and move on.  Make a long list of all the lessons you have learned. Do not repeat any mistakes on the next investment. After two years your only profit will be the education you gained. 

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  • Realtor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2021 · 239 posts · 120 votes
    1y

    @Shayan Sameer Hey, you’ve got some serious decisions to make. Since you already have an offer, it’s not really about whether the property will sit for six months, it’s about whether keeping it makes financial sense. Do you not have your $7K share to close? Is that why you’re leaning toward renting, even with a $1K/month loss? Also, is this your only offer, or just the best one so far? If it’s the only one, it might be worth negotiating rather than holding onto a property that will bleed cash every month. Unless you have a solid plan to turn this around, selling now and cutting your losses might be the best move. Otherwise, that rental cycle you started with will likely repeat itself again...

  • Residential Real Estate Agent · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2009 · 381 posts · 134 votes
    1y

    Selling and move on.  Make a long list of all the lessons you have learned. Do not repeat any mistakes on the next investment. After two years your only profit will be the education you gained. 

  • Member since 2020 · 217 posts · 167 votes
    1y

    You don't say how much equity you have in the property, but guessing, with that payment and you put 20% down, you have close to $100k in equity.

    You could sell that equity (or part of it) to and investor that would cover the negative $1000 a month. Perhaps, give him 75% of the house to cover the negative. He would contribute that $1K for 8 years before he hit that $100K equity. And if you live in ANY decent town in the US, that property should increase about 3% per year. After 8 years that property should be worth about $800K and the rent should be in close to $3K a month and you'd have north of $300,000 in equity.

    You could continue to rent or sell, and you'd get back close to $75k for your effort managing it for 8 years, but you'd have no negative. The investor would get $225K, giving him about 18% on his money. Win/win. And you would have had a very good seminar to learn from for your next deal.

    I did a very similar deal years ago, where I had a negative cash flow and came out fine.

    You'd want to work the math over a bit to be sure it's accurate.

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