Ideas about how to get a property to Cash Flow

[Justin Richards]

Hello BP this is my first official question to the group and I would like to thank everyone for making this site such a wealth of information that is accessible to those just starting out!

I own a 1700 sq/ft Geodesic Dome in Indian River, Michigan. I have done seasonal rentals for a few years with some success but did not like the ware and tare it was putting on the house. When I lost my job, I moved in for a couple years in an effort to fix it up a bit. Due to the scarcity of jobs up there I did not have much luck. My girlfriend found a good job in Grand Haven and I followed figuring I would just make it work. I was able to find a tenant in a short time but because of work still needing to be done on the house, I rented it to him for 2 years but the first year for $600 and the next it would go up to 850. The tenant has put new carpet in and a pellet stove and I split the material costs on the carpet only with him. He also put a new dishwasher in to make it easier on himself. I have put in writing that any and all improvements will stay.

I am struggling with this now because I took a new position as an assistant property manager to gain more experience but at a pay cut. So there is the background now here is the problem.

I have owned for 6 years in LLC at a purchase price of 120K with 20K down. The market price was 185K. My taxes have been pretty consistently around $2,100 per year. My resident pays Gas, Electric, Trash, and maintains the property year round. My land contract was a 15yr at 6% with payments of $845 per month. I am out of pocket around $1,120 a month assuming nothing goes wrong. This has my insurance in the cost as well.

Obviously, I am operating at a loss but I am wondering how I could structure a deal to change this. My credit is not that great due to student loans and loss of employment for a bit. I am stuck with only creative financing options available to me. I have eaten through all of my saved funds while unemployed. If I could somehow refinance, that would solve a lot of issues because I would only be financing 70k instead of 100k. That would help lower my payments putting me in the positive by a small margin. The individual that I have the land contract with is now in an assisted living home which has me worried about his next of kin and whether they will be willing to work with me.

I would like to pull some of the equity out of the home and invest down here. Not sure if that is a wise decision or not.

I am open to any and all suggestions to remedy this problem! Also, if you are a local professional that specializes in these kind of issues I would love a sit-down.