Need advice on my housing situation

[Jen Cotton]

I own a 1 bed/1bath condo in the DC suburbs. I bought it for $227K in 2007, with about $48K down. I refi-ed a year ago to a 20 year/3.875% mortgage. When I refinanced, it appraised at $190K. My current mortgage payment + tax is $1070 and my HOA fee is $275. My mortgage balance is currently $147K.

I would very much like to move. For a multitude of reasons.

In speaking with realtors I have been told I could list it for $185-195K (not that I would get this, of course). I found a realtor on hungryagents offering me a commission rate of 2.50% for buyer's agent and 1.48 for seller's agent. Sounds pretty good for this area compared to 6% which seems to be the norm. If I sell, I would not purchase another home this year.

According to Zillow I could rent the condo out for $1420/month. I had crappy luck as a landlord while overseas beginning in '08. Too many tenants in too short a timeframe, bad timing, too many flighty people. But landlording would give me tax deductions, and otherwise I have none.

What would you advise me to do?