My duplex.. sell now or rent it out?

[Robert Gravelle]

Greetings! My Dad told me to check you guys out! I'm 24 years old, and we are moving from Longview, WA to Dallas, TX, and am unsure about what to do about my recently acquired duplex property. I purchased the duplex in August of 2017, and will be hoping to move this August. Longview is 40 minutes north of Portland, OR ,and values here are rising quickly due to Portland's crazy real estate bubble....

Here are the logistics:

Original purchase price: $135,000

Outstanding balance: $131,000

Estimated current value: $200,000

Mortgage payment: $950

Current Estimated income from renting both units: $1700

Property management cut: 8%

If I sell the unit, I would try to reinvest the earnings into another duplex property in Dallas, TX

I'm looking for some advice.... Do I keep it and rent it out, and revisit in the future while prices keep escalating, or sell it now before they possibly drop? Home values have never done this here in Longview.... 

Thanks in advance... :)

[Curtis Bidwell]

@Robert Gravelle really is no right or wrong -depends on your comfort level living far from your property and being passive while you leave it to a manager (many dream of this!).  If you have a great management company I’d keep it.  Your making 17% on equity. 

If you sell, your assuming you’ll get $200k.  IF you do, you’ll net about $53k after sales costs and paying off current note.  The question is: Can you reinvest $50k and still get the same return where your headed? 

Longview is a stable market with reasonable appreciation expectation. My guess is prices won’t drop for awhile, and will likely stabilize without decreasing much. When the recession hit I never dropped rents on current residents.  So if/when the market turns I don’t expect to see rental income following.