Is it time to jump ship?

[Ravi Chhabra]

Hi BP Community -

I purchased my first rental property in Frankford Philadelphia back in March 2021. I was hoping for it to be the first of many in the Philadelphia area. I wanted to use this property as a way to learn the Ins and Outs of managing properties out of state and working with a property manager.

The first year of being a landlord went as well as I could've hoped. My tenants paid each month's rent and reimbursed me for the utility bills I paid. As we approached the one year mark (April 2022), I wanted to renew the tenants to another year's lease, with no rent increase. After the tenants agreed to sign on for another year, they immediately stopped paying rent.

In August, my property manager started the eviction process. The court issued a JBA stating that the tenants had to stay current on rent and pay back an extra $50 per month for the rent they hadn't paid, until they were caught up.

In September, I didn't receive my rent so the property manager initiated the lock-out process. The tenants were finally locked out on October 20. Since the lock-out date, the tenants have broken into the property multiple times. When the property manager's contractor has gone in to perform work, they've found members of the family sleeping there. They gain access through windows to the basement and main floor.

The tenants left the place in shambles. Things are broken everywhere. Everything was dirty, there were insects everywhere, it couldn't really get worse.

The most stressful part of this whole process is that I keep getting emails from the property manager every week about another issue or another bill I need to pay for something that wasn't discussed before.

This past week, the property manager emailed me to tell me that someone had stolen the Fridge and the Stove from the property. I questioned how that could happen when we changed the locks, boarded up the windows in the basement, etc. She could not provide specifics.

This is where I need advice. At this point, I am thinking about selling my property. I take FULL responsibility for buying the property in the neighborhood I did, but between the tenant pool in that area and how useless my property manager is, I feel like I should jump ship and try to start my rental journey in another neighborhood.

Does anyone have similar stories? I'm not sure if I should give it 1 more shot (complete the process to have the property manager's contractors turn around the property) and try renting out the property one more time, or take this as a learning experience and move on.
Due to the fact that the property appreciated over the last 18 months, I should be able to sell for a small profit despite putting in a lot of $$ to fix the apartment. I am new in this process and would appreciate this group's view on the matter.

Thank you!