Refi rental back to 30yr or stay at 15yr at net loss?

[Shannon Godby]

First, I am brand-spanking-new to real estate investing (but we are currently on our 5th home) and secret messages or excessive acronyms will fly right over my little newbie head.

Second, the property in question is not a deliberate investment, it is a home we were unable to sell. Will go into more detail but wanted to be sure that was out there, first. Well, second.

We moved from IL to MI in December of 2013, sold our home of residence, bought a new one here in Michigan, and left behind the home before the last one. We bought it in 2006 at the height of the market and when we found our dream home in 2010 we were unable to sell it so we rented it out. We were in the process of refinancing from a 30yr fixed rate to a 15yr fixed rate when we found said dream home.

Currently we have excellent renters and an excellent property manager for a home in a community where the real estate market might never recover. Literally. We are not underwater on our loan, but we definitely take a loss each month of about $200 after making our mortgage payment (insurance and taxes escrowed in) and paying the manager. And, of course, any repairs that need to be done. The home could potentially sell for what we owe, but is still highly doubtful.

Now that DH and I are preparing to begin searching for actual investment properties the question arises: should we leave the IL rental at status quo and have it paid off free and clear in ten years or should we refinance back to 30 years and free up some cash flow?

In summary:

-home is unlikely to sell at all, let alone break even 

-home is unlikely to acquire any additional equity (can give more details)

-tenants and property manager are awesome

-property is out of state to us now

I am willing to share necessary details, but given that I am unsure which details are actually necessary I will leave it to you all to ask the questions.

Thanks in advance,

Shannon