Should I Stay or Should I Go Now...?

[Laura H.]

Hi all! Still kind of new to all of this, so bear with me...

My husband and I have a duplex (he had it built in '96) and it's nearly paid off ($38k left). Thing is, we're not seeing much (if any) return. Never have. Total income is $1350 per month, and expenses run around $1300 (pmt+tax+ins=$875, $275/mo for repairs/CapEx, $150 for prop mgmt). We have to use a property management company (we're not local) and refinanced for a shorter term when we put in both our names four years ago (shaved a few years off, got lower interest, and the payment was STILL less than it was prior to refinancing).

I'm torn. I don't know if we should sell and use the equity (maybe $70k) for a new venture, or if we should hold and let ourselves pay it off so we'll start seeing that $1350 "free and clear." (Yes, I know there will still be expenses, but the largest one - the mortgage - will be gone.)

So, in the infamous words of The Clash, should we stay or should we go? And why?

[Sara Abernethy]

These guys aren't wrong - you could do better. But I get you - you've come this far!! And maybe you're not all about the return - you're more about being passive. What are your goals? Do you have good tenants? Can you up the rent?? If you want to invest more you could cash out refi and invest elsewhere but that resets the clock. Not sure how close you are to retirement or if that's what this was for or not.

If you're not interested in being a professional investor and you're not going to do something super useful with that $70k, i would keep it and enjoy the cash flow. You've held on to this property for a long time and it's given you no love. Let the property pay you now. Selling it and buying something else is costing you transaction costs and a lot of effort - people like me and the others on this thread get a high from that - maybe you don't (or you would have done it sooner). Selling it and not buying real estate again gives you cash - are you going to put that in the stock market? I don't think so - you won't get income from that - just appreciation and it's risky.

Let the property pay you and enjoy the extra money. It's not the savviest move but it might be the right one for you.