Looking for Advice and Suggestions please

[Jacob A.]

I currently own a home in Texas that was my primary residence while I was stationed in the military. I purchased the home five years ago and bought it about 20% below market value at the time for 104k. Mortgage is now at 91,000 I have had great tenants since I left Texas. One family that signed a three year lease and then wanted to extend the lease. They currently have 2 years left on the lease. The rent is 950.00 which at the time of the initial lease arrangement was in the higher end of the rental market. The payment on the home was 650 but with me moving and losing the homestead the payment has become is with taxes and insurance and everything included. It doesn't cash flow much at all which is leading me to question the future. I recently inquired about selling the home and 3 different realtors have given me a quick sale price of around 140K and average days on market in this area is 18 days or I could list for around 149k and the average days on market is 45. I am looking for advice whether I should attempt to sell this home and take the equity and reinvest or should I just ride out the lease and re evaluate in two years? I

[Andrew Postell]

@Jacob A. having gone through a similar scenario recently I'll give you my thoughts.  Texas has had about a 6% increased in property values each year for the past 5 years.  Depending on your city it will be a little higher or lower but I think you can count on this property increasing for the next two years as well.  So even if you don't sell right now, selling in the next few years should still net you the same equity if not more.  There's plenty of economic forecasts that will support this.  But the ultimate question is do you have a purpose for the cash from this property right now?  If you have a purpose for this money then it would make sense to sell the property.  If not, then hang on to it for few more years.  Keep in mind that even if you cash flow a small amount you get some tax benefits from the property and you have someone paying down the mortgage.  Having a great renter that is paying a little below market might not be a bad thing.  Hope this helps.