Is this a good decision? (Refinancing 1st home that's rented out)

[Tim Vecchioni]

Hey BP. Back for another analysis question! We own a townhouse that we lived in for a year. We were robbed by our neighbors, which sucks because it was/is a nicer neighborhood, but they are all drugged up and decided to hit us while we were at work. Anyways, the wife didn't wanna live there after that, so we picked up and moved which left us upside down on the mortgage. So we decided to rent it out which turned into our first rental property! However, there is a negative cash flow by far on the property at the moment. But 5, almost 6 years later there is now some equity involved. I just ran the numbers if we were to refinance and continue to manage the property ourselves ( https://www.biggerpockets.com/buy_and_hold_results... ). This would not be a typical cash flow we are searching for ($200+) from a single unit, but it would indeed be cash flowing. Would it make sense to do the refinance and keep the property as part of our portfolio since we already know the ins and outs of the place? The property is in great condition as we have a great tenant in there at the moment. We are also thinking of raising the rent at the end of this lease in August by $25, which would add to the cash flow. 

Thanks!

Tim V.

[Daniel Hanson]

@Tim Vecchioni

My initial reaction would be to sell (tax-deferred if possible).  

But since you are looking at the refinance, I wonder if it would make sense to shop the refinance fees and closing costs to different banks and credit unions.  I think you could drastically reduce the cost of the refinance by going to the right lender who isn't gouging on fees.