Sell duplex or hold on to it

[Jason B.]

Hi everyone. My name is Jason, this is my 1st post, I just found the website a couple months ago.

I thought this would be a good group to ask for advice on one of my properties. Here's the situation:

I own a duplex that was bought in 2005 for around $150k. I owe around $140k currently. Mortgage payment is $1220/month and breaks down like this --> P&I = 808; Insurance = 62; MI = 58; RE Tax = 292; The units are nice and the rental area is a middle class - lower middle class area. The market price for each unit is around $650/month and I have no problem getting that.

All of the properties in this community were built from 1910ish - 1935ish so they are in some ways bulletproof and in some ways awful for maintenance. For instance, all doors are solid wood, but you can't always go to Lowes or Home Depot for replacement parts.

Anyways, duplexes in this area sell in a wide range because of the foreclosures. The range is anywhere from $50k - $175k.

When I bought this I held these beliefs 1) real estate never goes down in value 2) real estate is always a good invesment 3) if the rent was higher than the mortgage (P&I + RE taxes + Insurance) then you had an income producing property. Thanks to experience and the info on this and other websites I've been shown the light.

BTW - I am a buy and hold/rent guy.

So my fear now is that over time the operating expenses are going to eat me alive. Evaluating this deal against something like the 50% rule is ugly. It doesn't even come close.

So why am I even asking about this? I should sell if possible right? Well the catch is I have nothing invested in this property. I put zero down. It wasn't a 100% financing deal. There was a downpayment assistance program that paid the downpayment. And the seller paid all closing costs. I invested exactly $0 to aquire this property.

The roof is in fine condition. It should last me another 5 maybe 10+ years but I will need to replace it if I hold this property for 30+ years. It is painted wood siding so adding vinyl siding at some point might happen and be another major expense. So far over the past 4+ years expenses have been pretty low.

I guess in short I have a property whose monthly rent covers P&I+RE taxes+Insurance and provides no cash flow. I have invested almost nothing into the property other than covering minor expenses.

How good/bad of a deal do I have? Any thoughts/advice would be welcome.

Jason