Do I sell TH along NOISY street, with 12 months left on lease OR keep it indefinitely

[BG Malamut]

Thanks for reading this and giving your input.

I bought 3Br/ 3.5 Ba fully updated/ renewed/ EVERYTHING replaced 2000+ sq' TH (really 3 story condo). It's quite nice, has 1 car (detached) garage, etc, etc, etc. HOWEVER, it's 20 feet from a pretty busy 4 lane street (no lights close by so cars go 55+)= Silas Creek Pkway, for locals. During the day, outside, it's pretty loud. Inside, you really don't hear it unless you're pretty quiet and/ or in front bedroom. SO, leasing it has been a challenge. If prospects linger outside, they never go inside. I bought it as a mid-term rental, due to awesome location/ proximity to 2 MASSIVE hospital complexes (Wake Forest Univ & Novant Forsyth) tech corridor, plus other biz, but HOA nixed that after 7 months. SO... here are the financials:

I currently profit approx $600/ mo after PITI & HOA (not incl recent HOA assessment, so hoping no more). It took me 3 full months of listing, 4 months total, to get someone inside property. Due to location I'm kinda concerned about squatters. Reasonable turnover cost (4 mos holding costs + $4K paint / minor repair/ cleaning= $10K = 17 months rent, $1750/ yr after listing, vacancy, etc.). I don't see being able to increase rent too much over the years, maybe $2100(?), due to road noise. I don't see this ever being a "long term tenant" residence, due to road noise and small HOA (20 units) not offering a playground, etc.

Current tenants (through June, 2026) are best ever, in every way. He MIGHT even help me find replacement tenants, as they move out to go back home). She's pregnant with 2nd child.

Have an offer for "market price" but guy said they'd take over the mortgage, lease, etc. Not sure how that works, since I don't think it's assumable (closed late April, 2022).

Another unit in HOA (4Br 4 En suite baths, 2600 sq') for $275K has been listed for 3.5 months!!! So, I'm guessing mine has MAYBE gone from $225k in 2022 to $235k now.

Do I sell to 1031 into another prop that will likely be more long term tenant friendly? I'm not seeing many props in Triad NC area or Atl area that cash flow with net profit for 2 years of MORE than my current $3500 or $1750/ year - again, after paint/ vacancy turnover costs.

So... thoughts? I've got what seems to be a pretty savvy realtor here in Atlanta area, who's very "pro" Atlanta area. I'm just not seeing props that cash flow unless you put down 40%! We are looking into doing fix up/ BRRR, just to get into places that will cashflow , using private/ hard money then refi out, to end up at 25% down. Competition is VERY tough here.

Thanks!

B.G.

[Bill B.]

ZERO chance you let a stranger, who you wouldn’t borrow $10 to, take over your mortgage. Ps. That would also mean you couldn’t do a 1031, but the 1031 only comes in to play if you have a large capital gain after selling costs, which it didn’t sound like?

How did the HOA stop MTR rentals? (Usually they only care about STR) did they put in a 6 or 12 month minimum? If only 6 I'd consider listing it on MTR sites with a 6 month minimum and a $100/month cancellation fee. Might be harder to pull that off with 12 month, but possible.

Have you talked to any PMs? It might be good to talk to one now and see what they say about taking over at turnover. They may be better at advertising or pricing the property. Obviously using your pricing you’d been better off dropping the price 25% and getting someone in within a month. I doubt the average turnover vacancy is more than 1 month, pry closer to two weeks. You’d make more rent, pay less utilities, and have less threat of squatters.