Michael,
How much did my wife pay you for the last paragraph?
I appreciate the response and the honesty. Truthfully I cannot cover both payments long term only due to the fact that the existing home has a 15 year mortgage and therefor a higher mortgage payment.
Selling is still on the table.
I have owned a duplex which I have managed and renovated myself for the past 5 years. I have also updated my single family home significantly and was hoping to hold on until home prices rose a little more in the area. Specifically I would want to hold the single family for 3 more years so that I can still claim that I lived there for 2 out of the last 5 and not have to pay capital gains.
I know the home values could go up or down but having a tenant pay the mortgage for the next three years will increase my equity until the selling point. At which time I would then have enough cash reserves to reinvest into another multi-unit rental.
Thoughts?