If your expenses associated with the rented portion exceed the income, you may have a tax benefit if you are eligible to deduct passive rental losses from your other sources of income.

I listed it for sale, I need to cut my losses.  

It's just gonna be peppered in with more stretches of loss. 

Or should I cut my losses, sell it now, and look to invest in something else later?

It was not uncommon that they bought some of the worst houses (weird layout, dated, much deferred maintenance) in the nicest neighborhoods and then would try to relist them as-is to make a profit before ending up having to do the actual work required to the property for it to sell again, selling at a loss, or maybe making a little bit of money in transaction fees.

I can live happily with just a bed, food, and my laptop! 

Alternatively, some insurers will use the term Loss Payee.

Housing is a very important bill for many families to pay, but it still comes behind food.  

they can apparently help you with loss of rent.

By not taking a partial disposition deduction, you would be missing out on potential tax benefits associated with recognizing the loss on the disposed roof component.