To rent the home, I would lose about $2,500 per month (based on comparable rents in my area, property management fees, etc).Both options loose the same amount by roughly 2 years, and by this time, I still will not have built up much more equity in the home to make selling it a break even unless there is price appreciation by then.My dilemma is this: I speculate that my home will not appreciate much in the next 3-5 years due to the rapid pace of development in the surrounding area.In 5-10+ years, maybe, but by then I'll have bled $150,000 - $300,000.I have thought about this a lot and feel that I mar'-too close to the problem to see the best solution.

You also implied that we don't specifically price deals for our clients and the client's "rates and fees will be much higher".

Things they did bad which I wish I had asked more information about:Never involved in the screening of tenantsThey recommended keys for cash by waiving the rent amount buy only collecting fees which they would get not meThe cost to evict is 750-950 yet other companies told me they will include eviction in the priceThe tenant didnt pay in full last month and I was the one calling out to them and asking questions then a few days later I get an email saying something happened with the tenant and they are investigating.You get passed from person to person every week or so.No one told me when the construction was complete and so the house was ready for a week and the post to zillow and other sites was not done.It took them another week to take pictures and then another week to upload it.I was paying 200 dollar a month electric bills while the house was vacant because they left the AC running in the empty property.

The setup and ongoing fees will likely be higher but you'll be able to leverage the account to buy RE so it's a tradeoff like anything else.Happy researching!

My duplex - built 1989, 2,060 sf, 2 bed/bath, 1 year old roof, value if I subdivide (county already approved) and sell each separately $150k each ($300k total)Investor duplex - built 1995, 2,300 sf, 2 bed/bath, 5 year old roof, value around $310kThe investors initial request was for an equal trade and they would pay realtor fees, which I replied wouldn't be equal due to buying/selling costs (recording fees, title insurance, closing fee, survey, inspections, loan fees, 1031 fees, accountant fees, repairs), taxes would increase due to new sale price, I'd trade a 3.75% mortgage for a higher one, and I'm on the 10th year of a 30 year loan so resetting that to a new loan would restart amortization and pay more towards interest.

Rents increased about 5% per year, and when you take 5% on $3,800, that's almost a $200 per month increase for the year!

Previously though most of the MTRs stayed 3-6 months, so we've averaged about 3 turns per year, with about 1 week between tenants. 

This is a little last minute but I see you're in BCS.

My excess cash flow per year is around $300k in cash, meaning theoretically I could do 6 deals, but in order to make that salary (HHI $722k) I need someone with the time to do the repairs and manage the tenants.

I am expecting to do 3-4 deals per year until I get to 20 properties or so and then snowball the debt so they are all paid off by retirement.