If you cannot sell the house for close to $150k and have a non-recourse loan, you should analyze if it makes sense to walk away from the property.  

I will be closing on a small office building next month which I will be repurposing.

Cash buyers will be serious, not just wasting his time with offers, 30-45 day closing delay, inspections, appraisals. 

I was on the fence about whether to rent it out again or put it on the market to sell it. 

@Nick S. it sounds like this property isn't close enough for you to self-manage.

Typically rates are 0.5%-1% higher than the full conventional loan, however the beauty is that it requires less documents and quicker close.

I get a lot of people who start off with the idea of JC becuase of how close it is to NYC. 

This includes:- Purchase price- Renovation costs- Closing costs (buying and selling)- Holding costsThese expenses offset the selling price to calculate your taxable gain. 

Those buying close to the city are either breaking even or taking negative cashflow and banking on appreciation (or buying all cash and parking money, ha).If you do consider Lowell, I'd also recommend you check out the Fitchburg/Leominster area as well.

This is a viable idea and is no where close to new.