If the answer is yes, then it's a no brainer to make minimum payments on your 2.8% interest rate mortgage, and use the funds that you would have paid extra to pay it down faster, to either invest in more real estate, the market, or anywhere else where you can get a ROI > 2.8%.If the answer is no, then feel free to aggressively pay it down as fast as possible, to become debt-free faster, and just have a large amount of money in savings or to splurge with.The bottom line is that your 2.8% mortgage is GOOD debt.

The owners became friends with the tenants and do not feel comfortable raising rents on their friends. 

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.

Anything past that might feel weird.Good job going to your first one, that is a great step that too many people miss out on.

Feel free to reach out anytime.

We’d like to continue with this project remotely, but the idea of managing contractors and overseeing a renovation from afar feels a bit daunting.Have any of you undertaken a similar project?

Focus on the numbers and the goals, not personal feelings.

Feel free to reach out with your scenario details.

Are you looking for steady, low-risk passive income now, or are you comfortable taking on more leverage to scale faster?

I would probably take the risk at $500, but $1k feels more of a ripoff like most guru programs. don't waste your time if they don't meet your criteria there is ZERO chance they will meet this guys.. remember they make their money with you folks dreaming of making money and paying for the dream..