He became a devout born-again, ditched all his gambling buddies and started spending all his time in church.

I guess the main reasons I’d want to keep the house are 1) ego - to be able to say “I own a rental property” and 2) hope for things to magically turn around and one day sell for profit (gambling...)What would you do in my shoes?

I see it as a form of gambling. 

While it might not be thrilling to reduce the size of the fridge, I think it would be a nice/fair trade off especially at the price point.

I am thrilled to have found this place and hope I can create some relationships with local and non local people within the community! 

You're gambling for a chance of appreciation with lesser cash flow.

Then, the search will be on for the next rental property.The BP forums have been a great resource in the past and I'm thrilled to finally be saying 'hi'. :-)

When you rent to a tenant who is thrilled to be accepted by you to rent your unit, which is a unit they wanted to live in - at the price you advertised - you will have far fewer hassles.If a tenant thinks you are so grateful that they would rent from you - you are sending a message that something is wrong with the unit or the price of the rent.  

Drugs, gambling, prostitution all pay in cash (I have had all the above submit applications).

So, I asked her, why should I keep a complaining tenant who brought in half of what I could get from a new tenant who would be thrilled to get the apartment as-is?