A lot of tenant issues are not that large and can be fixed by jack of all trades people.

So the question is, does your rental activity qualify as a trade or business or just a passive investment? 

@Karolina Powell, if you are going to make investment decisions based on someone saying a small market property is worth a 6-8 cap rate, do I have some things you will want to see...Everyone should have a general rule of thumb, and Austin may be correct, or he may be way off.Mixed use can be hard to value in any area unless there are other trades.  

Trade up.2024 will actually be more exciting, as balloon payments and anyone with an ARM loan comes due. 

This scenario forecasts a potential 9.85% cash-on-cash return for an all-cash investment.Additionally, with a more extensive renovation, the property's resale value could surge above $200,000.This is just one example, but the above data showcases its potential as an excellent market for single-family home investments.

You can trade vol just in different areas, real estate isn't one unless you're deep with money. 

Another path to consider is to sell them under a 1031 exchange and trade into higher-value real estate.

We have discussed selling the property and rolling it into a multi-family but again feel like we may be trading a fairly hands off property with good cash flow for one that may be a bit more labor intensive and only yield marginally better performance.Any advice on how to expand our rental portfolio/maximize its performance is greatly appreciated!   

I don't have any career worthy trade skills or college degree, so finding a higher income job is slim pickins for me.

Get a realtor, loan officer, GC, insurance agent, trades, etc.