Now, the time is coming close for us to make arrangements for the home, and we are torn between selling to use the extra money to pay off a few bills/loans or sticking with the original plan of renting it out as an investment property.

Yes, you can get the judge and/or borrower who does things to slow things down but that's why you need that extra cushion.I wish that all states would go to non-judicial foreclosure.

But never bad to pick up an extra property if possible.

With  long term tenant I don't have the extra costs of full furnish and I don't have to supply the utilities, cable and internet.

I'd also negotiate a reasonable rent increase to compensate for additional wear and tear/ utility usage from having an extra person.She sounds like a great tenant for asking permission.

It puts extra money in the owner's pocket every time.However, there are some tenants that refuse.

The two others were 2 bed 1.5 bath at approx 925 sq ft.Once the existing leases were up in Sept 2020, I raised rents by $200 each on two and $225 each on the other two for an extra $850 per month in cash flow.

Even if you make a couple extra dollars on this commercial unit, dealing with 6 tenants and turnover on all those units is a huge time waster.

If the more expensive 3500sq ft house was going to prevent me from getting another loan down the road because it added an extra $150,000 of debt I might stay in the existing house for a while longer and buy the 2500 sq ft rental house.

@Phat Dao A good use of that extra space we’re you were thinking of adding that gauge could be adding a ADU(guest house or mother-in-law sweet) that will add $500-$1,000/m (depending on the local market) that is my go to to add value to a home if there is extra area to build.