Should I sell or hold?

[Ricky Priester]

I have a rental property question.  I have a property that I owe 126k on, it is rented but the renter has basically trashed it.   It is a 3 bed 1 bath 1300 sq ft.  I am getting $950 monthly but I owe $839, with escrow.  It would cost me approximately 125-150k to renovate and get top dollar.  That would be $276k to ask for a price of $400-420k minus realtor fees.  Netting around 100-115k.  I also have an offer for $205k right now to walk away, netting me about 79k. 

What do I do?    

Hold the property?

Try to fix it up to sell and make 115k?

Sell now to make 79K?

[Theresa Harris]

Do you want to deal with the renos either getting it back to rental condition or fixed up to sell?  Look at what you can get for a similar price to what your sales price would be and run the numbers.  You can net $79K or put in $150K to get another $50K (maybe less depending on the market and reno costs).

If the offer is a private sale, you'd also save commission on the sale.  I'd be tempted to sell it (especially given the monthly rent) and buy a duplex or another single family rental.