Rookie Investor Seeks Advice on Holding or Selling

[Felipe Rivera]

I own a single-family rental property in Macon, GA, which I purchased for $110K over a year ago. It rents for $1,200/month with a $700 mortgage. After expenses and a $22K loan for a new roof, electrical panel, and HVAC (the latter two were unexpected), the property breaks even.

Recently, my tenant stopped paying rent (2 months behind) and now there’s a bug infestation. I'm in the process of having the tenant move out within two weeks.

Given the situation, should I continue learning and re-rent the property, or consider selling? I'm definitely in the negative so far $...Any advice is appreciated.

[Michael Dumler]

@Felipe Rivera, I hate to be that guy—but having to finance major capital expenditures on a long-term rental is usually a sign that there weren't sufficient reserves in place at the start. I understand that some of these costs were unexpected, but it does sound like one of those classic scenarios where the priority was getting into a deal, rather than ensuring you were fully capitalized to handle what might come up—and that's the key lesson here.

While I'm not deeply involved in tertiary markets like Macon, unfortunately, based on what I'm seeing across metro Atlanta right now, I wouldn't be surprised if selling at a loss becomes part of the conversation—especially in this market environment.

At this point, if the property continues to be more of a financial and mental drain than a long-term asset, it's worth stepping away, learning from the experience, and re-entering the market when you're in a stronger position.