First Flip looking for advance on how to move forward

First, I wouldn't panic after three weeks.

You actually did something I like when you bought the property: you went into the deal with two exit strategies—sell it or hold it as a rental. Now you need to determine which exit produces the better return rather than feeling like renting it means the flip failed.

You've got roughly:

Purchase: $76,500
Renovation: $68,000
Basis before carrying/selling costs: $144,500
Target ARV: $218,000

On paper, there's certainly room there. But the market doesn't care what our spreadsheet says the ARV should be.

So before dropping the price, I'd ask your agent a very specific question:

Are we getting showings but no offers, or are we not getting showings at all?

Those can indicate two different problems.

If you're getting plenty of showings and no offers, I'd be looking at price, condition and buyer feedback.

If you're getting very few showings, I'd look at price positioning, photos, marketing and how you're competing against everything else currently available.

And three weeks isn't necessarily a long time in Rome. Recent market data suggests homes there can take considerably longer than that to sell, so I wouldn't automatically conclude something is wrong simply because you haven't sold in 21 days.

But I also wouldn't become emotionally attached to the $218K ARV.

I'd have your agent pull the actual closed comparable sales, active competition and pending properties right now—not the comps you used when you originally underwrote the flip.

Then I'd run your second exit strategy just as seriously.

If $2,200 is a legitimate market rent for this particular house, determine what the property actually produces after:

Taxes
Insurance
Maintenance
Vacancy
Management
Capital expenditures
And the new mortgage payment.

Then get an actual quote on a DSCR loan.

DSCR financing can potentially allow you to refinance the property based primarily on the rental property's ability to support its debt rather than traditional personal-income underwriting.

But here's the number I'd really want to know:

How much of your original capital can you get back out while still leaving the property comfortably cash-flow positive?

If a DSCR refinance allows you to recover a meaningful amount of your capital, keep a good rental, and redeploy that money into the next deal, that may accomplish your original goal of scaling the portfolio even though you didn't sell the flip.

That's essentially the BRRRR strategy instead of the flip strategy.

I'd compare three scenarios on paper:

Sell around $218K: What do I actually net after commissions, closing costs, carrying costs and taxes?

Reduce the price: At what sale price does selling stop producing an attractive return?

Rent and refinance: How much capital can I recover, what will the property cash-flow, and what return am I earning on the equity I leave behind?

Then make the decision based on those numbers.

One caution: I'd verify that $2,200 rent very carefully. Don't make the hold decision because someone told you that's market rent. Get actual rental comps and see what comparable renovated 3-bedroom homes are really leasing for. If you want, you could give me the property address, and I can give you a market evaluation that will include both sales and rental market data.

Personally, I wouldn't pull it off the market tomorrow simply because it's been three weeks.

I'd establish a decision point with my agent—maybe another few weeks—while simultaneously getting the rental comps and DSCR refinance numbers together.

Then you're not waiting and hoping.

You're giving the flip exit a fair opportunity while getting Plan B completely ready to execute.

A good real-estate deal isn't necessarily one that follows the original plan. Sometimes it's one where you recognize which exit is producing the best return and change direction before the market makes the decision for you.