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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have a 1BR condo in an older garden-style development in the Seven Corners area of Falls Church that's about 1.5 miles from the EFC metro.  I got married and bought a house with a spouse three years ago this summer.  I currently rent the condo, and the rent covers the mortgage, condo fees, and insurance, plus I make a profit of about $200/month.  I bought back in the early 2000's, and the price skyrocketed to about 200K above the purchase price during the bubble of around 2005/2006, then crashed again, and is now up to about 80K above my purchase price.  My mortgage will be paid off in 12 years.  I have a child who will be in college in 16 years (hopefully), and my thought in hanging onto the condo was that rental income near the Metro would always be pretty decent and it would be really nice passive income once the mortgage is paid off.  Plus, if it keeps appreciating somewhat steadily, it's a nice nest egg.  (I don't have much retirement savings otherwise.)  I grew up believing rental properties are really good income, and I like owning something solid.

Now that the appreciation is up pretty nicely, though, and since home values can't be guaranteed, I'm tempted to sell it.  Being a landlord hasn't been all that fun (I have a great tenant now but unfortunately there are noisy people in the unit adjacent who drive him nuts, and there isn't much I can do to fix it, which stresses us all out.)  I'd have to sell by the end of the summer in order to avoid paying capital gains on the profit.  If I was underwater or wasn't making at least a small profit on rent, I'd sell it, but I like the idea of someone else paying down my principal every month.

Long term, Seven Corners is going to be redeveloped, and the vision includes lots of luxury apartments and condos, and so there might be a glut in the market, and my affordable little place with great light and hardwood floors might not be very attractive to renters.  But the improvement in the overall neighborhood also might make it more valuable.  So I'm torn.

What would you do?[/quote]

I don't think 7 corners has much of a chance of being redeveloped. They have been saying that for years gong back to the 70s when they built all those high rises. I would cash out and be a landlord to somewhere that is metro accessible.[/quote]

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/mason/sevencorners/7cs_draft_plan_text_master_draft_september_23.pdf

You wouldn't consider a 1.5 mile walk to be Metro accessible?[/quote]

usually it has to be under a mile. [/quote]

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