Given that you bought it in 1998 and assuming that you haven’t extracted most of the equity from it, that property probably has maybe $200k worth of equity in it. My recomendation would be to make that $200k or at least half of it work for you and create more money by investing it in properties outside the bubble areas of California, Florida, Nevada, and Arizona.
Assuming that you had $200k of equity, you could probably use $100k to buy a $500k 20 unit property in Missouri, Tennessee, or Utah which could cash flow about $500 per month.
If your wife is not working, you will be able to reduce practically all your income taxes to zero.
I was in the same boat as you a few years ago – I had a property, was unsure whether or not to sell it. I decided to keep the property and make it work for me.
Caveats: this process is very risky and will require a lot of personal education in order to do well. The time for success is long.
Still, if you use time and real estate properly, that $100k could become $2.8 million in 15 years (25% return, which is what I’ve been getting).
