Prepping Our Rental Condo for Sale

Hey everyone! I got sick last week, but life is too busy to stay down for long. The tenant at our rental condo chose not to renew the lease and moved out. Now, I’m busy prepping the condo for sale. We owned this condo since 2011. It has been a good rental, but I no longer want to be a landlord. I’d rather invest in real estate crowdfunding with CrowdStreet. It’s way easier than being a hands-on landlord.

Also, we plan to move in about 4 years. It’ll be very stressful and I want to minimize potential problems. Getting rid of the rental now will be one less thing to deal with in the future. Alright, let me tell you a bit about the history of this rental condo and all the stuff I’m fixing.

Condo history

This complex has 3 almost identical towers that were built in 1965. The west tower was the tallest building in Portland for about 4 years. That’s pretty neat. These buildings and the historic Halprin Open Space Sequence were part of Portland’s first urban renewal project. Back then, inner cities fell into decline and residents moved to the new suburbs. This area south of downtown was a Jewish and immigrant neighborhood. It was an easy target. The city condemned 54 blocks for redevelopment and relocated more than 1,500 residents. Here is an aerial picture of what the area looked like in 1935.

By 1964, most of the buildings above were razed. This image below is looking north. If you’re familiar with Portland, you can see the old US 99W freeway on the right edge of the picture. Traffic was rerouted to the I-5 across the river in the 70s and the Tom McCall Waterfront Park replaced it.

Our buildings went up in 1965. This image is looking west.

Our complex (circled) was built as apartments and they stayed that way until the real estate bubble in 2006. A developer purchased the complex and renovated it. Two towers were turned into condos in 2006 and 2007. The last one didn’t finish renovation until 2008, but the real estate bubble had burst by then. The last tower was turned into an apartment complex because nobody was buying in 2008. Many units in the 2 earlier buildings were foreclosed or turned into short sales.

Purchased in 2011

We lived in a 2 bedroom condo in the east tower from 2008 to 2019. Portland was great back then. It was safe and I enjoyed living there with my family. We had a great view of Mt. Hood and the river. The parks were safe and you could stroll around at night without worrying. The theater was a block away and PSU is right next door. It was great.

In 2011, we purchased a one-bedroom condo in the west tower so my mom could live nearby. However, she didn’t like living alone so she moved in with us. We turned the 1 bedroom into a rental.

We got a pretty good price for the rental condo because it was a short sale. This was in the midst of the financial crisis and the real estate market was struggling. The purchase price was $140,000. It was a significant discount from the previous sale. The condo was sold for $240,000 when they finished renovation in 2006.

Unfortunately, this complex hasn’t seen as much appreciation as the other condos in Portland. I guess it is because of the age. We loved living there, though. It’s less noisy than the rest of downtown and it is close to everything. We can walk, bike, or take the streetcars almost anywhere. The only major drawback is that we don’t have a washer/dryer in our unit. Residents need to go down to the basement to do laundry.

In 2011, we rented the 1 bedroom condo for $1,075/month. By 2024, the rent has increased to $1,600/month. If our tenant stayed on, I would have raised the rent to $1,700/month this year. The expenses increased significantly since then.

Rental condo cash flow 2024

Rent: $1,600

• HOA: – $565
• Property tax: -$334
• Insurance: -$30
• Mortgage: $0 (We paid this off in 2019 when we moved. In hindsight, I should have kept the mortgage and invested the money. The stock market did so well over the last 5 years.)

Our cash flow was about $670/month. All these expenses are increasing in 2025 and I would have to raise rent to help pay for it.

Price appreciation

The Portland condo market isn’t good. I think the peak was probably in 2017. We should have sold back then. Over the last few years, the city has garnered a bad reputation. I think that depressed the property price. The real estate price increased tremendously in other parts of the US over the last 5 years. Somehow, Portland missed the rising tide.

Anyway, I met with a real estate agent and tentatively set the sale price at $215,000. We’d still make a profit at that price. I guess I can’t complain.

Prep for sale

There is a bunch of stuff to fix before we put the condo on the market.

• Paint – The last time I painted was in 2019. A fresh coat of paint always gives the place a nice lift. I’m almost done with this task. Only the bathroom is left.
• Replace light fixtures – The realtor recommended replacing the old light fixture with new low-profile LED fixtures to modernize the place a bit. I did this over the weekend. The new fixtures look great.

• Replace the faucets. The old ones are worn out and look terrible. WIP.
• Refresh the kitchen cabinets – The kitchen cabinets are laminates and some of them are pretty worn out. I’ll order some wood conditioner to help spruce it up a bit. It’d be better to replace the cabinets, but I don’t think it’ll be worth it. Cabinets are expensive. WIP.
• New carpet – The old carpet is almost 20 years old and it is messed up. Renters don’t really take care of carpets. I had it steam-cleaned in 2019 and it didn’t help much. I’ve been busy running around and getting quotes. A guy quoted me $2,800. I must look like a sucker! Home Depot would be cheaper than that. Anyway, I found a local place and the carpet should be installed soon for around $1,300.  WIP.
• Scrub – The tenant cleaned up pretty well, but the place still needs a little scrubbing. Later…

Whew! I’m slowly going through these tasks. Painting is an easy way to freshen up the place and I’ve done it many times. However, my knees and elbows aren’t what they used to be. They are all achy after a shift of painting. I’m getting too old for this stuff. Next time, I’ll pay RB40Jr to do all these tasks.

Taxes

After we sell the condo, I’d have to send in some estimated tax. I have no idea how much to send the IRS, though. The calculation is pretty complex due to depreciation. I’ll make my best guess and send it in. Although, I believe I can offset the gain with maintenance on the other property. I need to repair the siding and paint the exterior at the duplex. We need to remodel the bathroom and kitchen too. Those projects will offset most of the profit from the rental condo. Maybe I don’t need to send in estimated tax after all.

Alright, that’s it for today. If all goes well, I’ll have one less thing to deal with soon. Being a landlord is good, but it’s too much trouble in Portland. These days, I am investing with CrowdStreet. They’re the leading company in real estate crowdfunding and they have many commercial projects to choose from. CrowdStreet is great because you can diversify geographically. Portland is a terrible market to invest in.

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Joe started Retire by 40 in 2010 to figure out how to retire early. After 16 years of investing and saving, he achieved financial independence and retired at 38.

Passive income is the key to early retirement. This year, Joe is investing in commercial real estate with CrowdStreet. They have many projects across the USA so check them out!

Joe also highly recommends Personal Capital for DIY investors. They have many useful tools that will help you reach financial independence.