What to do?

[damian]

I've been a reader here for a while, first time posting though.

I am looking for some advice. . .

I own a condo in Renton, It's valued at 300k right now, and I have 296k in mortgages. So not much of equity anymore. I have 3 years left on my arm. Interest rates are down to 5.6 as of today, so i'm considering refinancing now to a 30 year, and keeping this condo and hoping I can rent it when the time comes to get a bigger place. I can only live in it for another 3years max, as my family is growing, and I'm running out of room...

so,
1. should I keep it , refi now, and play the renting game. And deal with owning two homes (i'd be looking to buy another in 3 years), OR
2. ride it out for the next 2 years. And either try to refi then, or put it on the market to sell.

I wont make any money, and I dont plan on it. I'll be lucky to break even. I guess, should I jump on refi now, and take advantage of the low rate, or should I risk it further and wait it out?

[Robroy]

If it is possible, I would sell it and rent a place. Just like when the stock market is going down you want to pull your money out, the same can hold true with real estate. You can always repurchase the same place or one similar for $150k or less in a few years. Meanwhile the rent you pay should be substantially lower than your current payments on the condo.

[perfectfire]

You're in a tough situation for sure. Option one stinks because it's very unlikely you'll be able to cover PITI + maintenance + Condo dues with rent so you'll be making a full payment on your new place plus a partial payment on the condo. Option two is a no-go because it will definitely (in my opinion) be worth much less than your mortgages in 2-3 years.