Both of these are spot on.
There are a lot of articles on the web related to selling or not. Let me put out an example:
If your house is worth $100,000 and you can sell it and walk away with $40,000 a simple comparison is to look at what you would get if you dropped it in a bank
If you look at conservative investment returns most say around 6%. or $1200/ year. So in order for a rental to be profitable, you need to make at least that per year after expenses.
When determining expenses, it isnt just the bank note and insurance. In my case I subtract from the rent:
10 % Management company
10 % Vacancy rate
5 % Plan for Repairs
In this case to break even, 75% of the rent - loan and insurance = $1200/year from a pure cash point of view. You can facture in equity that builds from renting and appreciation to get a better idea of your true return.
