8 years of being a landlord and one tenant ruined it all for me

so yeah i gotta vent a little but also need some real advice cuz im at the end of my rope here

back in 2016 i inherited a duplex from my dad over in delco, not far from philly, at first it was fine, like tenants paid mostly on time, place stayed decent, i thought hey this is easy side income, boy was i wrong

fast forward to now and i got a tenant from hell, like seriously

on paper this guy looked great, good credit, stable job, seemed nice when i met him, but once he moved in everything went south, first he started paying late every month, then hed skip a month and promise to catch up, then he just stopped answering my calls altogether

took me 6 months to get him out, court dates kept getting pushed back, lawyer cost me like 3 grand, and when he finally left? the place is destroyed, not just messy but damaged, holes in the drywall everywhere, doors ripped off the hinges, kitchen cabinets hanging crooked, the toilet was cracked, and the smell, i cant even describe the smell, its like old trash and worse

got a contractor to give me a quote to get it rent ready again, he said 25k minimum, new drywall, new doors, new flooring, paint, some plumbing fixes, plus theres water damage in the basement from something that i didnt even know about

i dont have 25k sitting around, i got my own mortgage and bills and a life, so now the places just sitting there empty while i pay taxes and insurance on it every month, losing money

has anyone here sold a trashed rental property to a cash buyer and been happy with it? or should i just try to find a hard money loan, fix it up, and try to rent again? tbh im leaning toward selling, im tired of this landlord life, every time my phone rings i flinch thinking its another problem

any advice from people who have been in the trenches would help a lot этот пост