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Old 06-11-2008, 12:43 PM
 
3 posts, read 25,749 times
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Hi, We need relocate to other state recently. The house we bought in Sugar Land 1 year ago is a big headache for us right now, Since the market seems slow down, so should we sell the house for less or rent it out as a investment? Any suggestion will be appreciated.
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Old 06-11-2008, 12:46 PM
 
Location: ✶✶✶✶
15,216 posts, read 30,536,573 times
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Well, you can hang onto it and leave, keep it empty and pay for taxes, insurance and maintenance on an empty house.

Or, you could rent it out and at least bring in some money.
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Old 06-11-2008, 12:53 PM
 
Location: Visitation between Wal-Mart & Home Depot
8,309 posts, read 38,758,191 times
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Renting the house is not without drawbacks and there is no guarantee that you will make a profit or even be able to cover the taxes, particularly if you will be managing the property from out of state. As unpalatable as losing money on a house is, it may be the path of least resistance to simply get the property off your books.
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Old 06-11-2008, 01:09 PM
 
Location: Charleston Sc and Western NC
9,273 posts, read 26,478,717 times
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I would continue to have it on the market, while you do short term excutive leases, ie 6 months. Having an agreement with the renters that you can show to sell.

There are so many houses for rent right now, you need to keep trying to unload.
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Old 06-11-2008, 01:14 PM
 
Location: Westbury
556 posts, read 1,085,728 times
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It all depends on what rentals will fetch in your neighborhood. If you can break even (when you include P&I, taxes, insurance & HOA) or at least come close, it may be worth your while.

Just remember that renters generally do not treat their homes near as well as owners, so don't expect things like carpets or lawns to be well maintained.
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Old 06-11-2008, 07:00 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
4,760 posts, read 13,818,856 times
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We faced that same decision when we needed to make an unexpected cross country relocation after a little over a year. We decided to sell the house for less money because I really didn't want to own a rental property in another state and it didn't seem cost effective to hire a property manager for one property.

Plus, it seemed like it was going to take a LONG time for appreciation to be high enough for us to sell with any type of profit considering the expenses of owning a rental property.

What neighborhood is the house in?
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Old 06-11-2008, 09:19 PM
 
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If your house is in great shape, I would go for discounting it. After renting it the cost of getting the house back into the shape it is now could easily exceed the cost of discounting it. If you discount it $10,000 for example, and you get a tenant that is even slightly rough on the house, causing landscaping to die, lawn to get in poor shape, carpets get dirty and worn, interior needs painting, they break a couple of blinds, etc., what will it cost you to repaint, recarpet, replace died out shrubbery, etc.? It could easily exceed the $10,000 figure.

If you get one wrong tenant, where counter tops get cut up, carpets are ruined, appliances ruined, cabinets beat up, etc. It could end up costing you a LOT to get it back into shape when the time comes to sell it.
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Old 06-11-2008, 09:49 PM
 
Location: ✶✶✶✶
15,216 posts, read 30,536,573 times
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You know what - everyone's right about renting it out, since you won't be around to keep an eye on things - dump it for whatever you can.

The higher gas gets, the harder it's gonna be to sell houses out there. Get out while you can, before people can't give their houses away because nobody can afford to get to work. You might luck out and find someone who works in Sugar Land....or not. The one certain thing is that cheap gas is dead.
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Old 06-12-2008, 06:32 AM
 
Location: Charleston Sc and Western NC
9,273 posts, read 26,478,717 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jfre81 View Post
You know what - everyone's right about renting it out, since you won't be around to keep an eye on things - dump it for whatever you can.

The higher gas gets, the harder it's gonna be to sell houses out there. Get out while you can, before people can't give their houses away because nobody can afford to get to work. You might luck out and find someone who works in Sugar Land....or not. The one certain thing is that cheap gas is dead.

Jfre, people can deny this all they want, but I can't tell you how many people I know, have met, are friend of a friend,or are somebody someone met, who are now moving in.
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Old 06-12-2008, 08:22 AM
 
132 posts, read 587,842 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fz92004 View Post
Hi, We need relocate to other state recently. The house we bought in Sugar Land 1 year ago is a big headache for us right now, Since the market seems slow down, so should we sell the house for less or rent it out as a investment? Any suggestion will be appreciated.
Which nhood of sugarland is this ?
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