Sell or Rent My House in Plymouth? (sale, renter)

[NickNack]

Hi, my husband has recently been transferred out to Western Mass and now we are stuck trying to sell a house in a terrible market. Does anyone have info on what would be better in a situation like this, should we lower our sale price and possibly take a slight loss, or should we rent it out for a few years and hold onto the property? We've lived there for close to 5 years now and the sale price is only $10,000 above what we got it for back then.

[baystater]

It tough on the south shore right now. I've been watching the prices plummet for the past 1 1/2. And I see another 2 years of this trend continuing ahead. As for selling or renting. Well where are you in Plymouth? Can me the lowdown (how many bedrooms, etc, etc.) on the house and lot it on? And how are you stand financially right now?

[NickNack]

Well we are in Manomet, less than a 10 minute walk to a private and beautiful beach. We are on a main road but there is a private road that takes you right to the beach. Our home is small, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, full basement and attic and 1/2 acre. I think it would be a perfect rental since we would allow pets and have a doggy door that goes out to a fenced in area in the backyard. However, I dont think we could afford to pay for the mortgage plus our own rent if the house was empty for a few months. The thing is that Plymouth might be getting a huge movie studio in a few years and I really think the property values will pick up once that is developed. My mom is also in Plymouth so she would be around to check on the house.

[surfingatwork]

Originally Posted by NickNack

Well we are in Manomet, less than a 10 minute walk to a private and beautiful beach. We are on a main road but there is a private road that takes you right to the beach. Our home is small, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, full basement and attic and 1/2 acre. I think it would be a perfect rental since we would allow pets and have a doggy door that goes out to a fenced in area in the backyard. However, I dont think we could afford to pay for the mortgage plus our own rent if the house was empty for a few months. The thing is that Plymouth might be getting a huge movie studio in a few years and I really think the property values will pick up once that is developed. My mom is also in Plymouth so she would be around to check on the house.

If you're in an area where the house would attract renters then i would seriously think about renting out the house especially if you mom could watch over the house for you. the selling market is tough right now. i've got my house on the market in lakeville. it's listed at $300,000. i've had some activity on the house but there are a LOT of tire kickers out there right now. also keep in mind if your insurance company knows the house is vacant your insurance will go up.

[Hurrah]

Originally Posted by NickNack

Well we are in Manomet, less than a 10 minute walk to a private and beautiful beach. We are on a main road but there is a private road that takes you right to the beach. Our home is small, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, full basement and attic and 1/2 acre. I think it would be a perfect rental since we would allow pets and have a doggy door that goes out to a fenced in area in the backyard. However, I dont think we could afford to pay for the mortgage plus our own rent if the house was empty for a few months. The thing is that Plymouth might be getting a huge movie studio in a few years and I really think the property values will pick up once that is developed. My mom is also in Plymouth so she would be around to check on the house.

Hey! You're right near me! I'm in the Ponds of Plymouth. I'm dealing with the same problem, but we can't rent out our house. We need the money for a down payment on a new place. We're planning on heading out to Oklahoma once hubby gets a job. I've been worried about the house selling before we get a job down there and then we'd have no place to live temporarilly. It would be great if you'd rconsider renting to us! How much would you want for rent?

[baystater]

Originally Posted by NickNack

Well we are in Manomet, less than a 10 minute walk to a private and beautiful beach. We are on a main road but there is a private road that takes you right to the beach. Our home is small, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, full basement and attic and 1/2 acre. I think it would be a perfect rental since we would allow pets and have a doggy door that goes out to a fenced in area in the backyard. However, I dont think we could afford to pay for the mortgage plus our own rent if the house was empty for a few months. The thing is that Plymouth might be getting a huge movie studio in a few years and I really think the property values will pick up once that is developed. My mom is also in Plymouth so she would be around to check on the house.

OK. Sounds like you have a good spot to rent out. Now there are two ways that I know of that you can play this.

1. You can try to find a year round renter perhaps through a classified ad or through a rental agency ( I prefer this method.)

2. You can take a little chance and roll out your rental like this. From May until September your can rent out your house for a weekly amount for vacationers. And from September to May you can have a winter renter. Now I know your mother is in the area to keep an eye out. But your also probably going to have to hire a cleaning crew to come weekly during the summer rental season because summer rentals to have a tendency to muck-up the home with trash. Also the risk of damage to your home is greater than with a weekly renter than with a year round renter. But on the other hand you can almost make as much money in a week of a summer rental as you would for a month of a year round renter. Also granted the economy is slowing so you might not get as much traffic as you would have a couple of years ago.

As for selling. If you can hold the property for 5 years or so I would. By then most of the housing market turmoil should be over and homes will probably be appreciating again. But let me just say that that's a guess and you'll have to keep an eye out for the market to turn around.

Good luck to you.

[NickNack]

Thanks so much to all of your for your advice! I am leaning towards renting it out and your replies are really helping to support this idea! Plus we just love the house and I am really having a hard time thinking about selling it. In response to Hurrah's question we would probably look to rent the house for around $1400 a month. And if we did a month to month set up we could still keep it on the market for a little while and see what happens.

[NickNack]

PS - Baystater that is a great idea about the summer rentals!