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Lots of variables that complicate any answers to your questions.
Are you U.S. citizens? Are you taxed in Canada for selling your non-primary residence? Do you own the home that you reside in in Canada?
Are you sure that you can find a rental that would allow you a 4 month lease annually?
We're Canadian citizens with the equivalent of a social security number for US tax purposes. Because the condo was under $100k when we bought it, we aren't taxed in Canada when we sell it (AFAIK). We'll have our primary residence in Canada paid off around the time we retire. As for the four month rental, we actually have a friend who owns a place in Gilbert who would let us rent at the Friends and Family rate. Not as cheap as a year round rental price, but not as expensive as Airbnb.
Honestly, if we could keep the condo and rent it out while using the the equity to buy a small house nearby, that would be fab! I have a feeling that would be easier said than done, though. We'll see.
As for an RV, when they invent a cure for snoring...let's talk. Otherwise I would end up smothering my DH with a pillow and end up in prison with Lovehound after they terminate their tenant.
My husband and I live in Canada but own a condo in Phoenix, Arizona worth about $130k. We barely use it right now because we run a business and that takes a lot of our time. We're planning to sell the business in about 18 months and become snowbirds. Yipee!
At some point we want to sell the condo and either buy or rent a small single family home in the Phoenix area) for about four months a year. We are open to either of those scenarios.
Here's the question for you all: Should we sell now or should we sell in two years when we retire? What do you guess will happen with the Phoenix area RE market between now and then? If we sell now and wait until another correction before we buy again, we'd be golden. But if the market doesn't correct for, like, eight years, we'd have to rent for eight winters. Not golden. If we hold off selling for two years or more, we might make more money if the market keeps inching up, but if the market corrects before that we'd lose some purchasing power. Of course, we'd also have to pay more if we buy again unless we wait until the market eventually corrects. Also, who's on first? LOL.
Or...we could sell the condo and covert it to Canadian cash for about a 1.30 exchange rate (which would give us $170k CAD) and just never go back to AZ. But that would be so sad!!
This is more of a brain teaser than a cry for help - we're just interested in hearing what other people have to say. Do tell!
I didn't read your entire post, so take my advice with a grain of salt. Personally I'd sell now. There is an uptick in the number of folks who are having difficulty paying their home loans. This is anecdotal and based on my persuals of local foreclosures and the news from December 2017.
I've also noticed that for whatever reason, a huge number of builders have put up new homes in Arizona. I'm at a loss to figure out why people want to live in a desert.
It is my opinion that the value of older properties goes down when there is a bunch of new shiny stuff on the market. You will probably have to spend money "upgrading" to keep up with the shiny new properties on the market when you sell.
You don’t sell paid for property. You go get a 80% equity loan to get liquidity, rent it out for 8 months out of the year and use it for 4 months. The loan is now a deduction as the property is a rental for 9 months.
The refi should give you plenty of cash. Set 2 years worth of payments away in a account and use that to pay the mortgage. Use the rest to buy a house.
If the values go up significantly refi again pull the equity out and repeat.
You can specifically market yourself in short term rentals only for people who are moving in for a job and need a short term lease. You can also charge more than going rate as you will be one of the few doing it.
Get a realtor to help you out for a fixed rate. Someone will do it.
This won't work unless the OP and spouse are US Citizens. Foreign Nationals, last I checked includes Canada, have drastically reduced buying ability and likely the reason they own it outright, they were forced to leverage their primary residence. (Which BTW is investment 101, never leverage your primary residence to secure another property, but many times the only option). When borrowing in the US, there is only one second home. Unfortunately, most Foreign Nationals generally cannot cash out on non owner occupied properties.
Unless you are willing to declare a home in the US as a primary residence, your financing options will be limited.
This won't work unless the OP and spouse are US Citizens. Foreign Nationals, last I checked includes Canada, have drastically reduced buying ability and likely the reason they own it outright, they were forced to leverage their primary residence. (Which BTW is investment 101, never leverage your primary residence to secure another property, but many times the only option). When borrowing in the US, there is only one second home. Unfortunately, most Foreign Nationals generally cannot cash out on non owner occupied properties.
Unless you are willing to declare a home in the US as a primary residence, your financing options will be limited.
Yeah, that's pretty much what I expected. Luckily we were in a position that we didn't have to get a loan to pay for the condo, so our primary home stayed out of it. If the Canadian dollar was strong, we could probably swing financing the second home by exchanging Canadian money to do it, but not when it would cost us a third more than using the proceeds of selling the condo. Thanks for the information!
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