Leaving Natomas - Better to sell or rent out house?

[wburg]

The problem with Natomas isn't just waiting for the market to rebound, it's waiting for levee repairs. There is a coming building moratorium in the area because the levees were decertified--they no longer protect the area to a level that allows development. So the next "rise" in Natomas is as likely to be a rise in water level as a rise in property value.

[GLS]

Originally Posted by petenice

My wife and I are going to be moving out of California to Texas in about 2 months due to my job relocation. We bought a house in Natomas in 2002 for 325K. It appraised for 490K in 2006, but we are now estimating (based on similar homes for sale in the area and zillow.com) that it will sell for about 390K.

If you were in a similar position, would you:

a) sell the house in Natomas, make a profit and a clean break
b) rent out the house in Natomas and hope the market picks back up
c) do something else completely

Bottom line - is renting our home in the Natomas area a good investment, or do you think there are better, and easier (i.e. no rental hassles) ways to invest for the future?

This would be my first experience with renting out a home, so if anyone has home rental success or horror stories, I'd love to hear those as well.

I have a few friends (and I emphasize a only a few) who have done well with their rental houses. They were living close so they could monitor them often, and these people were excellent do-it-yourselfers, and spent a lot of weekends fixing plumbing, etc, and cleaning up after each renter moved out.

On the other hand I have had two houses that I had to rent out because the market was poor at that time. Both of them were a psychological albatross around my neck, and I ended up losing money. My major problem was that I was an out of state, long distance owner like you will be. I hired a "management company" and paid a monthly fee, but all they did was collect the rent. When the renters started getting late with the rent, the management company said , "there isn't much we can do. You'll have to hire a lawyer."


As one poster stated, get ready for the pressure of two mortgage payments in the down time between renters. It doesn't take many months of a house being empty to eat up any profit, IF in fact you can rent for more than your current mortgage.

I currently have a small house in North Natomas. I live in it one to two days a week while I'm working so it serves a special purpose. I don't plan to sell it for another five years because that is my best guess as to how long it will take the market to turn around.

In summary, depending upon the specifics of your finances, I would seriously consider selling it now and cutting the cord. You'll sleep better in Texas. Good luck.