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If you had a budget of around $450k for a single family home and were looking (possibly) to resell or rent the property in 1-2 years, where would you buy in Chapel Hill? School assignments not an issue. We close on our home in a month and thought we would rent for a year, but the prospect of freedom and flexibility is less alluring now that we we're looking at a small inventory of decent rentals at upwards of $2,600 a month for what we want (nice, safe, pet-friendly, 3-4 BR home). We're thinking we'd rather lose money on resell than pay rent, or keep the property and become landlords ourselves down the road. We're struggling to sort this out and would welcome your thoughts. Thanks.
Personally, I'd never buy a house knowing I'd resell in it in a year or two. And I'd never be a long distance landlord. You really ought to think long and hard about that.
Thanks puppydog! You're great. I'll check that one out. It wasn't in my search criteria. As to your question, due to the nature of our jobs, we have the flexibility of staying here indefinitely if we choose to. And thanks carolinadawg2. You bring up an excellent point about being a long distance landlord. Property managers charge about 20% of the monthly rent, which would eat up quite a bit of profit. I think we're just having a hard time going from being home owners to being renters after 20-plus years, particularly when there's a chance we would stay in the area.
There are many SFH rental options in Chapel Hill, and not just in student-dominated areas. Visiting professors, advanced degree students with families etc. create a good market for them. If you know you will be here for at least 1-2 years and have the potential to stay long-term; I'd think it would make the most sense to lease a house for that 1-2 year timeframe; see if Chapel Hill is where you want to be, and then purchase a house once you are more familiar with the area and are sure you want to stay here.
Another option is to look for a summer sublet. There may still be a few of those around. Being in the area for a couple of months, even if you pay higher rent, might be enough time for you to decide if you want to buy or rent for longer.
I should clarify that the home we are selling is in Durham. We are also from this area. We have looked at numerous rentals and are obviously being too picky. Plus we have pets and four vehicles, which is a challenge. Thanks everyone for helping me sort this out.
Hard for me to fathom why someone would want to tie up almost half a million dollars in something they've already made up their mind they won't want to hold onto.
Hard for me to fathom why someone would want to tie up almost half a million dollars in something they've already made up their mind they won't want to hold onto.
Yeah, I just throw my loose change in a jar.
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