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Good point! That’s how I’m looking at the situation also.
Just on the surface it would take well over 12 years to break even. That’s assuming you didn’t just invest the lump sum from the sale, properly invested you simply might never catch up. That also doesn’t take into account damages, vacancies, how much of the $2,000 collected would actually be profit as I imagine some would be covering taxes and insurance.. again, renting out a place is about leverage. Buying a $300k place with $60k down. Renting it for $2,500 a month. Getting some monthly cashflow while the tenant pays down your mortgage and the house price increases... with a home that’s fully paid off during a bubble you may honestly never make in rent what you’d make by just selling and investing they $... and I’m very pro rental property.
Yes we are two miles from the old house. But I want to just move on.
Another option might be to keep the house and rent it. Then when your kid is ready for college, get a HELOC or home equity loan on the house to pay for college. Then use the rent to pay the loan back. Just have to see what a bank would give you in loans on an investment property.
Yes we are two miles from the old house. But I want to just move on.
Has your husband specified exactly what about being a landlord appeals to him? Aside from financial (i.e. tax, considerations) there are other things to consider about being a landlord, especially when you live so close to your former home. Will he manage the property himself or pay for a property manager? Will he personally "vet" the potential renters? How will either of you feel if you drive by the house and the lawn or yard is overgrown and there is junk in the yard? Will he be willing to confront the tenant over issues like that? If he is personally managing the property is he prepared to get calls at all hours about emergency repairs? (I once had a call from a tenant that the toilet had broken after he fell against the sink and it fell off the wall into the toilet. ). Is he prepared to go through the eviction process, which can be a PIA, if needed?
These are issues you need to discuss with your husband before deciding whether to rent or sell the house, IMHO. Hopefully the tenants would be good as gold and pay up front every month and keep the house spotless. But you need to be prepared for the alternative and how much hassle you would want to deal with.
We have a good problem to have. We have house that is paid for, we moved out almost two years ago because our forever house sort of landed in our lap and went ahead and bought it. I always wanted to sell, my husband thought to rent. Well I am embarrassed to say that our old house has been sitting mostly empty for that long. I finally said it’s time, so we have been painting and fixing it up to get ready to sell. We can likely sell it for 290k. My husband still thinks we should rent, especially during these uncertain times. We can probably get 2k a month. Something about being a landlord appeals to him, I’d rather have money in the bank. Pros and cons to both please if you can advise! Thank you!
I was one of those "accidental landlords." Got a job transfer in 2008 that I really wanted, but because of the housing market crash I was upside down in my mortgage and couldn't sell my house. So someone suggested renting it, but the thought made me sick... I tried it though, and am still renting it out - in addition to two others that I've bought since then.
It hasn't been perfect, but overall it's been one of the best decisions I've ever made. And I don't plan to sell any of them unless I absolutely have to.
And if I can retire in five years like I want, then I plan to use the income from them as my retirement income.
I was in a somewhat similar position in 2015 when I had to move for a job and had to decide whether to sell or rent out our house at the time. I put it simultaneously for sale and for rent and decided to take whichever would move faster since I had approx. $2500/mo carrying costs. I rented it out to tenants who haven't moved yet, which is great. However, I have had good years and bad years. I'm still in a net profit over the last five years but last year was a bloodbath and ate into 2.5 years of profit (HVAC, appliances, etc- everything decided that 2019 was their year). Just got another call last night that another HVAC went out.
My tenants are dream tenants- always pay on time, accept reasonable rent increases every year without complaint, don't ask for much at all... and I still hate being a landlord. Can't wait until they move out so that I can sell it- I already have enough headaches maintaining my own house, let alone two. All in, I make about the same compared to if I sold the house and put the net equity into an S&P 500 fund (my returns are approx equal to 10% of the equity every year, except last year when I took a bath).
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). Is he prepared to go through the eviction process, which can be a PIA, if needed? 
