Sell or rent out home at times like this? (San Antonio: for sale, leasing) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

daluu · 02-23-2010, 12:04 AM

I have a home in SA that I don't live in year round. It's near the 1604 & Culebra area.

In these current economic times, considering the housing and rental market in SA, would it make more sense to sell the house or try to rent it out? I'm not around SA much so don't monitor the market closely.

But it looks like the neighborhood prices haven't changed much since I got the home and not sure if I can get back what I paid when selling.

Just wanted to get some opinions on the matter.

scuba steve · 02-23-2010, 12:27 AM

Without knowing any specifics about the house, competition from new construction or what places similar in size and quality actually rent out for it's hard to tell. It seems that some sections of the city have been doing better that others though as far as homes for sale go. From what I've been told it's mainly the parts that have no competition from new housing going up. Where there truly is a fixed supply.

daluu · 02-23-2010, 12:40 AM

Some info...it's a 4 bed, 2 bath, around 2500 sq ft, about 2 yrs old, in a new construction neighborhood, though the new home construction in the neighborhood is about done by now. I bought for around $168k, Mortgage + tax/ins escrow account is about $1200/mo.

scuba steve · 02-23-2010, 03:03 AM

I did some searching and rental prices are all over the place in that area. Don't know if the link will work for someone else, but here's the search I did (rentals.com / 78253 / single family homes):

78253 Houses And Homes for Rent

Depending on where it is relative to the others, you may have a hard time renting it out for that $1,200/mo. Unless it's a lot nicer than the ones shown, and even in that case you'd have to take into account either the risk of letting it out yourself vs. the ~10% I've been told that property management companies like to charge.

I'm not too familiar with that part of town so I've got no idea what they sell for over there. New construction abounds though from what I've seen. Not necessarily in one's own neighborhood but people compete with the new construction going up just down the road. Why pay X amount when you can go to the next neighborhood and get a newer, similar floorplan from the same builder for less is kind of what I've been hearing from coworkers that moved that direction.

Verio · 02-23-2010, 05:43 AM

Also, as a career renter myself (we move around A LOT), if you are not renting it out for at least a year, you will find a lot of renters reluctant to move in. I need a warm fuzzy from the Landlord, knowing that my family's not going to get kicked to the curb in 6 months, etc.

Sharpydove · 02-23-2010, 05:59 AM

78253 encompasses a HUGE area... we are in WC and the renters next door pay $1600 a month for a 3000 sq ft home. We have two friends, both live in Alamo Ranch, that were forced to rent and they get $1500 and $1650 for their homes. We have another friend in Bella Vista and they get $1650.
I feel for the OP... we are going to be in the same boat, having bought in 2006. In fact, our realtor friend says they call those of us who bought that year "the 06'ers"... the most screwed b/c we bought at the top. Good luck finding a great renter.

SAAggiemom · 02-23-2010, 06:09 AM

As of January,we have less than a 5 month supply of homes in that price range in San Antonio. A 6 month supply is considered balanced, not favoring the buyer or the seller. Actually everything below $225 is quite healthy here. You never know what someone will pay for your house until you put it on the market. It doesn't hurt to try. You can always revert back to leasing.
Good luck whatever you decide.

daluu · 03-13-2010, 10:34 PM

Thanks for all the comments.

Paka · 03-14-2010, 07:33 AM

We sold our house in Westcreek in 38 days last fall...so don't let anyone tell you that you can not sell a home in that zip code that size (ours was 3,000 sq ft). You need to ensure it is in great shape, and be reasonable in your pricing, but homes do sell. We also had rented that home (last time in 2003) for $1,800 per month, and we never had a problem getting/keeping renters. I think you will be fine either way. Good luck on your decision and move.

feistygecko · 03-14-2010, 12:48 PM

We sold our home in September. It took us about 100 days to sell and I am told that was about average for San Antonio. We are having a house built so I had to look for a 6month lease on a rental home. That was difficult. Also, renters were not willing to hold the property for two weeks. I was told from several rental companies that the average time on market for a rental home is 1.5 weeks. When house buying market is bad (which it is), then the rental market takes off. Also, rental prices are pretty high right now. Given this information, I would be very tempted to rent out my house. HOWEVER, I do not want to be inconvenienced with the effort it takes to deal with renters. And even if I used a property management company, I do not want to deal with the trashing of my house. No matter how well intentioned a renter is, they will not put the same care into it as if they owned the house.