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Sell home or rent out?

jh2586 said:
TL;DR: Go for $120k profit to potentially invest in something bigger or rent out with $700 extra in pocket monthly on a growing investment? Active Army and must move out at end of year. No capital gains on sale

:dunno
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A note that if you sell it, you will typically pay 6% to the buyers and sellers agents in Texas and then the cost for repairs and maybe staging.

Then you will pay capital gains tax not on ~120K, but more because your taxes probably took advantage of depreciation every year.
 
Killroy1999 said:
A note that if you sell it, you will typically pay 6% to the buyers and sellers agents in Texas and then the cost for repairs and maybe staging.

Then you will pay capital gains tax not on ~120K, but more because your taxes probably took advantage of depreciation every year.
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Redfin has been 4% for a while now, that should pretty much be the ceiling. No capital gains if primary residence 2 out of previous 5 years.
 
If it was me, I would get out unless I was available locally to to over see the property management. The hassle is just too much from out of state, not to mention the multi-state income tax paperwork you'll have to pay for.

My 2 cents is take easy and low risk. Sell it, take the gains and put it in a short term stable investment product until you have your feet planted again, then reinvest in real estate wherever you are going to be settling for the next few years.
 
filing multi state using Turbotax is like ~$60 bucks more not a big deal I did it for years although I didn't deduct everything to nickel and dime it because it was more hassle and figured it would up my chances of being audited and wasn't worth the maybe $100 dollars of savings. Also I don't think TX has state income tax so they would only have to file federal so nothing extra there. Not sure if that applies only to job earnings or if it is also for rental income may be something to talk to someone local about.

One other tip is your could try renting it out for a year and see how you like it and then sell it later if you find renting out of state is not for you.
 
DrSwade said:
And most people will read these threads and say it won’t happen to them. It is admirable that people want to see the best in others but damn it hurts. Fool me 3,456 times, shame on me.
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I've had tenants in multiple states for the last 15 years. Only 1 was absolute HELL. Most, I've never had any real issues with that the property manager couldn't address within the detailed agreement.

I only landed this SHIT tenant as a favor. Lesson learned. EVERYONE does a background and credit screen now and you MUST meet min reqs.
 
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Yakoo752 said:
I've had tenants in multiple states for the last 15 years. Only 1 was absolute HELL. Most, I've never had any real issues with that the property manager couldn't address within the detailed agreement.

I only landed this SHIT tenant as a favor. Lesson learned. EVERYONE does a background and credit screen now and you MUST meet min reqs.
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My trick was having them come into my house for a meet/interview and the told them to drive around back and park in what will be their spot. Then I would see the fast food mess and assorted other shit. No smoking apt. but their car ashtray overflowing with butts.
I still got horrible people.
I had a really nice kid come with his mother, a dean at a university. She was all about seeing if the apt. was conducive to studying etc. Really nice people. I opted for a very high quality and expensive commercial carpet for him because the very first renter destroyed the carpet. I specifically told him to contact me if anything spilled or whatever as I would send up cleaners right away and we could sort the details later.
Within a week his absolutely ghetto friends started hanging out, smoking on the balcony and throwing the Black and Mild plastic tips right down into the commonway. Sucked up the profane nursery rhyme “music” and general party house atmosphere because by himself, he was very respectful.

When he moved out there was a massive stain in the ceter of the living room. I asked why and he said “Oh, we spilled some wine at my housewarming party.” Also he somehow cracked the bathroom sink and allowed water to seep into the cabinet for two years.
The repairs far exceeded the security and cleaning deposits.

The we got a total nutter who claimed everything we used around the house was “toxic” and affected her whatever that syndrome is that everything is toxic to them but they still fill thier cars with gas, no problem.
I did a quick shot of WD-40 on some rusted pliers and she stayed in a hotel for two nights and sent me the bill.

Last guy we rented to was a BARFer for $200 less than the normal rent. Great guy. Brought us baked goods and never a single issue.
 
JesasaurusRex said:
Redfin has been 4% for a while now, that should pretty much be the ceiling. No capital gains if primary residence 2 out of previous 5 years.
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Redfin is a option. Anyone use them?

I have heard that they run a lean ship, so I would not expect cusomer service, but if you see selling as just a transaction, then its probably worth it.
 
If they do I don't know about it, but I'm far from an expert and I suggest you do your sure diligence instead of taking my word for it.
 
DrSwade said:
My trick was having them come into my house for a meet/interview and the told them to drive around back and park in what will be their spot. Then I would see the fast food mess and assorted other shit. No smoking apt. but their car ashtray overflowing with butts.
I still got horrible people.
I had a really nice kid come with his mother, a dean at a university. She was all about seeing if the apt. was conducive to studying etc. Really nice people. I opted for a very high quality and expensive commercial carpet for him because the very first renter destroyed the carpet. I specifically told him to contact me if anything spilled or whatever as I would send up cleaners right away and we could sort the details later.
Within a week his absolutely ghetto friends started hanging out, smoking on the balcony and throwing the Black and Mild plastic tips right down into the commonway. Sucked up the profane nursery rhyme “music” and general party house atmosphere because by himself, he was very respectful.

When he moved out there was a massive stain in the ceter of the living room. I asked why and he said “Oh, we spilled some wine at my housewarming party.” Also he somehow cracked the bathroom sink and allowed water to seep into the cabinet for two years.
The repairs far exceeded the security and cleaning deposits.

The we got a total nutter who claimed everything we used around the house was “toxic” and affected her whatever that syndrome is that everything is toxic to them but they still fill thier cars with gas, no problem.
I did a quick shot of WD-40 on some rusted pliers and she stayed in a hotel for two nights and sent me the bill.

Last guy we rented to was a BARFer for $200 less than the normal rent. Great guy. Brought us baked goods and never a single issue.
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I think the trick is to really scrutinize your potential tenants and stick to the written criteria. If I do rent my place out, I don’t mind waiting an extra month or two to find the perfect tenants.

Also worth noting my solar panels will add like $150/mo to the rental price in exchange for essentially free energy since mine is rated at the annual Texas average of 13,000kwh
 
Dubbington said:
I don't agree with that. Vetting tenants is the key. My tenant after intervieiwieng about 6 is great. I feel she plans to be there for years.
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Dubs has it correct.

Doing your homework up front makes a huge difference, it's like hiring new employees, if you don't do your work up front you will probably be unhappy down the road.

Hiring a property manager is the same thing, don't just pick one from the internet or phone book, do your homework, remember that it's not their property so some will take the quick and easy route rather than doing due diligence. There are always going to be good people and bad people, just don't end up with the bad people.
 
I’ve have renters in Kansas, present family has been over 10 years with maybe 3 calls. A couple of bad renters that required clean up and paint which you need to do most any turnover. I have a management company and they got one of the dirty tenants. I visit yearly which is a deductible expense and check things out. The tax benefits are helpful.
You could refinance now to get some of the equity out and balance out cash and income if you go rental. Rental property rates are typically higher than owner occupied.
 
bikewanker said:
...You could refinance now to get some of the equity out and balance out cash and income if you go rental....
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Rather than a cash out refincance (use once), I would recomend a first lien HELOC (use over and over). --See my old HELOC thread if you can find at the bottom of the Sink.

The only good deal on a HELOC for rental property in Texas is the CMG All In One. Ask me how I know :laughing.
 
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