Orlando, FL · Member since 2015 · 26 posts · 3 votes
I live in Florida, my Mother lives in Quebec. We are both on the title to her house. Sadley, i will need to make a decision about her property in the next coming months and I would like to get some advice.
The house is completely paid for and, I am told, it has greatly increased in value. Due to the two countries situation (taxes, legistics) I don't know if it would be best to sell it outright, or use it as a rental property. The latter raises more questions such as rental agencies etc in Quebec.
You are probably better off selling it. Do you currently invest in real estate, or would this be a one-time thing? If you want to get into real estate investing, use the proceeds from the sale to purchase multiple properties closer to home. If you are not an investor and do not want to be an investor, then definitely sell it. Put the cash in an account that will make you some money without the work of managing a portfolio.
Another option is to take out a home equity loan or line of credit and rent it out. That way you get the cash as if you sold, but you maintain control of the house, and can continue to benefit from rental income. That strategy would depend on the specifics of the property.
As @Gabriel Caron stated, the ROI is usually higher in Florida than in Quebec. I know there are a lot of Quebec investors who are investing in Florida presicely because deals are easier to find there, at least from a cashflow perspective. Because of rent control from the Régie du logement, rents tend to not increase as fast as in other places.
When it comes to single family homes, the cashflow you can get here is not that great. You'll be lucky if the monthly rent hits 0.5% of the property value. If I were you, I would sell off the property and buy a nice cashflowing appartment building (as big as you can afford with 20% down), while having a property manager take care of the everyday tasks.
A good option is to rent it and do a cash out refinance once rented. You can use the proceeds from the purchase other investment properties. Indeed Florida returns are higher than Quebec's but lower than Texas's :) (Everything is bigger in Texas).
Jokes appart, I help foreign investor (are you a US or Canadian citizen?) invest here in our stable and profitable Texas market. If if is of interest to you feel free to PM me.