Buying new primary residence. Rent or sell current home?

Question

Hi all. I'm not a big contributor but I'm a regular reader of the forums. Thank you all to those who take the time to post.

Current home's value is about $385,000 and we owe $190k with 13 years left on a 15 year mortgatge. PTI is $1,900 a month. We can probably get $2,200 in rent.

Besides current home we have 3 rentals.

I'm a big proponent of paying off mortgages and debt even on our rentals. Rentals are 10 year mortgages that cash flow $0. Goal is to retire at 50-55 and live off rental income and have all debt paid off. I'm 39.

Do I take our current home and make it 4 rentals? Have it paid off in 13 years and live off the additional rental income? Or sell current home and roll equity into new primary residence?

New home is $375k. If we keep current home as rental, we would have to do a 20 year mortgage on new primary residence. We'd use HELOC on current home for 20% down if we kept it as a rental. If we roll over equity it'd be a 10 or 15 year mortgage.

My wife is a property manager and is concerned about current home and issues that tenants would complain about. Our current home does have issues. Foundation issues. That's why we got it so cheap. (However, if I were to do it over again I'd do it in a heartbeat!) Example of issues: front window squeals when windy outside, lots of concrete around pool is severely cracked. Four or five cracks in stucco outside with each crack being several feet long. Drywall cracks would need filling every couple of years. Stucco and drywall cracks would be repaired before we rent/sell. These type of issues would most likely continue. My wife worries that the tenants would be constant headaches with all the repairs that might be needed. I should mention wife would do all the coordination with repairs if it were to be rented.

I want to keep our current home. She wants to sell it. What should we do? Keeping it gets me one rental home closer to retiring at 55.

If we sell it, I'm worried about running into DTI ratios on trying to qualify for other higher 1.5k to 2.0k rent homes. Plus market is too high right now to even make the numbers work. So keeping current home relieves that issue and gives us our 4th rental. I don't see us acquiring a home of this value anytime soon.

Irina Belkofer · Answer

I'd kept the current home because it's cash flowing and you get new mortgage on your "liability" home. This way your current home became an asset.

As for repairs - it the order to sell it, you will have to fix the issues because buyers do have their inspection as well.

But if you roll your equity into your home, it's alternative cost will the your new mortgage %%.

So, this way your $195Kwill be working with your new mortgage rate while it could be paid off by your tenants and get sold when market is very high again.

Tenants usually complains about everyday problems: A/C doesn't work, toilet clogged, facet is not working.

All these cracks etc - it's the owners problem and Tenants seldom worry about that.

Bottom line: I'd use $195K in investment property if it gives you more return than new current mortgage rate.

But you have to factor PM even if your wife does it for free.

If the ROI is less than the rate - sell it and pay less in your mortgage.

ps I think using leverage will get you to your goal quicker than paying off all mortgages....but each their own

Buying new primary residence. Rent or sell current home?

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