So we’ve owned our SIngle family home for 3 years and are about to move overseas for 3 years (I’m an officer in military). We will definitely be renting a home overseas.
Is it best to sell this home when we move this summer or rent it out for 3+ years (then possibly sell when we return to USA).
We owe 273k on house. Zillow says it’s worth $295k. I think we could rent it for $1800/mo. Our mortgage + hoa comes to $1475/mo. House has 4 beds, 2.5 baths (2300 sq ft) plus finished basement (1000 sq ft with “bedroom” and another bath.
My thought was 3 years of renting it out would reduce principle and hopefully home would appreciate.
Investor · Columbus, GA · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
7y
@Mike Carollo I would definitely sell it. Best case scenario, it gets rented to the perfect tenant and they always pay on time, nothing breaks in 3 years, the property manager is excellent, and the tenant stays the entire 3 years. You will barely cover your expenses. Yes, 3 years of mortgage pay down is great, but then what will the market look like in 3 years? Nobody knows. Recession? Boom? Now wake up and stop dreaming. The above scenario is never going to happen. I would sell. If you break even, great. It's better to lose some cheese to get out of the trap.
Rental Property Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2018 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
7y
@Mike Carollo In your situation the headache/risk is not worth the estimated return. The market is at or near the top so I wouldn't bank on future appreciation. Property management takes 10-12% of that $1800 each month. As a long distance investor you can't DIY anything or save money fixing leaking plumbing. I'd sell the property in the spring when things heat up. Good luck!