Question about renting or selling in Bergen County NJ

[Sam Wise]

Hi,

I'm planning to move to Florida due to a job change, and am not sure whether to rent out my current house in Bergen County or sell it outright. House is a side by side in Fort Lee, built in 2016, bought for 760k. I have the option of either selling it now, or rent it out and use the cash flow to pay my mortgage. I guess the source of my confusion is that I'm not sure how easy or difficult it is to rent a house in my area with a relatively high rent (upwards of 4k a month). Do properties in this rent range rent out relatively easily in Bergen county? Also, how much time on market should I plan for, because I will have to pay mortgage in two places for whatever time the house is on the market so need to plan accordingly. Any pointers much appreciated.

- Sam.

[Kevin Hill]

With COVID, not only has it affected the sales market, which has very low inventory, it has affected the house rental market also. Took a quick look on the MLS, there are only 2 house rentals in the entire town of Fort Lee right now on the market. One is priced at $3500 (6 days on the market) and the other one is $4200. The $4200 does currently have an accepted tenant on it (leased not signed yet), but that one was on the market for 66 days. It's not a newer, side by side home like yours though.

For the past 12 months, according to NJMLS stats, average days on the market for house rentals in Fort Lee is 60 days. $4000 isn't a super high rental for Fort Lee, as of the 38 house rentals, the house rentals average rent price was $4342 and the median was $3500.