New member- Olympia, wa

[Mary Rowe]

Hello! I’m excited to finally be on bigger pockets.com. I’ve been listening to the podcasts for awhile and finally decided to hop on here.

We bought a house out here and it has appreciated very well- about 100k above what we paid. We plan on relocation to CT and we’ve been trying to decide if we should sell or rent our home. The property wouldn’t produce cash flow, but definitely would appreciate well.. how do we decide what to do?

[Kristen L Garner]

Hi Mary, welcome! I'm sure this is a tough decision as there are benefits to both paths.  Best of luck with the relocation and if you ever need numbers ran I'm happy to help.  I work in both WA and CT. -Kristen

[Sherief Elbassuoni]

@Mary Rowe, make sure to take taxes into consideration. If you lived in the property two of the last 5 years, as a primary residence, you will save a lot of taxes

[Jake DeAtley]

Hi @Mary Rowe! I am a local investor and broker here in Olympia. I am based out of John L Scott - Olympia by the farmers market! I hold monthly investor meetings here as well. I'd be happy to chat with you about your options! 

[Tony Clark]

Quote from @Mary Rowe:

Hello! I’m excited to finally be on bigger pockets.com. I’ve been listening to the podcasts for awhile and finally decided to hop on here.

We bought a house out here and it has appreciated very well- about 100k above what we paid. We plan on relocation to CT and we’ve been trying to decide if we should sell or rent our home. The property wouldn’t produce cash flow, but definitely would appreciate well.. how do we decide what to do?

 So I have been in this same situation and the way I look at it is this: Assuming you would actually PROFIT 100k (ater closing and taxes if there are any) you have 100k in your pocket to reinvest in something else that could potentially make you more money in a shorter time frame than keeping the home and hoping it appreciates at the same rate it has over the last few years.  

So the ball is really in your court as to what you think you can do with 100k (or whatever you end up with after the sale is complete). If you think you could roll that into another investment and make a good ROI (return on investment) than I would recommend selling the house and taking the cash. If you dont think you can roll that money into something else and quickly start profitting from it than it may just be best to hold on to your property and play the long game on it.

Me personally, Id sell it and find something to reinvest that money in. :D  Thats just me though. 

Good luck! 

[Justin Windham]

@Mary Rowe

It’s nice to have you here!

This is a great forum with very knowledgeable members that will help to guide you in the right direction.

If you haven’t checked it out already, the Bigger Pockets blog features links to their awesome podcast and many great articles: https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/

The site has quite a few tools that can be helpful for new members. For example, if you are looking to connect with other members near you, want to learn from people in a specific area you’d like to invest in, or have a desire to find people interested in certain topics, you could start your search here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/search/users

[Jonathan Avellaneda]

Welcome to the BP community Mary! I am in pierce county, but used to live in Lacey so i know the Olympia area as well. In order to make a decision like this it's time to compare numbers. How much would your property rent for? I am curious to know why you think it won't cash flow? If you are looking strictly at long term rents and the numbers don't work, have you considered other strategies? In Washington,with it's high prices , we often need to get creative to make properties cash flow. Short term renting lends to a higher cash flow than the traditional rent. You could also look into renting by the room, either long or short term. I have also noticed a sweet spot, depending on your location in Olympia, for mid term rentals to travelling professionals like nurses. 

Try to run through some of these scenarios and see what type of income the property might produce before determining that it does not actually cash flow. If at that point it is still negative, then I would see what the home would sell for and see what the net proceeds I would receive might be. Look around and see what you could use that money for in CT and see if it would be a better return than your current situation. No one has a crystal ball so I would not count on continued double digit appreciation in home values here, but it would be a bonus if it continues.

let me know if you want to chat about any of this and welcome once again!