Sell or rent out - DC row house

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For sure, keep it. Housing prices are accelerating in the wrong direction (up), mortgage rates won’t be coming down and you will have your pick of strong tenants.

Find an excellent property manager. They will make sure all ducks are in a row and they will properly screen applicant tenants. (Each adult should have 740 credit, a job that can pay the rent and no history of trouble making rent or mortgage payments … no evictions or foreclosures.) if you can find a tenant who is here temporarily, then you are assured they will leave at the end of the lease.

This would be my response if not for the neighbor. Crazy bad neighbors ruin it. Could cause issues with tenants (especially if they are great tenants -- you risk losing them if need gigabit harasses them) and make it significantly less likely OP will return to the house.

I would view this as a good excuse to sell the house. Yes, prices are going up, but sounds like OP already has decent equity in this home and can camp those funds in safe investments with a similar rate of return until they are ready to buy again, thanks to higher interest rates.

The mental relief of being free if that neighbor would be huge for me.

[Anonymous]

*increased income overseas

[Anonymous]

Op, rent it out if you could. You might not see 3% rates for years now.

[Anonymous]

Op - def hold the TH. Homes are in short supply and that neighbor won’t be there forever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your potential tenant is going to be complaining big time about the neighbor. And do you want to live next to this neighbor when you move back? I personally would sell.

This. Plus even with a property manager it still takes time to be a landlord and can be a headache.

You can also run the numbers - between paying the property manager (20% rent), mortgage, and maintenance (even if it's in good shape there will be maintenance - especially with renters), and potential for it to have significant turnover/empty months due to a bad neighbor, I doubt it would be worth it versus investing the proceeds.

Sell and invest the money. Use that money to buy a new place when/if you return in a neighborhood where the schools would work for your kid.

[Anonymous]

FYI, Property manager is 8-10% of the rent. Never 20%. Unless you rent to careless tenants, maintenance should not be a big deal.

[Anonymous]

I would normally say to rent it but you say that the neighbor may be a threat to your safety and is likely to stay...for that reason, I'd probably sell. Your safety is the most important thing.

[Anonymous]

We rent our row home, have a property management company, live in another state, and make a profit.

[Anonymous]

What is the neighbor doing that is dangerous? Is it impossible to avoid him?

[Anonymous]

Hold it, for sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your potential tenant is going to be complaining big time about the neighbor. And do you want to live next to this neighbor when you move back? I personally would sell.

This. Plus even with a property manager it still takes time to be a landlord and can be a headache.

You can also run the numbers - between paying the property manager (20% rent), mortgage, and maintenance (even if it's in good shape there will be maintenance - especially with renters), and potential for it to have significant turnover/empty months due to a bad neighbor, I doubt it would be worth it versus investing the proceeds.

Sell and invest the money. Use that money to buy a new place when/if you return in a neighborhood where the schools would work for your kid.

Who pays property managers' 20%? LOL! Max 6-7% of the rent is what's needed otherwise they are taking you to cleaners.

[Anonymous]

I have a property manager. It takes NONE of my time, except the time it takes to move a rent check over to my account.

The prop manager takes 8% a month and is worth all of it.

[Anonymous]

All of this about decent tenants can be true, but if you plan on coming back there is literally no way to get the renters back out unless they want to leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You still have pat to tax on period your house was rented . So you can not get full 500 k exclusion .taxable gain will prorated on that 1 year you are renting out .

No

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure you'll be back? I hear people say this, but then another opportunity arises and they stay or end up going somewhere else or "come back", but schools/yard/crime push them into the 'burbs where they would have ended up anyway.

+1, btdt - the neighborhood won’t even feel the same to you after 3 years away.

It might not feel the same, but it will still be the same location—as in: not farther out.