Husband made a terrible investment and won't admit it

[Anonymous]

Before we got married, my husband bought two 2br/2ba condos along the Orange Line corridor. Bought one (which we currently live in) in 2006 for $600K, on which our monthly payment + taxes + condo fee is $2700. Bought the other in 2008 for $550K with only a $110K down payment, which makes the monthly payment + taxes + condo fee $3000. Like an idiot, husband did the math on the investment without taking property tax into consideration, so he was thinking it would be $2500 monthly expense, and that's what he set the rent at. So we get $2500 in rent and pay $3000 out every month on this stupid condo. According to Zillow the value has risen to $600K, so we could sell it now and after taxes/realtor fees and considering the $30K we have already spent on it, we would just about get our money back. Which we NEED to do because we're about to have 2 kids living with us* and need to move from our 2br to a 3br somewhere nearby. We currently have $80K in cash savings and are adding to it at the rate of $3K/month, but since we're about to have daycare expenses of $2K/month, that rate of savings is not likely to last long. Husband is DELUSIONAL and thinks we can save up a downpayment for a 3br place in Arlington in a year without selling the other condo and can easily afford to swing the $2K/month in daycare expenses while throwing $500/month down the toilet on this unfortunate investment.

I just don't even know what to do. He gets VERY defensive any time I bring it up. Maybe reality will smack him in the face when confronted with the actual situation of having to pay for daycare + trying to squeeze 4 people into a 2br condo. But I would really like to do this NOW before we suddenly become parents to 2 kids and taking care of stuff like this becomes exponentially more difficult!

Anyone have any ideas?

*I'm pregnant right now with our first kid and we're also becoming the legal guardians of my school-age nephew, long story.

[Anonymous]

Can you raise the rent?
How much are you saving now?

[Anonymous]

Can you schedule an appointment with a financial planner? You can say that because your family circumstances are about to change, you want to make sure you both have everything covered and could benefit from a professional's advice.

My thinking is a that neutral third party will be able to help you navigate this conversation. He may not be able to hear this from you because there is a lot of emotion involved. But from a neutral outsider, he may be able to understand this.

[Anonymous]

OP- why is DH wanting to hold on to them to begin with? is he under the impression that the values will increase?

Have you spoken to an agent that's an expert in condos in your area? maybe DH is an idiot now but if prices sky rocket as they have been, maybe he won't be such an idiot after all. although I do agree with you that he made a HUGE error in not including taxes and insurance in his calculations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP- why is DH wanting to hold on to them to begin with? is he under the impression that the values will increase?

Have you spoken to an agent that's an expert in condos in your area? maybe DH is an idiot now but if prices sky rocket as they have been, maybe he won't be such an idiot after all. although I do agree with you that he made a HUGE error in not including taxes and insurance in his calculations.

Yes, he thinks the values will increase, plus he has an irrational emotional attachment to investing in real estate (he's from a country where a lot of people, including his father, built wealth this way instead of in the stock market). Prices may very well go up in the future. But that doesn't do us any good right now because we need cash to buy a 3br place and it's not going to come from the Down Payment Fairy. I just don't understand why husband won't accept that selling this money-hemmorhaging condo is the best way to get the cash we need. Of course he will eventually have to accept it, because the math is what it is and you can't argue with math. I am just so frustrated that he's going to learn it the hard way instead of listening to reason. He's acting like a toddler!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you schedule an appointment with a financial planner? You can say that because your family circumstances are about to change, you want to make sure you both have everything covered and could benefit from a professional's advice.

My thinking is a that neutral third party will be able to help you navigate this conversation. He may not be able to hear this from you because there is a lot of emotion involved. But from a neutral outsider, he may be able to understand this.

You're right, I should definitely look into this. I know my attitude that he's being an idiot isn't helping the situation at all. Maybe hearing it in nicer terms from a neutral 3rd party would be the kick in the pants he needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you raise the rent?
How much are you saving now?

Yes, that's one of the things I asked him to look into. If he won't sell the damn thing we should at least raise the rent so we're only throwing away $200/month instead of $500. I think $2800 is a reasonable price to pay anyway for a new, spacious, 2br2ba along the Orange Line.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you raise the rent?
How much are you saving now?

Yes, that's one of the things I asked him to look into. If he won't sell the damn thing we should at least raise the rent so we're only throwing away $200/month instead of $500. I think $2800 is a reasonable price to pay anyway for a new, spacious, 2br2ba along the Orange Line.

I would never pay that kind of money for a 2bdrm on the orange line. When you raise rent you also run the risk of longer periods of vacancy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you raise the rent?
How much are you saving now?

Yes, that's one of the things I asked him to look into. If he won't sell the damn thing we should at least raise the rent so we're only throwing away $200/month instead of $500. I think $2800 is a reasonable price to pay anyway for a new, spacious, 2br2ba along the Orange Line.

I would never pay that kind of money for a 2bdrm on the orange line. When you raise rent you also run the risk of longer periods of vacancy.

I just checked Craigslist and that is exactly the going rate for 2br/2ba apartments in our condo building. Frankly I do think that rent is a bit ridiculous, but people are apparently paying it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you raise the rent?
How much are you saving now?

Yes, that's one of the things I asked him to look into. If he won't sell the damn thing we should at least raise the rent so we're only throwing away $200/month instead of $500. I think $2800 is a reasonable price to pay anyway for a new, spacious, 2br2ba along the Orange Line.

I would never pay that kind of money for a 2bdrm on the orange line. When you raise rent you also run the risk of longer periods of vacancy.

I just checked Craigslist and that is exactly the going rate for 2br/2ba apartments in our condo building. Frankly I do think that rent is a bit ridiculous, but people are apparently paying it.

The rents on craigslist are asking rents. You need the effective rents-what people are actually paying.

[Anonymous]

No opinion on your situation but really you need to put less identifying information in your posts when you are also going to be discussing your financial matters and providing exact money details.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No opinion on your situation but really you need to put less identifying information in your posts when you are also going to be discussing your financial matters and providing exact money details.

Why? It's more info than I probably would have shared, but what's the harm?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you raise the rent?
How much are you saving now?

Yes, that's one of the things I asked him to look into. If he won't sell the damn thing we should at least raise the rent so we're only throwing away $200/month instead of $500. I think $2800 is a reasonable price to pay anyway for a new, spacious, 2br2ba along the Orange Line.

I would never pay that kind of money for a 2bdrm on the orange line. When you raise rent you also run the risk of longer periods of vacancy.

I just checked Craigslist and that is exactly the going rate for 2br/2ba apartments in our condo building. Frankly I do think that rent is a bit ridiculous, but people are apparently paying it.

Depends where on orange line. Clarendon, courthouse, Rosslyn, a few blocks from metr, if it is in nice condition and has a parking pace, you could get 2800. Is it month to month and if not When is the lease up?

Why not stay in the two bedroom for a while? You can sleep with the baby in your room.

[Anonymous]

With depreciation you shouldn't be out the full $500 on cashflow. What do your taxes look like this year?

[Anonymous]

OP, if you rent our your place for $2800 you will net $100, and can use it to offset the other rental. You could raise that rent as well, but if you get good tenants, I would keep them happy. Have you refinanced lately? Just remember that you have to run all the numbers together...that is, don't just run the one rental condo by itself.