Comments on: How to sell your home fast…or not

By: Make Friends, Earn Money

Make Friends, Earn Money — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 19:19:41 +0000

At the moment the lettings/renting market is quite bouyant mainly because people are scared to buy for fear of going into negative equity, where the value of their mortgage is greater than the value of their actual property. I’d consider renting out for sure until the market stabalises a little more

By: Four Pillars Investing

Four Pillars Investing — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 10:02:39 +0000

[...] Gather Little by Little hasn’t had any luck selling his home so he is going to rent it out. Check out how to sell your home – or not! [...]

By: MITBeta @ Don't Feed The Alligators

MITBeta @ Don't Feed The Alligators — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 16:20:39 +0000

My parents are going through this right now and just signed a lease with tenants last week to rent their old house.

There’s a lot of great tax benefits to being a landlord, but be careful if you take some of Dan’s advice above. You have to “participate” in the management of the property in order for it to be considered “passive” income rather than “investment” income for tax purposes (and it makes a BIG difference). One way to accomplish this is to make the final decision on any tenants instead of just letting a management company make the decision for you.

Good luck, you’re not in an enviable situation.

By: Ron

Ron — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:17:53 +0000

A couple of other thoughts,

1. If you turn the house into a rental, there may be a stigma that goes along with that when you try and sell it….

2. If you have you house listed for a long period of time, there also may be a stigma with that for new buyers….

3. IMHO, never a good idea to even look at a new house until you have sold you old one. But sometimes, to get the house of your dreams this rule takes a back seat to emotions.

By: keri

keri — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:01:44 +0000

I found this post interesting because we’re currently in the opposite boat – we moved cross country from Raleigh to WA and we have been trying to rent our home out there for almost 3 months now with no tenants and no applications. Our home is priced to rent cheaply too, hundreds under market value with other incentives. It’s a fully loaded only 18 month old house.

Because of this we’re actually now turning to sell. We’re hoping to price it to sell quickly, the first time and we’ll probably pay 10-20k out of pocket with commissions and comps by the time it’s done but it’s well worth it to no longer have to hassle with it.

Good luck! =)

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:49:25 +0000

If you rent, remember that it’s far better not to have a tenant than to have the wrong tenant.
1) Don’t rent to friends or family or anyone you would feel uncomfortable kicking out if they don’t pay.
2) Check their credit and ask for references. Also, check to see how long they’ve worked at their jobs, what their future plans are for buying, why they are renting vs. buying, etc.
3) Don’t expect to make any money renting. You hope your cash flow will pay the mortgage, insurance, and upkeep on the house, then cash in when you eventually sell the house. This goes hand in glove with the idea of having good tenants rather than just having tenants. Good ones keep up the house. Bad ones trash it.

Good luck, whatever you decide!

By: Gina

Gina — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:41:39 +0000

Is there a Dave Ramsey ELP real estate person in your old neighborhood? To piggy back on “Ron’s” comment about dropping the asking price … Dave would tell you to drop the price too to get rid of it.

Good luck.

By: Ron

Ron — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:33:31 +0000

Sorry to hear about the difficulties with selling your old house. I did hear some savvy real estate people say that you can sell any house at any time as long as the price is correct for the market. They suggested that if you can afford it, in todays market you need to reduce your asking price 30% below the market value. The house will sell quickly. But, If you are like many others and used your old house as an ATM or took an equity loan to help buy the new house, you are in for a rocky road.

By: Forest

Forest — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:31:53 +0000

I tried to sell my house this Summer and it didn’t happen. So I’m renting it out (haven’t written a post about that yet, though). We actually just found a renter and signed the lease, so I’m sure I’ll have lots to write about on my blog as I jump into the real estate investment business. I’m a little nervous, but hoping that everything will work out in the end! Good luck to you!

By: Kacie

Kacie — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:49:26 +0000

I’m sorry it isn’t working the way you had hoped.

This is purely semantics, but stop thinking of your old house as a “home.” It’s not. It’s a house. A building. And now, it’s turning into a money pit.

Perhaps nobody is buying in your old town. But, maybe you’re right — maybe you need a new real estate agent.

Either way, forget what you “might be able to” sell it for in a year or two. Do you really want to be carrying two mortgages for that long? If you can afford to pay those dual expenses without it seriously hurting you, then go for it. But, realize that it could take even longer for it to sell. If that’s the case, consider the possibility of you and your family losing both houses.

Is the house priced too high? Seriously? Because if it is, you aren’t going to get any offers.

Be sure it’s priced as low as you can possibly go. Sell that thing. Be done with it. It’s not going to make you rich, but it could really make you broke.

If that doesn’t work and you do decide to be a landlord, it might be best to go through a company. You won’t be in the same city so you won’t be able to monitor the goings-on of the house as easily. Plus, they can help with screening the tenants.

Wishing you the best of luck!