Sell it or Rent it .

Ok . I just spent 2 days doing what a hate more than anything . Hauling off leaves from Dads old place that has been passed down to us . I've done this every year for about 10 years now . It usally means two loads in my 8x20 equipment trailer adding 4' sides boards to get them all in . Thats after I compact the crap outta the oak leaves by stomping all over them with my big feet .The place has more damn oak trees than you can shake a stick at . I'm ready to sell it and my siblings want to rent it till the housing market improves . Its going to need remodel upgrades work soon and I am sure it will get trashed if we rent it . I would rather sell it "as is" and open it up to a larger market by keeping the price down and let someone else remodel it the way they want .Hell ,there is nothing wrong with it now other than it has the older 1970's style look to it . I can see a $50,000 remodel if we decide to upgrade it . I do not see the housing selling market improving for a hell of a long time .
So the housing market sucks right now but rent prices are still up in our area .

At best we "may" gain 30% by remodeling before we sell but then we have a $50,000 remodel bill to deduct from the profit margin .

Renting "May" gain $1500-2000 a month while waiting for the market to improve , but if it gets trashed then we are looking at repairing that damage before rerenting or selling .

OPINIONS ????

That's a tough one Al. Your siblings may not be as financially settled as you are so a few thousand here or there may mean a lot more to them than it does to you.

I think your concern about the house getting trashed by renters is very real. We rented out my wife's uncle's farm house and to cut a long story short, they destroyed the place before leaving. It took almost 2 years of the rental cost to get the place fixed back up to where it was habitable again so there was no financial gain in renting it in the first place.

If you don't want it, which you obviously don't, and non of your siblings want to buy the others out, I'd be tempted to put it on the market at a knock down price as is just to get rid of it and close up the estate. As I said before, your siblings might squeal at that option though but knowing you to be the person that you are, I'm sure you will make the best decision for all concerned.

You didn't hear it from me, but I have this one cousin who has the amazing psychic ability to sense heat.

He can tell which buildings are about to burn down long before people smell smoke.

His wife owns one of those commerical cleaning services that gets the smell of smoke out of valuables, her no-brother-good-inlaw owns a garbage hauling business and I think we have some relations in the arson investigation community.

Cousin Alan's birthday is coming up. I'll ask.

You could consider a land contract for the right person. This may allow you to get a better price out of it. And since the tenants are the potential or hopefully owners they may take care of or may even improve the place. But if you just put a renter in there I think you'd regret it sooner or later. Housing market may be like the stock market. The value of things once were may be just a memory for quite some time. We may have just seen the glory days in housing, and may over time realize new lower values. We may not like it but it could be the new reality.

The option to sell or rent seems to be a little more out of your hands than you think. I guess if you don't care about the house sitting empty for a long time while it's on the market you could opt to sell. Not knowing what the siblings level of interest is and proximity to the property but maybe if you rented it they could participate in the landlord role. There is always the option of letting a management company handle the landlord part. Like renters though you need to do your homework. They could be just as bad as the folks renting. Also, the as is aspect presents and interesting scenario. Market trends nationwide seem to indicate that people are not looking for fixer uppers like they used to. They're wanting it updated and move in ready. Needless to say that doesen't mean you won't find the right person, it just means you may have to wait a little longer for that person to come along. Another issue too is if someone is in need of financing. In as much as the money is there, qualifying for it is another story. All the rule changes have eliminated alot of potential customers from the mix. Any chance of finding a potential renter from the professional ranks? Teacher, cop, business executive or such...

Anyway, just some thoughts Al.

I believe the renting option would hinge on what class of renter you could attract. There's the higher end folks who aren't as likely to rip the place up and will be more vigilant in reporting problems before they get outta hand. Then, there's the "trailer trash" element that'll let the place go to hell and just move on, leaving you with something a notch or two above the city dump.

If you can't get good renters, sell it for whatever you can get and get on with life.

Just My Opinion.

Thanks guys ,
Your answer mirrors my thoughts . I have owned rental houses in the past and for every good renter you get 5 that don't get a Sh*T . I may try to go the owner finacing option with a hefty down .Keep the selling price down At least if we end back up with it we have the down payment money to repair it .

Besides I am a "Interest" man . I love to collect interest on loans . That way we can pick up a little more income and keep the brother and sister happy too .

Happy to help, Al.

BigAl said:

Thanks guys ,
Your answer mirrors my thoughts . I have owned rental houses in the past and for every good renter you get 5 that don't get a Sh*T . I may try to go the owner finacing option with a hefty down .Keep the selling price down At least if we end back up with it we have the down payment money to repair it .

Besides I am a "Interest" man . I love to collect interest on loans . That way we can pick up a little more income and keep the brother and sister happy too .

Click to expand...

This was my first thought, if you have no debt on the place, sell it owner financed, that way even with a down market you are getting interest. Even consider a buyout in say 5 years or so.........where they agree to pay it off or negotiate a new loan with you and the sibs.

We own my mom's house, me, 2 sibs and her. When she is gone this is going to be an issue of sorts. Our Aunt lives there with her and I am for her staying till she wants to move on, house is long ago paid for, only taxes and insurance to pay. My bro thinks it is worth only about 100K.........I will buy him out in a nano second if he wants, sis I am not sure about, but I am the deciding one..........whatever the title is over the estate. I hope to be long time debt free myself when this time comes, but I know my sibs are not close to being.

Donate it to charity. You will need the tax deductions this year.