As we are getting to the point where we need to be in Cali, because school will be starting before we know it. I still go back and forth on what to do with our house here in Utah.
I'm working my buns off this week, to have it ready to list. I know, I know, I should have had it up months ago, but its not that easy! Being here alone with 5 kids, baseball every Saturday, pretty much all day, doesn't leave much time!
We have been looking at rentals in Cali, because we will have to rent at least for a bit, until our house sells.
Here's where I need advice. I was thinking recently that we may not want to buy quite yet in Corona. Rays job that he transferred with, was just to get us out there. Its not his career, its a job. Again, I know, we are a little old to not have a career yet, but that's a whole other post, including daddy trying to go through college the last five years since Jax, nearly being impossible! Anyway, when he finishes school, or gets his permits, what if he gets a job in another city, and we have to turn around and sell again? If we sold our house, we would just keep the money in the bank until we were ready to buy.
Then I wonder, should we rent our house here for a bit? I hear housing prices will probably still drop for a while, so is it a good idea to let our house drop more before selling? The rent we would get from this house would almost pay our rent in Cali, but since the house isn't sold, we'd still have our house payment here, which is small, because its just a home equity loan.
I just worry that if we put our house up, and it takes a while to sell, we would soon not be able to afford both the rent in Cali, and the house payment here. Although I'm also hearing here in Utah, if you price your house right, it will sell fast, which we can do.
So what do you think? Just sell the house, or rent it out for a while?
Please, I go back and forth on what to do! My brain is going to explode!
And since we've been gone for a while, and I know you are joansing for you cute kid pics, here is my tornado in action. And since we are home, regular posting with cute pics will resume!
Seriously, this girl is a real live tornado! She doesn't sit still for 5 seconds! I guess that's a typical, almost 2 year old, right!
See that big yellow bottle of baby soap? She emptied the WHOLE thing in the bathtub!
Uh, this much soap is starting to burn my eyes.....
And make lots of bubbles. HELP!!
i would schedule an appointment with a couple different realtors. they will give you a better idea of what to do. they can tell you what they think your home is worth and what they would list it at to get it to sell and how quickly they think it would see. if you plan on selling, i would invest in a maid service. totally worth the hundred or so dollars to keep your home sparkly. all you would have to do before a showing is tidy up a bit. if you do rent it out, i would suggest going through a property management group. that way they can screen tenants for you and take care of all the little crap. especially if something needs fixing. there is my advice to you!
ReplyDeleteHi Lacey,
ReplyDeleteThis is Peter, Stephanie's husband.
I have some experience dealing with tenants and as a real estate broker.
I can not imagine dealing with tenants or a management company by long distance. You may have more problems coming your way, than you bargain for. For example: non payments, eviction nightmare, property destruction. You may be surprised that even in a great neighborhood these things can happen. I would sell it, then rent it in California and see how things go over there. Good luck!
Lacey,
ReplyDeleteI would put it on the market for a month or so and see what happens, if you do not get a lot of traffic or any offers you can then rent it out for a year or so till the market picks up( praying that it does)
You don't know me from Adam - I stumbled across your blog from another from another, and so it goes. I also have a Jackson (he's three). We call him Jax. I really admire everything you do with and for your kids.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, since you asked for advice - sell your house in Utah and rent for a while in Cali. Even if you have to sell for a little less than you want. You don't want to have to think about it anymore. And there's no promise that you could get renters. Sell it and be done.
And there's so many advantages to renting. Something broken? Call the landlord. That's not your $1000 water heater/roof/flooding basement. If you're going to stay in a house a long time, you'll definitely recoup those costs, but if you don't know how long you'll be there, a house can be a huge money-and-time suck. You have enough on your plate. And if renting can put you in a position to save a little bit each month, in the short run that's better than equity.
Best of luck.
Sell, sell, sell!!! Once you get out to California, the last thing you'll want to think about is renting your home, or fixing it up to sell why you are gone. You'll want to put your thoughts and energy into planting your roots in California. Price it right and it will sell. My mom is a real estate agent. She wrote up 6 different offers just today. She always say to price it to sell.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
I agree sell :). I also live in Utah and I do think that if it is priced right it will go quickly. I would ask you if I could keep your cute little punkin ( she is so darn cute) but I don't want you to think I am weird :). You really are amazing.
ReplyDeleteCindy
South Jordan Utah
I think you should sell Lacey. With renters, you just never know what might happen to the house, then you might have the cost of repairs (not to mention the trip back to do the repairs) if something happens. Just my .02... for what it's worth... ;)
ReplyDeleteIf your looking to buy, then my "good" advice is to forget the West Coast and come here to the great Midwest. Our neighborhood has some great houses for sell and then our kiddo's could be BFF's!
ReplyDeleteOh, I forgot... you wanted "good" advice-sorry. :P
Advice aside, you've got yourself one doll baby! I love the pic of her fave all soaped up. It made me giggle! Sometimes pictures can say everything! Too cute. Good luck on your moving situation and I cant wait to see and read more!
I agree, I would sell if you can. Cut your losses. The only thing you might want to do is check with a tax attourny or accountant about what happens with the proceeds of the sale of the house if it is not being immediately invested into another property.
ReplyDeleteIt used to be you could get hit with a HUGE AMT tax, but I haven't done taxes since I had Christopher and there are so many new laws! The other thing is as of 2012, there will be a Federal requirement to have 10% (I think) down for ANY Mortgage. That is going to put a LOT of people out of the running to buy. Something you might want to think about when moving to Cali too. Maybe you could avoid taxes by putting your house money in an IRA specifically used for a own payment on the next house?
IDK - Wishing you a speedy sale either way. Hugs!~
Steph and Christopher
I say stay here in ut, I'm going to miss you so so much!
ReplyDeleteOk you said post even if youve never posted before so here goes. My opinion: Sell the house. You never know what damage a renter is going to do and you wont be near enough to be able to check on anything yourself. I say get the house you are in now sold and out of the way, bank the money from the house, and when you are really settled then buy a new house. Just my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI would try to sell first. Cause once you get tenants in it will be harder to do. Plus what if they trash it, also they don't have to let potential buyers in and you will be so far away. You can always rent it if its taking to long or if you think you will be balk in utah.
ReplyDeletewow Lacey-I didn't want to not comment and have you think I wasn't reading-but I have no idea, although I could never imagine having to be a landlord from afar, unless you go through an agency and let them deal with the peeps.
ReplyDeleteI would prob just want to sell as long as some money was being made just to have it done with-but that being said-I'm horrible with real estate! ha!
If you want to rent your place then I suggest you don't rent it yourselves. I would use one of the management companies out there that will be the middle man if you will. They will screen tenants and handle any maintenance issues etc on your place on your behalf. Yup, they take a percentage of the rent BUT you don't have the headache of being a landlord, especially long distance.
ReplyDeleteMy other suggestion would be to sell it and rent in your new city and wait to purchase until your hubby is settled.
Good luck, big decisions ahead!
If you rent your house you'll have to be responsible for maintaining it so you may have to go back and forth to take care of things if they happen so you may just want to sell?!?!? IDK wish I knew more so I could help!
ReplyDeleteMy advice: Sell!!!
ReplyDeleteHere's why: I have been renting my house out since 2006. My first tenant did $2000 worth of damage in 9 months. Not to mention I had to constantly haggle her for the rent. Evicted her. My current tenant of 3 years has been good about paying the rent and keeping the house up, but there is always that "what if" in the back of mind every month. Unfortunately, selling is very difficult since my house is worth $30,0000 less than what I owe. I can't even cut my losses and just sell because I don't have an extra $30,000 to make up the difference just laying around. We are a military family and will have to deal my rental house and whether to sell or rent the we are currently buying at the end of this year when my husband gets new orders. Can you say another headache in addition to my current one?
In summary, sell your current house and just rent one in California to save your sanity.
-Dee
Not sure about the house however that little cutie just keeps getting cuter. What a little doll. Hope it all works out for you in regards to the house. Hugs
ReplyDeleteAlso, other posters have suggested a management company to handle your rental. Great idea if you can find a good one. I went thru two of them before I decided to handle the rental myself. The first one let the tenant get 2 months behind in rent before they took action. Meanwhile, I'm working all the overtime I can to pay the mortage because I wasn't getting rental funds to cover it. The second one never bothered to check on my house. As a result, the tenant had moved in her boyfriend, her cousin w/2 kids, and bought a puppy that was not housetrained. Mind you this is a 2 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath townhouse.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes my rental situation a little different is that I only live 2 hours away and my mom lives in the same city as the rental. In your situation, if you decide to use a management company, I suggest you check their references (other satified owners) and have someone to follow up (drive by your house periodically) on the management company to make sure they are doing their job.
-Dee
P.S. I still say sell it!
Sell it!!!! We had a rental (my husbands house from before we married) and it takes just ONE bad tenant to quickly know you cannot afford to have that ONE BAD TENANT.
ReplyDeleteHi Lacey!
ReplyDeleteWe moved last year and opted to sale, not rent- even though we had to price our house lower- we just didn't want the hassle of maintaining 2 properties... just my thought, but I'm a simplify sort of gal :)
Plan on keeping it on the market for as long as you can afford to, but also market it to rent in the mean time so you aren't stuck at the last minute needing to rent it. Definately consult a realtor to see what the market is like in your area and how rentals are doing as well.
ReplyDeleteIt is very sad to say, but renters alot of the time are not nice in this day an age. I would not want to deal with any renter from long distance. My gut says not a good choice. Sell your house instead. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteHaha - that is something is Max would totally do with the soap.
ReplyDeleteAs for the house - there's good and bad to both I guess. Having renters is hard, and even with good ones, you'll still have repairs when you go to sell. But, the housing market does stink right now. If you could afford to hold on, you would come out better probably if you wait. It seems like less headache just to sell it though and be done with it... good luck on your decision!
Hey Lacey, I'm playing catch up bc i've been sick, but I agree with most others. I think renting would be a big pain in your neck.
ReplyDeleteThat last picture of Arina reminds me of Lillian. ;) Most of all pray pray pray, God will give you peace as well as answers. :) I'll keep Jax's bed issues in my prayers. We have been VERY fortunate with our insurance and even our Nurse Case Manager came all the way to Indy to see her in the hospital once. She sends me letters if she hasn't heard from us too. Hopefully, you will find a great company to work with!