We have a bit of dilemma in what to do with Kirk’s house, now that we’re married and have settled upon living life on the farm. Kirk has a really nice house, I almost wish we could trade them on their lots! It is an historic home in a charming old neighborhood, with beautifully refinished fir floors and mountain views.
Though it’s maybe a good “problem” to have, we don’t know what we should do with the second house– sell it or rent it out. The pro’s of renting seem to be the potential for profit over time. We do know people who have done really well as landlords. But, this profit assumption relies on the real estate market going up, and with the current economic uncertainty, there are no guarantees there. The con’s of renting are the headaches of being a landlord, and we’re not sure we want to take on that extra stress. And we’d have a lot to learn.
Kirk only bought the house two years ago, so to sell it now, given the short time he’s held it and the flattening of the real estate market means probably taking a slight loss on it. But, viewing it as not just an investment, but a place to live, then having a slight net loss doesn’t seem so bad–it’s about the same overall expense as if he would have rented all this time.
We’re not fond of the real estate agent thing, so we’ll likely sell it FSBO, and that will allow us to keep more of the profit. We’ve both done that before and have had excellent success with it.
We went there today to work on the yard, it’s important to keep it looking lived-in. Kirk mowed, and I weeded the flower beds. It mostly just needs some good cleaning and some fresh paint in a few places. We’re leaning towards selling it, to have more money to invest into the farm. That means we’d best get it on the market soon, before the holiday slowdown comes. So, we’d better get crackin’!