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Tough decision: To sell family home, or to retain it as an investment.

mcsnclr

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Oct 2, 2012
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Good day and thank you for taking the time to read this over:

My wife and I are in the midst of a significant real estate decision. We (and our three young boys) have grown out of our small home located in Victoria BC. We have found a new home just up the road that suits our needs, the closing date is Oct 31st. In the mean time we have to decide whether to sell our current home or to retain it as a rental investment. On the one hand, we can sell it now fast (hot market and sought after neighbourhood) for quite a bit more (250-300k more) than what we bought it for 6 years ago. On the other hand, we are close to the university in a well-treed, close to the ocean, nice neighbourhood, and can rent out very easily for 4000/month, which covers all costs with 200/month left to spare for maintenance. We are experienced in managing/owning rental properties (we currently own 12 units nation wide, in addition to our full time careers. Obviously there are several pros and cons either way to consider here. All guidance and recommendations on our case are much appreciated.
 

KeithnCalgary

Mortgage Associate & REIA
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Mar 21, 2011
Messages
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Here are some quick key questions to ask yourselves:
1. Do you want to own an investment property in this area?
2. Is it a good rental area?
3. Does it fit and get you closer to your REI and life goals?
4. Could you get a better return on the equity if you sold and re-deployed the capital elsewhere?
5. Could you qualify for additional mortgages to buy more property?

Keith Uthe
REIA

Sent from my GT-N5110 using myREINspace mobile app
 
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mcsnclr

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What is your overall debt burden and cash position?
Thanks for taking the time:

Debts:

19k Honda finance auto loan
10k Student loan
30k existing HELOC balance
100k additional HELOC balance IF we kept the house and used its HELOC towards the 20% down payment on the new house: 196k down payment on the purchase price of 976k.

All of these would not exist if we sold, and our net monthly cash flow would increase to about 1700/month, up from about 500/month if we kept the house.

Existing cash/assets:

150k in combined savings, RRSPs, investments. The savings portion would go toward the down payment if we kept the house.
 

BrentRoberts

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Nov 22, 2012
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First of all, congratulations on owning 12 units. Obviously it sounds like a good move to make, buying the new property. It sounds far more suitable for your young growing family. One of the advantages to being a land baron is to be able to have the best home possible for your family. Another advantage to selling your principle residence is the funds are capitol gains tax free. This allows you to maximize your down payment on your new property and allows to have a much smaller non-tax deductible mortgage. Also, by cleaning up some smaller debts, it makes it more manageable and less stressful. Some of the payments will be less expensive as well. Then, you can refinance against your new property to get a larger mortgage. The new amount becomes tax deductible, which may enable you to purchase one or two more properties.

Isn't it great having problems like this?
I've always found it interesting and I enjoy the feedback, but the decision is always yours.

The only property I always sell is my principle residence.

It is late at night, if none of this makes sense feel free to give me a call
604-220-9977
 

Thomas Beyer

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Sell into a hot market that may go down as mortgages get tougher and 15% foreign buyer tax hits Victoria.

As Brent said, a nice problem to have and ability to free up cash and reduce other debt.

Unclear is the overall 10-20 year goal and current & future employment income situation.
 

kfort

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Sep 1, 2010
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Good info above, especially #4 in Keith's list. Only thing I notice is that $200 cash flow on $4k expenses monthly seems pretty low to me. Not sure how conservative you've analyzed that but with your experience I suspect you can find better. That said, I doubt monthly cash flow is your #1 concern if you're in the building wealth/ acquiring more phase.
 
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