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Ramrod · 11-29-2020, 05:27 AM

We are planning to go full time. My question is should we sell or rent our home. We love our home but the cost to keep it and go full time is too expensive.

jacwjames · 11-29-2020, 06:10 AM

A lot of variables to consider. Is the house have a mortgage? Can you rent for a price that would cover the cost of ownership (mortgage, insurance, repairs and possibly a property manager to take care of it).

If you can find a dependable renter capable of taking care of the house it might be the best option. The house will appreciate in value during this time (provided it is taken care of and is located in a favorable area of home sales).

Long term what will you do when the day comes to hang up the full time adventure. Will you be able to buy or rent? Keep in mind that your RV is a depreciating asset, it will be worth a fraction of what it is now so you will not likely be able to depend on the value to provide funds to repurchase a house.

tomgrigsby · 11-29-2020, 07:29 AM

I rented out a second home and was really sorry. I managed it myself and they tore the place up. I’ll never do it again. You won’t be available to take care of repairs. If you use a rental management company they will require licensed contractors to do any repairs which will be very expensive and will dig deep into any rental income. Now is a good time to sell. JMHO

DKB218NYC · 11-29-2020, 08:46 AM

If you have to ask others that question, maybe you shouldn't full-time just yet.

If you were to buy another house, would you keep the one you presently have? Would it even be a question?

okcnewbie · 11-29-2020, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramrod

We are planning to go full time. My question is should we sell or rent our home. We love our home but the cost to keep it and go full time is too expensive.

I've met several people that are renting out their homes and going full time for a year or two.
IMO if your home is at the top end of rentals you have a much better chance of it not being destroyed. One person was even able to get a whole year of rent up front. Obviously not everyone can do that I'm just saying to think outside of the box a little.
I like the idea of a home in a good market going up in value to offset some of the MH depreciation.

Persistent · 11-29-2020, 09:08 AM

Residential rentals is professional game. It is unlikely you will make a profit. The home will just not be the same if you want to re-occupy in the future.

Approximately 1/3 of renters see a rental as something to be consumed and discarded. Learning to pick a responsible tenant and setting policy is a must.

You may be able to get a positive cash flow if you do not have a mortgage. Most rent receipts will go to repairing grievous damages. One in three will destroy the place.

Hiring a professional management company is a must for absentee landlords. They are happy to manage and will happily take your money. They will not necessarily be good at picking a responsible tenant or keeping costs down.

When I was young and had no fear, I jumped in. It took me years of blood sweat, tears, and blind persistence to learn how to pick a tenant. That was 50 years ago. Now, I know. Now I don't have a mortgage. Now I make a good profit.

I wish you good luck and happy trails ahead!

grindstone01 · 11-29-2020, 09:32 AM

We have owned rentals through the years and it is difficult business to be in. Renters usually don't treat the property like a owner would. Another thing we learned is being a absent landlord is very risky, renters will quickly take advantage of that. Then you always have the concern of getting a phone call that the renters are leaving or a water heater broke and a DIYS replacement of $350 turns into a $1000 repairman visit. After a couple of years of FT, we sold our 2 rental houses and it was a immediate relief.
We would not consider moving back into a house we lived in after being a rental, the house just would not be the same house. We figure we could always buy another house and most likely our needs/desires will have changed by then anyways.
Then there is the financial consideration. I figured our house cost us $10k/year to keep. This is figuring property taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance/repairs and since we had our house paid off, there is still the cost of having the principal tied up and not in the market. There are interest investments that pay 2-3% which even on a 200k house is $4-6k lost revenue. While it is true that most houses will appreciate, the yearly $10K cost will eat up the gain.
For us it made sense to sell the house and save the $$ to reinvest later, maybe into a condo.

mr.tommy · 11-29-2020, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomgrigsby

I rented out a second home and was really sorry. I managed it myself and they tore the place up. I’ll never do it again. You won’t be available to take care of repairs. If you use a rental management company they will require licensed contractors to do any repairs which will be very expensive and will dig deep into any rental income. Now is a good time to sell. JMHO

X2.

Gary RVRoamer · 11-29-2020, 02:57 PM

I'd sell - being an absentee landlord is stressful and hiring a professional property management firm is costly (and no guarantee of good results). You might get lucky and get a reliable tenant, but it's a gamble.

saddlesore · 11-29-2020, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr.tommy

X2.

X3.
Our home was free and clear, Sold everything that would not fit in the shack, and leased a very small (3' x 5' ) storage room for our single file cabinet & the "absolutely gotta save" items.

Note.. Look at the cost of storage over a 5 or 10 year period and You may find that you could have saved money by selling those items and buying/replacing with new instead of storing)

We took the proceeds from the sale of the home & all items sold( including vehicles,toys & tools) and invested long term...
Our Plan B is .... When the time comes to leave the road and settle back down,We will search for an area that has what we need, then use the invested funds to purchase a cottage & call it good 'nuff..
happy trails

Ramrod · 11-30-2020, 05:26 AM

Thank you all for your responses. I agree that as much as we love this house, Renting sounds way too risky. I think we will sell it furnished. The housing market here is very hot.

Domo · 12-01-2020, 03:03 PM

OP - I think you already answered your own question when you said "we want to full time but keeping the house is too expensive..." Then, sell it - as others have said, renting, remote control maintenance and all those headaches of the "stuff" you left behind just are worth it.

We decided to go full time in 2016 and started our plan quickly.
Sold the home in North Florida and everything in it - used a liquidator to get the last paperclips and 1/2 rolls of toilet paper out of our lives. We did scavenge what we had to partially outfit the MH.

Moved into the MH and didn't look back - we kept very few pieces of paper - scanned everything we wanted to "keep" and stored them in DropBox/Gooogle Drive. Filled the basement of the MH and all the cabinets with what would be needed and took off.

No regrets...

Eventually, after spending our inaugural winter in South Florida then Southern California and recently in Fort Myers, FL we decided that this was the place where we wanted a S&B for the winters. Kept the MH so that we can escape during summer (or whenever). Funny thing is that after a few years and 20-30,000 miles we're about five hours from where we used to live.

Despite being in the house since July, we've done a few short trips (Covid-cabin fever) and are now planning our 2021 jaunt across country to visit new and old places and see many friends that we'd met on the road.

Hope to see you there!

twogypsies · 12-01-2020, 04:28 PM

We sold our large home in Michigan. We knew we wouldn't want to live there as we aged and the house would be too large. No regrets.

DutchmenSport · 12-01-2020, 05:00 PM

If you are serious about leaving the house for full timing, then you have no need for the house any more either, ever again, you are done with it. Think about that. You have your answer.

As long as you have the house, it will ALWAYS be a worry for you and a concern and you will NOT be truly free to be full timing.

If you have doubts, need the house for a security in the possible unknown future, then don't go full timing. You'll NEVER enjoy your self and you WILL be forever a captive slave to the house. .... always! And you will always have a financial burden pulling you down to the bottom of the sea. No way can you enjoy "full timing". You'll be miserable. And a bad renter will destroy you and everything you hold dear. (don't ask how I know this. I still have rage and hate for that SOB! and the courts favored him and I'm out $45,000 forever)