How long do I have to wait to sell house to make money?
I just bought a house for an investment. I was going to rent it out. It has not closed yet. I now realize I made a huge mistake because person who was going to assist me emotionally and with a few renos has no intention of doing so. How long do I have to own the house to then sell and recoup the expenses?
True enough. I was thinking a few year s too. Live and learn I guess. So much for waiting 7 years to make the actual decision.
Tags: sell house
June 19th, 2009 at 9:42 am
The benchmark tends to be 5 years, but there are a lot of variables that can affect that. Usually if you sell in the first year or two (especially if you buy and then put it right back on the market) it’s a sign to savvy buyers that you’re desperate to sell and they will use your desperation as a tool to get a lower sales price.
June 19th, 2009 at 9:42 am
If this is your first investment house and you plan to earn income through renting I strongly suggest that you live in the property and rent out the other rooms. The objective here is to keep the house in good condition and with you the landlord living there with the tenant, the tenant will not disrespect the property. It also will give you a good feel for the interviewing process and when you live with tenants that you interview you will be able to see about how much they differ in their actual living habits than from your first impression of them.
If living in the house is not an option. Try and find a trustworthy handyman that will help you with the renovations. And an idea is that the amount you were going to split with the first person who was going to help you can be used to pay for the handyman's services. Or if you want a double whammy try and find a trustworthy handyman as a tenant. Game over.
There is no formula that is going to tell you how long to own a house before you make money or break even. The rule of thumb is that Real Estate increases in value 3% a year.
June 19th, 2009 at 9:42 am
I don't know the legalities of backing out before a house closes, but maybe it's worth looking into whether it's cheaper to pay the costs associated and let it go.
June 19th, 2009 at 9:42 am
I'm sorry that happened. It really depends on where you're located, because the real estate market is correcting and the days of unloading a house quickly are behind us.
I would suggest asking a real estate agent for a free valuation consultation; they'll give you a price that they place may sell for, deduct $10k to be safe and then another 10% to cover closing costs and commissions. That will let you know what you'll walk away with.
It might be a better idea to keep the house. There are tons of renovations that you can do yourself – I'm a total girls girl and I've installed chair rails, changed light fixtures, removed carpeted, tiled flooring and countertops. I'm lucky, because my boyfriend knows everything so he's shown me a lot, but when he's busy I was also lucky enough to find someone on craigslist who's retired but does small home projects. He comes over and just supervises me on projects that I want to learn and it's really affordable ($30/hour).
Good luck.
June 19th, 2009 at 9:42 am
no time limit
but it's a poor market and being able to sell it at any cost is difficult, let alone enough more to cover costs of purchase and sale
hopefully you can find good tenants and rent it out for enough to cover your costs???
give it a quick lick of paint, rent it, and save up some money for repairs and renovation
June 19th, 2009 at 9:42 am
In this market, several years – prices are still going down and you would have to pay 6% sales commission, plus some closing costs
June 19th, 2009 at 9:42 am
u would do better backing out b4 closing.
u will lose ur ernest money and costs BUT it will be Cheaper than buying and turn around selling.
recoup ur money may be 5-10 yrs seriuosly.
the S/L melt down of 80's toke many folks 10 yrs before they got back to costs.