What is the next step?

[JOHN DALEY]

I bought a house last year for 200,000. It was a new build that had been sitting for a year (mainly cause of terrible marketing by the construction company. The house was 10x better than what the pictures showed). It is 30 minutes south of Birmingham, AL and is in a subdivision that had 400-500K houses in the front and 100-250K houses in the back. Brand new hardwood floors, fence included as well as a fridge. Complete ranch, 4 bedroom/2 bath house on a quarter acre. Bought it with a VA Loan and I put no money done. It is also in one of the better school districts around Birmingham. After a year, I got a new job and moved to Asheville, NC. We were going to sell and brought in a real estate agent who said our house was worth 187,000. Another real estate agent said the same thing. There were multiple houses around us that were smaller than our house that were trying to sell for 230,000 or more and had been sitting there for four months so we believed them and decided to rent (I had been wanting to invest in real estate but knew very little about it so I wasn’t going to object). Needless to say, it took us two months to get renters (these renters have stayed they wish to purchase the house in the future, but they want to put both the husband and wife on the loan and need to rebuild the wife’s credit) and all the houses in the subdivision that had been sitting sold. We are renting it for 1450 with a mortgage of 1106 an 100 going to the property manager. I live in Asheville, NC now and really want to invest in real estate in the area but don’t really have the Capitol to begin investing around here. And, since I have been researching and educating myself over the last couple of month, I realize that while I am making positive cash flow on the house, it really isn’t great. So, do I stay with renters who I know are interested in purchasing the house in the future (I plan on approaching them in eight months to see if they can buy), sell the house no matter what next year and use the profit to invest in Asheville,or just keep renting it out because I can get positive cash flow out of it (it is in the best subdivision in the town with a golf course at the front. The subdivision is in high demand with the builders building eighty new houses and the houses being sold within a month). Also, I have the only 4 bedroom complete ranch in the subdivision, all others are two floors or three bedrooms. The new houses being built are 3 bedroom houses on small lots and I own one of the bigger lots in the “peasant” part of the subdivision. Advise on next steps? I am currently 27 and long term goal is to have enough passive income to retire with my pension from my job when I am 50.

[Jody Schnurrenberger]

First, thank you for your service!  I'm also a vet in Asheville.  :-)

Second, I'm very conservative and am very much a "bird in the hand" kind of person.  So, keep that in mind when reading my opinion.

My first thought is that you should keep it.  Maybe put in some higher end stuff like granite counters and such if it doesn't have them already and see if you can rent it for more (after they move).  It sounds like the area is becoming more popular.

You could try seller financing to the current tenants which would give you income for the next 20-30 yrs (or until they sell and pay you off...or default on the loan).  But beware since she doesn't have good credit.  Hopefully he does!  (Get more info on how to protect yourself before deciding to do this!)  You can ask for like 20% down payment and use that as down payment on a house here in Asheville.  Maybe you could even get a payment around what they are paying you or less.  ;-)

You could put it on the market for what you know you'd be happy getting and not sell for less than you want.  If you want $230,000 and no one will pay you that, just take it off the market.  (I don't know if this hurts resale later, so check with your agent.)  

A smart person would tell you to decide what you want for your cash flow and cash on cash ROI and then run the numbers. If your house doesn't make the cut, let it go.

In the mean time, start running numbers on places in Asheville to see what you can afford and might want here. Asheville is expensive. When running numbers, don't forget things like taxes, insurance, CapEx, repairs, vacancies, etc.

Btw, there is a REI meeting on the 13th at 1730 in the Hilton Asheville Biltmore Park, Town Square. The 1st meeting is free, then they expect you to join (or pay $25/meeting). But there are like 6 or so meetings a month you can go to, I think, so I totally think it's worth the money. :-) I hope to see you there!