Rent out house and bleed for a while or sell it and hemorrhage once?

[Ryan Mcpherson]

Moved to Austin for work and purchased a home in 2021 with just under 4% interest rate. Due to circumstances at the time I was able to put 0% down without PMI. Fast forwards to 2025 and I need to move again for work. Since purchasing the home, housing market in my area has declined about 20%. This puts the home underwater.

I've calculated the following two options:

1. To sell the house, it would cost me about $60,000
   out of pocket.
2. To rent the home, I would lose about $2,500 per month (based on comparable rents in my area, property management fees, etc).

Both options loose the same amount by roughly 2 years, and by this time, I still will not have built up much more equity in the home to make selling it a break even unless there is price appreciation by then.

My dilemma is this: I speculate that my home will not appreciate much in the next 3-5 years due to the rapid pace of development in the surrounding area.

In 5-10+ years, maybe, but by then I'll have bled $150,000 - $300,000.

I have thought about this a lot and feel that I mar'-too close to the problem to see the best solution.

Any constructive advice would be much appreciated.

[Bruce Lynn]

Sell it now and take the L.  This sucks but it does happen.  See if you can negotiate some selling or moving expenses with the company hiring you. 

Just no guarantee if things get better or worse in your neighborhood.   Is the loan assumable?  That could help your cause.  Check with your lender and what they would require.

Think of everything you can to make it win-win for the buyer.  Can you include furniture or fridge or washer and dryer?  Can you include all the lawn and yard care?  Have a timeshare or airline miles to throw in.  Season tickets to UT football?  Be creative.