Sell, Rent or Lease Option decision.

[Lee S.]

Hello all, I've been going back and forth on what to do with my latest rehab.  I started the process with the intent to most likely rent it, but rehabbed the house at a level that I could sell it also.  Lately I've been thinking it might be better to sell to have more liquid funds to buy the next one, but I'm not sure I need it and can put the money to work consistently.  I've got enough funds and some private lenders to handle a couple houses at a time for buy/sell and I can wholesale if necessary.  I can sell and net 50-60k or keep it and it will be a 1% rental which is not bad in California.  The 3rd option is to do a lease option on it to save myself on taxes when option hopefully exercised in a year.  Not sure I want to deal with the extra hassle of that however.  Brain storming here, not looking for anyone to make my decision for me.

[Mike B.]

If you don't need the cash out right now or even within the next six months to fund another project, and you're considering doing a rental anyway, you might as well do the lease option and get your extra option fee up front, don't deal with maintenance issues, and still get a profit when you sell down the line, and still have the appreciation and tax advantages of ownership...