Have to move out of state - advice on what to do with my primary?

[Grayson Chao]

Hi all. I own a 3B/2.5Ba townhouse in Fremont, valued at $905k, with $690k left on a 30year fixed at 5.625%. For personal/family reasons, my wife and I need to move out of state sometime in the next 12 months.

I’m trying to figure out what to do with this property. We’d lose about 70k selling at appraisal value, and comps have rent at around $4300 which would be far short of cash flowing after maintenance & management costs.

Looking for creative ideas on how to execute this move as painlessly as possible. I have $200k cash to deploy in the process, but would prefer to use that for a down payment on a home in the place where we’re moving (similar VHCOL area.)

[Alfath Ahmed]

Quote from @Grayson Chao:

Hi all. I own a 3B/2.5Ba townhouse in Fremont, valued at $905k, with $690k left on a 30year fixed at 5.625%. For personal/family reasons, my wife and I need to move out of state sometime in the next 12 months.

I’m trying to figure out what to do with this property. We’d lose about 70k selling at appraisal value, and comps have rent at around $4300 which would be far short of cash flowing after maintenance & management costs.

Looking for creative ideas on how to execute this move as painlessly as possible. I have $200k cash to deploy in the process, but would prefer to use that for a down payment on a home in the place where we’re moving (similar VHCOL area.)

 That is a tricky situation since the home is not cashflow positive. However, I would look at other options to see if AirBNB will work or Furnished Finder for travel nurses. Owning in California means the property will always appreciate. 

I would do the math even to see if the amount of money you are losing every month is great than the appreciation factor. It might be worth holding onto. In Columbus, I own assets that A-class areas where it is not cashflow positive but I have since used other strategies and taken hits because of the appreciation factor.