Hold onto a Negative Cash Flow Property?

[Ryan Cousins]

Hi All! Have a scenario to run by everyone:

My wife recently received a job offer in which she would make a lot more money, but we would have to relocate.  We are currently own our home which we bought about 1.5 years ago (numbers below). It's a 3 Bed 3 Bath new construction home in which we love the area and think there is going to be a lot of appreciation in the area as it matures. The tricky part is that if we hold onto it , we surely will be in the red if we decided to rent it out. We will be renting in the area we are moving to which will be renting. It will be cheaper than our mortgage and our incomes will be increasing. I am leaning towards holding onto the home, but would love to get everyone's thoughts!

Our mortgage is $5965 and I believe we could get anywhere from $5250 to $5500 on Monthly Rent. I would be self managing the property because I know the area well, have local connections to help out if in a pickle, and could get there in a day drive if need be.

[Allan C.]

Ignore the folks telling you to wait 2 years to avoid capital gains. If you move for a valid reason like new job, you can pro-rate your gains exclusion. Since you're at 1.5 yrs, you get $375k excluded (75% of $500k). 

I would also think twice about selling if you're in CA. Depending on location, your appreciation will likely exceed your loss of capital gains exclusion, if you can handle the cash flow loss for a few years. 

I've sold while in your shoes before, and I've also held with large negative CF. Both times I was happy with the decision, so I think either decision will be fine, pending your location.