Advice/resource for Senior with two properties

[Ciarraghe G.]

Hi, I'm not sure where to put this post, I'm looking for either some advice or a Portland Oregon metro area real estate/financial advisor for seniors for my grandmother. She currently owns a rental property, and a property with acreage that she occupies. The rental is in ok shape but needs to be renovated fully, the renter in there owes her about 7k in back rent, as my grandmother has been mismanaging it for years. In my opinion it usually costs her more money than it brings in on average, but she thinks she can't afford to live without it. The property she lives in herself is in complete disarray and quite literally falling down around her, she is also a hoarder with pets so the place is a disaster and needs to almost be rebuilt from scratch. The two properties as is are probably worth around 500k, with renovations of maybe $150-200k between them she's probably sitting on $800k of value. My thought is that she should sell as is and buy a little apartment in a 55+community, (she's in her late 70's). Or buy a little house on a tiny lot and hire help. Her fears are that she will pay taxes if she sells, that she will run out of money without the rental income, that she'll hate her life if she moves, that she'll miss her friends. I fee if she invests the amount above purchasing the new property properly it should last the balance of her life ( her family usually lives to around 90-100 so it's a lot of years statistically left). Is there a better option? Should we figure out how to have her renovate first so she can get more value and how would someone on Social Security do something like that? I've considered trying to buy and flip the properties myself as they would have good profit but I'm afraid to undertake that as I'm more of a buy and hold investor and after the Reno cost these would be under water for rentals. Also it would require a very large private/hard money loan as I don't have a spare 200k laying around. If some is or knows a good resource to help out with this and guide us along the way I'd appreciate the referral as well, I'm happy to pay for someone on her behalf. Especially someone who is experienced with the emotional aspects of it all. Thanks, Kerri

[Tony Ngo]

Here is what I would do.  

1. Fix up the rental - back to rentable condition.  Hire a property manager to manage it.  Or sell the rental and lend the money out to a good reputable short term lending company and get 8-9% return with no headache.  

2. Sell the primary home, and buy a newer home nearby using a reverse mortgage.  A lot has changed with this product.  It is a great product that you should learn more about to help your grandma.  

Good luck!  And keep us posted in the outcome.