Rental properties when to sell

[Joe Szymczyk]

Hello

When is the best time to sell rentals after holding for years....assuming no big jump in value

Seems to me if the market is steady...putting a long. 

The best time to sell rentals before retiring is to get to the point of rentals being paid off. One has used up all the deductions on taxes...the building and land are paid off by renters....this is the best time to sell...we have used all the advantages from the property...sell take the cash and buy another property with some money down and invest rest of money in mutual funds or invest all the money in stock market  mutuals going forward...

If one keeps the property after pay off the only benefit is cash flow...is is not as efficient use of money as when one is paying on it....not as much benefit...plus maintenance issues will creep in so that will lower cash flow

What do you guys think..when do you think is best time to liquidate rentals...to max out benefit?

[Shane H.]

I always suggest looking at your properties from the perspective of "would I buy this property". For example, if you purchased a property for $120k, and it rents for $1500 and after expenses is cash flowing excellently then that's great. Then let's say fast forward and it's now worth $280k but rent has only gone up to $1600. Would you buy that property for the $280k that you could sell it for? If the answer is no, then you SHOULD look at selling. 

I'm not sure if i explained that correctly, so to summarize: If you would buy your property back for the price you could sell it for because it would be a good investment at that price, then you shouldn't sell. If you would pass on your property and wouldn't purchase it for whatever the market rate is then you should consider selling it.

Basically i'm suggesting analyze it as a potential deal to decide if the amount it is worth is better left in your portfolio or if it's better to sell and use that money to get a greater ROI on a different property.