All Forum Posts by: Nick Y.

Thanks for all your comments and suggestions. This is my first post so I just wanted to do a little intro.

If I may ask questions in this new user intro category, here is the detail of my cash flow.

House 1: 

1. $355K purchased in 2004. Current Zillow estimate: $353K. 
2. $180 loan balance as of now, 2.75% 15 yr loan, mature in another 7 yrs. Monthly payment is $1601 (priciple + interest) + $390 (escrow)
3. Utility + gardening service is about $200
4. Rent is $1500 (average rate in the area is about $1600 to $1800; we rent it low because wife likes the tenant)

When I came across this forum, I realized we are not managing our properties right. We thought about selling the house but it means we will be taking a loss. Refi seems a reasonable move as Frank suggested. 

We are also exploring other ways to save, such as owning the house by LLC, because our AGI is greater than $150K so no tax write-offs for us.

We definitely have a lot to learn, and really appreciate all the good suggestions.

Hi all, newbie here and wanted to say hi.

Let me start by saying I know I must have done this wrong. Here is my story.

Wife and I bought the first home in California in late 2004, and when the market hit the bottom in 2009 we bought another house twice as big but costs less than our first house. We did not sell the old house, instead we turned it into a rental.

When we bought the 2nd home, we went to a 15 year mortgage and also turned the first house's mortgage into a 15 year because the rate was too good. We did not have any plan for the first house; we simply didn't want to sell it for a loss. For so many years, we are getting about $1,500 per month from the rent but the mortgage payment is about $1,600. There are also other costs, so our cash flow is negative.

At this point, we don't know if we should continue renting out the house or simply get rid of it. We definitely have a lot to learn from the experts on this forum.

Thank you for reading my introduction, and I'm glad to be part of the community.