Too many are caught up in houses as an investment or what they perceive their house is worth, put them up for sale, and sit on them for ages. It's emotional or greed or both.
I've mentioned before but I used to have two rental houses, both became vacant last year a few months apart from each other, and I sold both. I'd just decided the rental business was never a good fit for me and probably for half the time I owned them it was just to not throw a tenant out who already lived there. I put the first one on the market for about 3% less than a couple similar ones on the market. Got an offer in a couple weeks along with a lowball cash investor offer and a strange cold call almost trying to bully me into a sale to their investor for an offer they wouldn't even tell me. I sold it to the real person offer, it took a bit longer, probably didn't make me much more. Did nearly the same with the second house, took a little longer to work out a deal but still was signed in a month closed in three. After this whole deal of selling two houses, one of the ones I undercut was still on the market and hadn't budged a dime. Seems like if I could sell two houses in six months there, yet that one just sat.
Another note, the mortgage process is absolutely fucked up now. For context, I bought my first house at the absolute bottom of the trough of the 2008 financial crisis. I got a mortgage when they were picking at everything in detail as a guy in his mid 20s. Selling these two houses and the shit I had to sign and explain just to appease the mortgage company of the buyers was absurd. I'm not the one signing up to get a mortgage, I'm the seller. It got delay after delay after delay, zero communication of any value. I'm convinced mortgage underwriting has been outsourced to India. These were houses in the absolutely bottom rung of pricing too, we are talking sub-$200k sale prices, not someone signing up to owe a million.
Renters being one. Extra accounting. The main thing being I'm just not cut out to make money in it. You have to be prepared to let the banks hold the maximum mortgage and then to be a cheapskate about every little thing and squeeze the renters for every dime. I don't like banks or being a douchebag. It's also very illiquid of an investment.
Personally, I could have done better in the stock market or about the same in silver and gold prior to the big boom last year with much less work.
Too many are caught up in houses as an investment or what they perceive their house is worth, put them up for sale, and sit on them for ages. It's emotional or greed or both.
I've mentioned before but I used to have two rental houses, both became vacant last year a few months apart from each other, and I sold both. I'd just decided the rental business was never a good fit for me and probably for half the time I owned them it was just to not throw a tenant out who already lived there. I put the first one on the market for about 3% less than a couple similar ones on the market. Got an offer in a couple weeks along with a lowball cash investor offer and a strange cold call almost trying to bully me into a sale to their investor for an offer they wouldn't even tell me. I sold it to the real person offer, it took a bit longer, probably didn't make me much more. Did nearly the same with the second house, took a little longer to work out a deal but still was signed in a month closed in three. After this whole deal of selling two houses, one of the ones I undercut was still on the market and hadn't budged a dime. Seems like if I could sell two houses in six months there, yet that one just sat.
Another note, the mortgage process is absolutely fucked up now. For context, I bought my first house at the absolute bottom of the trough of the 2008 financial crisis. I got a mortgage when they were picking at everything in detail as a guy in his mid 20s. Selling these two houses and the shit I had to sign and explain just to appease the mortgage company of the buyers was absurd. I'm not the one signing up to get a mortgage, I'm the seller. It got delay after delay after delay, zero communication of any value. I'm convinced mortgage underwriting has been outsourced to India. These were houses in the absolutely bottom rung of pricing too, we are talking sub-$200k sale prices, not someone signing up to owe a million.
What did you not like about having rentals? Besides, you know, renters.
Renters being one. Extra accounting. The main thing being I'm just not cut out to make money in it. You have to be prepared to let the banks hold the maximum mortgage and then to be a cheapskate about every little thing and squeeze the renters for every dime. I don't like banks or being a douchebag. It's also very illiquid of an investment.
Personally, I could have done better in the stock market or about the same in silver and gold prior to the big boom last year with much less work.
Interesting, thanks.