He wants to sell, she wants to sit tight
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The market researcher and television producer have been sitting on a gold mine – an income property with tenants which covers the monthly mortgage payment (and then some). But they need bigger digs, and he wants to sell while the market’s hot. She wants to keep the house and continue renting it out. Who’s on the money?
HE SAYS: TAKE THE EQUITY AND RUN
This is really Erin’s house – she bought it before we were serious. But now that we’re planning our future, I want to make sure we’re doing the smart thing. I’d like to sell the house and put the equity toward a new, bigger place. Right now it’s a bungalow with two separate units, the first floor and basement. It’s an excellent income property, but not really suitable for conversion into a single-family home, and the basement apartment where we live is tiny. If we rent out both apartments, we could easily make double what the mortgage payments are, but we’d take a big tax hit on capital gains. What’s more, I’m concerned about being financially responsible for maintenance on a 100-year-old house.
