Sugar Land Telfair : Sell vs Lease (Houston: real estate, apartment complex, renters)

[hagenlu]

Hi,

I need some opinion here. I live in Sugar Land, Telfair sub-division. I just accepted the job that will re-locate me to overseas. It will be around 3 years assignment. Target departure is this summer. I understand that the price is Telfair is going up pretty crazy. Franskly speaking, I will make profit if I sell it. My concern is, when I finish the assignment and back to Houston and want to buy house in Telfair area again, will the price be appreciate a lot ? Or maybe renting out the house is better option right now ?

I know it is not easy to predict. But I really want to know how you will approach this situation.

Thanks and best regards,
CT

[Keyan]

Originally Posted by hagenlu

Hi,

I need some opinion here. I live in Sugar Land, Telfair sub-division. I just accepted the job that will re-locate me to overseas. It will be around 3 years assignment. Target departure is this summer. I understand that the price is Telfair is going up pretty crazy. Franskly speaking, I will make profit if I sell it. My concern is, when I finish the assignment and back to Houston and want to buy house in Telfair area again, will the price be appreciate a lot ? Or maybe renting out the house is better option right now ?

I know it is not easy to predict. But I really want to know how you will approach this situation.

Thanks and best regards,
CT

It's a tough call because no one really is a fortune teller. for Telfair, I don't think prices will rise much in the next three years.. in fact this is probably the highest they will be for a while.

Unless you mind having an extra income property, sell it. If something can bring a decent amount of rental income monthly, why get rid of it? I don't believe in selling anything that makes you money in the long run.

I personally would keep it and rent it out, but that's just my opinion

[epjones]

Heres the issue with keeping it: Do you have anyone local that you trust to act as a landlord?

[cheryjohns]

Maybe I am not a fortune teller - but I have a good track record when it comes to Houston property in predicting pricing trends. Keep it and rent it. Prices will be higher when you get back in three years - and you will have saved two sets of closing costs. The renters are paying your mortgage for those thee years.

Get a management company - Elda Management is good and they charge roughly $100 monthly. From what I have seen - very ethical and efficient. Or talk to others that have used a company.

[Houston321]

a tough call because no one really is a fortune teller. for Telfair, I don't think prices will rise much in the next three years.. in fact this is probably the highest they will be for a while.

I couldn't disagree with you more. Barring a financial meltdown prices will be higher. Are you in touch with what is going on in the market locally? Good areas are getting multiple offers over list price. I sell new homes. Where I sell the prices now are about 60-80K higher than they were a year ago, and we are almost sold out. Our new section comes online in June and we have a waiting list with prices anticipated to be at least 50K higher. Water lots once were about 60K....they were jacked to 150K, and they still sold out.

Right now developed land is very tight with builders over-bidding for lot positions in master planned communities, and inventory is at record lows. This is a fact.

[Keyan]

Originally Posted by cheryjohns

Maybe I am not a fortune teller - but I have a good track record when it comes to Houston property in predicting pricing trends. Keep it and rent it. Prices will be higher when you get back in three years - and you will have saved two sets of closing costs. The renters are paying your mortgage for those thee years.

Get a management company - Elda Management is good and they charge roughly $100 monthly. From what I have seen - very ethical and efficient. Or talk to others that have used a company.

This is very true, those 7% closing costs both way will just defeat the purpose right there. Keep the home and rent it out.

[Jonathz]

It is very difficult to manage a rental if you are not local here. Also, you need to take into account the incurred cost when a tenant move out e.g. vacancy, repair, property management fee, commission, which can easily eat into 2-3 month of rent, (p.s. commission alone is 1 month of rent), and you said it will be a 3 year assignment, which means you might get 2 or 3 different tenants during that period of time. The rental income will also be taxed as your local US income. IMO, unless you see substantial further appreciation in Telfair that will outweigh the trouble and the holding cost, you might want to consider selling it and take the profit. Also, since your company is moving you oversea, you should be able to negotiate and get reimbursement from the company to help you selling your house, which could be additional 6% of your house value for your pocket. After all, you don't know whether you will be in Houston after your three year assignment, you might end up in another town, or other parts of Houston. Also, Telfair is building an apartment complex, which also increase the supply of rental units. That's also something you would like to consider when you are making your decision.

[Keyan]

Originally Posted by Houston321

a tough call because no one really is a fortune teller. for Telfair, I don't think prices will rise much in the next three years.. in fact this is probably the highest they will be for a while.

I couldn't disagree with you more. Barring a financial meltdown prices will be higher. Are you in touch with what is going on in the market locally? Good areas are getting multiple offers over list price. I sell new homes. Where I sell the prices now are about 60-80K higher than they were a year ago, and we are almost sold out. Our new section comes online in June and we have a waiting list with prices anticipated to be at least 50K higher. Water lots once were about 60K....they were jacked to 150K, and they still sold out.

Right now developed land is very tight with builders over-bidding for lot positions in master planned communities, and inventory is at record lows. This is a fact.

I meant Houston more as whole, not Telfair. then again I'm no fortune teller either. I just feel the prices aren't going to get much higher than they are right now, for a while. Because interest rates are low, your seeing much more people buying right now, but once they go back up (after this summer) you will see the game change and somewhat settle down. I have this view with most areas in Houston. It's not a bubble, I just can't see them continuously going up, It has to settle sometime. This is overlooking Houston's history the last 30 years

[ipuck]

Originally Posted by Houston321

I couldn't disagree with you more. Barring a financial meltdown prices will be higher. Are you in touch with what is going on in the market locally? Good areas are getting multiple offers over list price. I sell new homes. Where I sell the prices now are about 60-80K higher than they were a year ago, and we are almost sold out. Our new section comes online in June and we have a waiting list with prices anticipated to be at least 50K higher. Water lots once were about 60K....they were jacked to 150K, and they still sold out.

Right now developed land is very tight with builders over-bidding for lot positions in master planned communities, and inventory is at record lows. This is a fact.

We are in uncharted territory here for Houston. I think the main 3 drivers of real estate prices is land, zoning regulations, and jobs. This city will never run out of space as they will just keep building further out (with grand parkway to help it moving further out). Zoning law will not change anytime soon so this is non issue and lastly jobs. O&G has seen one of the biggest boom for the last 10 years, it is inevitable it will go back into a bust cycle and I hate to think what will happen to housing here when it does.

[cheryjohns]

Originally Posted by Keyan

I meant Houston more as whole, not Telfair. then again I'm no fortune teller either. I just feel the prices aren't going to get much higher than they are right now, for a while. Because interest rates are low, your seeing much more people buying right now, but once they go back up (after this summer) you will see the game change and somewhat settle down. I have this view with most areas in Houston. It's not a bubble, I just can't see them continuously going up, It has to settle sometime. This is overlooking Houston's history the last 30 years

They were selling well when rates were between 6 and 7%.