Damn IRS, they take the fun out of everything. I can’t comment on Abbot, don’t know anyone that works there. It’s changed names and hands at least three times while I’ve been here and it always seems to chug along or expand. The stuff they make (stints, shunts, fake hearts, medical stuff) isn’t as “optional” as say “motorhomes.” But I imagine like any business, times aren’t good.
A six year old house has at least 4 years before some things crap out, probably longer. The pool is another story, after ten years the equipment is borrowing time. Pools are not great things in rentals because neglect can be a big deal, best to have a pool guy and include it in the rent. It wont be easy and there will be expenses (deductible though). All I am saying is that when I’ve faced this decision in the past I’ve regretted every one I walked away from when it was close to nuetral. I like your location adjacent to harveston and of course I think the valley will be fine, be a tough two years but it will be fine, too many things on it’s side. Right now if you have a property that doesn’t have a high carry cost and you can weather the storm, don’t buy high and sell low unless you have to. In your situation, you may have to. In paramounts, he doesnt have to, you only lose if you sell. His situation is much more similar to my last one, where I wanted a bigger pad in a better neighborhood and could afford one since the prices were down but the current pad was upside down however it would have been rent nuetral. I could be totally wrong and houses might be worth five dollars, rent may be free, but I’ve danced this dance, I’ve kissed this girl and every time I’ve dumped a property in this valley where the carry cost was about the same as rent I’ve lived to regret it. Yes it’s different this time, blah blah, it was different last time and the time before that. You know what, now that I recall, on my last no profit dump, my dad begged me to keep it as a rental, offered to buy half of it or all of it, said he would cover any rent losses and I still refused. I wanted to be free of it, the news was all bad, values declined faster than I could keep up with and rent signs always said 1st month free. Why would I increase my stake in this depreciating investment class when anyone in their right mind would run and hide. I pussed out, I failed to learn from those who had seen more cycles than I and today I have one place that I have very little equity in and he owns a handful outright. Why is it that from age 16 to 35 we refuse to listen to our parents and every day after that we wish we had.
