– From what I know, property tax in Texas is pretty high, so if you total the mortgage + tax, you may have a very small monthly profit if your house rent for $2200 – 2400.
– You said: “… that would mean we would need to continue renting here indefinitely.” It sounds like most of the down payment for the eventual home purchase in So Cal would come from the equity of the house in TX. If that’s the case, consider this: the market in Austin is not likely to improve any time soon.
In fact, the market in Austin is likely to turn worse. This means that you’ll lose even more equity in the next few years. So the following scenario is likely to become true: in 2 or 3 years, when the market in So Cal is close to the bottom & the time is right to buy, you’ll have less equity in the Austin house to use for a down payment.
You mentioned that your mortgage is $1700. Assuming that you have a 30-yr fixed, this means you owe about $250k. If this is true, your equity in that house is about $100k. Much of this $100k is likely to “vanish” in the next few years, as home prices will continue to go down.
I would lower the price & sell as quickly as posible because once you enter Oct/Nov, with all the holidays coming up, it’ll be much harder to sell. And next year, it’ll be worse.
To sum it up:
If you continue to lease that house: you’ll get a small monthly profit & all the downside potentials. The risks clearly outweigh the rewards.
If you sell ASAP, you’ll lock in today’s market price & avoid all the downside potentials.
