[quote=no_such_reality]As I said previously, rent it, sell it or live it. It all depends. It is RE, and location, location, location. If you don’t have a job or business in the area, rent it or sell it.
The even bigger thing is when was it given.
Either way, it’s a $300,000 windfall. It’s inheritance that smokes 99% of the population’s inheritances.
It is a silver spoon.
Do you know why? I’d sell it, take all but about $50K the proceeds pay my house down to a really low conforming loan and refi into a 15 yr fixed. I’d than make an extra principal payment while saving about $300/month for five years, then take the $50K rainy day money, along with another little rainy day pile and just pay it off. Provided I haven’t had great misfortune requiring me to hit the funds.
Again, I’m in OC, my business is in OC. Many people, live in OC. Hence, that little gem in Buena Park is reality for many. Just like the house in Escondido is reality in SD. The job markets are slightly different, commutes different, but economic realities are the same.[/quote]
NSR, since you are now stating and previously stated below (and I didn’t catch it) that you are an OC resident, I’m changing my offer. Your grandmother just left you her “nice little house” in Buena Park where she cooked Christmas dinner for you and your family every year when you were a child.
To buy it you need what? A $100K income if doing a 3% FHA loan, PITI will then be about 27% of your gross.
That neighborhood? Not horrible, not great. Renting though, is even more expensive. And that’s now, it was even worse over the last decade.[/quote]
What are you going to do with it, NSR? I’m going to go out on a limb here and say you wouldn’t move your dog into it. Even though it’s a great rental area, you don’t like dealing with tenants who would live there so you would sell it and lose its low tax basis forever. You will apply the “windfall” sales proceeds to your gargantuan mortgage on your principal residence which you have *hopefully* taken out on a property west of the 405 fwy (in a good part of Cali).
[quote-CA renter][quote=no_such_reality][quote-bearishgurl] http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-120046895-932_W_2nd_Ave_Escondido_CA_92025
[/quote]…As for the Escondido house, think about the economic advantage of not having rent, what’s that? $1400-$2200 a month they’re not forking over? That’s if they could live in Escondido. If not rent it. As for fixing, well, rent to repairs is a pretty solid repair schedule. Imagine how poor their life would be if they weren’t left the house[/quote]….In the example you’ve given, it would be difficult to find tenants who would ALWAYS pay on time and not destroy the house. That neighborhood does not attract highly educated, high-income renters with stellar credit scores. It would be okay as a rental if one lived nearby and didn’t care much about how the tenants treated the house. It might be a good investment if the buyer could get it for a lower price, along with the extra lot, and then build a duplex (More? Zoning?) on the additional lot.[/quote]
If I understand your posts correctly, you and CAR wouldn’t want to rent out this property even if you inherited it free and clear because it doesn’t attract W-2 high wage earners with stellar credit. I’m sure you’re both aware that the type of house which would attract such a tenant costs nearly twice as much (or more) than the two properties above and its high carrying costs wouldn’t make renting it pencil out.
NSR, the reality is, you actually really like your “stressful lifestyle” in having to produce X amt of thousands every month to survive and even if push came to shove, you wouldn’t change a thing about your life.
There’s really nothing wrong with this, but you sort of lamented here that those who were “given a house” in Cali were living a fabulous, carefree life filled with “discretionary income” falling from trees to do whatever they wanted with.
[quote=no_such_reality]….Negative connotations aside of your post, you make our point, you need to down-grade your material lifestyle or make $200K plus to be in the good parts of Cali. And unless someone left you a house, $100K in Cali is lower middle income existence and it just gets worse as you go down from there. And I’m OC/LA where the housing and expense issue is even more pronounced than SD….[/quote]
Based on your posts, NSR, I don’t think you’re interested in living the “stress-free life” of an “heir-occupant” on even $100K per year! You might be surprised to learn that all of the “heir-occupants” I am acquainted with live on small pensions, disability checks, UI, worker’s comp and SS (or a combination of the above). Two are still working (as a tow-truck driver and maintenance worker) and thus ALL of these “heirs” likely have annual incomes between $14K and $35K! “Humble” boomers in jeans, these people are only children, surviving children (their sibling[s] died) and usually took care of their surviving parent until they died and maybe both of them at one time.
CAR is correct that there are often multiple “heirs” on CA estates leaving behind long-owned RE. But sometimes the more “well-heeled” siblings living out of county are okay with giving their disabled sibling a “life estate” in the property if they promise to maintain it and pay the taxes and insurance premiums, especially if that sibling has taken care of their infirm parents for several (or many) years of their lives. That “heir-occupant” cannot borrow off the property without the signatures of the other owner(s) so it is kept free and clear for the life of the disabled sibling/former caregiver. Sometimes a elder parent with more than one child expressly leaves their house to the child who has taken care of them (who most needs it) and has other assets to distribute to other children.
The typical “heir-occupant” under age 65 living in a $250K to $450K neighborhood in CA usually qualifies for “lifeline” utility rates and some qualify for Medi-Cal or CMS. They pick and eat their own fruit from their backyard and shop at Grocery Outlet, the Navy Commissary, local produce stands, swap meets and thrift stores. They don’t have any credit cards. They still use their parents’ old TV, furniture, carpet, flooring and even their vehicle and have basic cable or rabbit ears. Those who have cell phones have prepaid plans and basic phones with voice only. Some are still taking care of their deceased parent’s pets.
Some of them are physically unable to maintain their landscaping and house properly and have to get help from friends, relatives and neighbors.
Without their parents’ home to live in, most of them would no doubt be homeless and their more highly-educated, non-disabled sibling(s) realize this.
Are these “heir-occupants” happy and “stress-free?” I don’t know. They likely have their problems too and some are in poor health. I’m sure they are aware, however, that this is as good as life gets for them :=]
