Case Study: Calgary- Sell now or sell later?

[Cookie78]

I debated putting this question in the Real Estate section, but I feel my question is more about lifestyle and stress, than strictly real estate.

I currently own two houses in Calgary, AB, and rent 1.5 of those houses. I have a 1 year leave of absence from my job starting Aug 3, 2017, after which I will come back to work at least a couple weeks to get my pension match, maybe longer if I feel like it or decide I need more stache.

For the last couple years the real estate market in Calgary has been depressed. Things are starting to turn around, but slowly. The rental vacancy rate is huge. At the moment I have one vacant basement suite (House 1) , and another basement tenant (House 2) talking about moving. The upstairs tenant at House 2 is very reliable, stable, and unlikely to move. I am living upstairs in House 1, but will be away most, or all, of my year off. Finding new tenants is tough. Selling houses is tough.

During most of my year off I will be 8 hours away, spending time with my family. My only dependents are 2 dogs. I have an SO, but he is on his own separate path to FIRE. We don't live in the same place.

My original plan was to keep the houses another year or two and sell when the market is better. What I really want, at least on most days, is to sell both ASAP (this spring/summer) so I don't have to worry about, deal with, or pay for the houses while I'm away. I've tried property management companies and have had terrible luck.

What I've realized recently is that I probably have enough. If I sell now I will have less stress, more freedom, and less money. But I have no problems working occasional temp jobs or doing side gigs to make up the difference. Also, if I sell the houses I have friends I can stay with or rent from for the month or more that I need to come back to work mid-2018.

What I really want to know is whether I am shooting myself in the foot worse than I think if I sell now. My mortgage terms both end in 2018 (Aug and Nov), and I will have to pay a penalty. Also I haven't factored in tax implications, but I'm not sure exactly how to do that. My realtor won't take a cut on either house.

My FIRE Phase 1 expenses are very low because my housing expenses will be nearly non-existent. My plan is to have very low expenses living semi-nomadically while the stache grows a little for the first ten years or so. After that I hope to have a little extra income in case I want to buy a house again by then.

Here are my relevant numbers:

Rental income per month

House 1 up - $0 -I live here
House 1 down - $900 -currently vacant
House 2 up - $1100 + 60% util
House 2 down - $725 + 40% util

Total - $2725 without vacancies

Real Estate

House 1 purchase price - $263k
House 1 current mortgage - $219k
House 1 mortgage term ends - Nov 2018
House 1 Interest rate - 2.6%
House 1 Mortgage payment - $427 biweekly
House 1 rough estimated value - $360k

House 2 purchase price - $302k
House 2 current mortgage - $245k
House 2 mortgage term ends - Aug 2018
House 2 Interest rate - 2.3%
House 2 Mortgage payment - $495 biweekly
House 2 rough estimated value - $360k

Property tax is about $280/month for both
Insurance is $235/month for both

Net worth

House 1 equity - $141k
House 2 equity - $115k
RRSP - $66k
TFSA - $58k
Margin - $1k
Pension commuted value - $175k
Cash - $13k

Non-mortgage liabilities - $2k

Total - $567k

Estimated FIRE Phase 1 expenses

Car Insurance - $80
Car Registration - $15
Car Repairs and Maintenance - $100
Gas - $100
Travel - $200
Groceries/Restaurant - $100
Medical/Grooming/Household/Clothes - $125
Pets - $200
Phone - $75
Entertainment - $25
Hobbies - $75
Banking/Accounting - $5
Donation - $15
Home Repairs - $50
   
Total    - $1100
Year - $13200

What say you MMM crew? Am I missing any critical information? Is selling sooner a bad idea? A good idea?

[leighb]

In my experience with rentals. Your home repair numbers are low. In the long run lots of stuff will need repaired/replaced at some point (roof, flooring, water heater, furnace windows...) Which is why there's depreciation. So in the long run you'll have to set aside more money to keep your houses up and running.

[Cookie78]

In my experience with rentals. Your home repair numbers are low. In the long run lots of stuff will need repaired/replaced at some point (roof, flooring, water heater, furnace windows...) Which is why there's depreciation. So in the long run you'll have to set aside more money to keep your houses up and running.

Those numbers are assuming I sell the rentals. $50/ month is just for camper repairs or any fixing up of the land I'm staying on.

[daverobev]

Sell the house you live in, keep the one with one tenant that is reliable. Not great returns, but you probably don't want a load of cap gains all in one year (assuming you're claiming CCA on #2 as well?). Then take a view on the other next year/whenever.

Yeah, you'll need a property manager... or a good handyman that tenants at #2 can call. Or maybe work something out so good tenant 2 manages letting downstairs...

[Cookie78]

Sell the house you live in, keep the one with one tenant that is reliable. Not great returns, but you probably don't want a load of cap gains all in one year (assuming you're claiming CCA on #2 as well?). Then take a view on the other next year/whenever.

Yeah, you'll need a property manager... or a good handyman that tenants at #2 can call. Or maybe work something out so good tenant 2 manages letting downstairs...

That's a good point. I'm not really sure how to calculate capital gains and the benefits of spreading it out over 2 different years, or to whom/where I can go to figure it out.

Ideally I'd like to sell the rental house first because I hate it and I love my house... but without a tenant in my house that's a bad idea.

My realtor (also my ex's mother) said she can manage it for me too. She has her own properties as well. It's an option. The house has generally been pretty low maintenance too, besides a few quick fix things over the past 2 years.

[daverobev]

Sell the house you live in, keep the one with one tenant that is reliable. Not great returns, but you probably don't want a load of cap gains all in one year (assuming you're claiming CCA on #2 as well?). Then take a view on the other next year/whenever.

Yeah, you'll need a property manager... or a good handyman that tenants at #2 can call. Or maybe work something out so good tenant 2 manages letting downstairs...

That's a good point. I'm not really sure how to calculate capital gains and the benefits of spreading it out over 2 different years, or to whom/where I can go to figure it out.

Ideally I'd like to sell the rental house first because I hate it and I love my house... but without a tenant in my house that's a bad idea.

My realtor (also my ex's mother) said she can manage it for me too. She has her own properties as well. It's an option. The house has generally been pretty low maintenance too, besides a few quick fix things over the past 2 years.

For a pure rental it'll be fairly easy; the tax form is not rocket science, and it does spell out what you can and can't add as expenses (ie, realtor fees). I use simpletax.ca; you can just play around with it.

For something that is part rental and part personal you'll need to figure out the split, value wise, I think. From there it's straightforward - one part is entirely tax free.

If your income is going to be low this year and high next you might want to just sell.