Author Topic: Should I sell my co-op at a loss or rent it out and deal with the drama?  (Read 1732 times)

Aimza

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Hi all,

This is my first post on here so please be gentle.

I currently own a co-op in NJ which I just moved out of to live in my new house in Long Island (2 family, big property and I will save money every month over what I was paying previously - very mustachian). I was planning on renting out the co-op because I owe more than I would get if I sold it. My question is would I be better off taking a loss and selling it as it has been 2 months and I still don't have anyone to rent it.

Here's the math:

Purchased the co-op in 2008 for $182,000 and put about $15k of renovations into it over the years (so all in $197,000)
Mortgage: $734/month, maintenance: $1100/month, insurance: $20/month

Listed to rent at $1800/month - no takers yet

Most recent comp is $159,000, but lots of co-ops in my complex have sold for much less (as low as $84k) over the past few years due to people just dumping them.

If you were in my situation, what would you do? Is it better to take a possible 60k loss now or deal with renting it out every year and deal with a possible monthly rent loss and also month to month I would have to possibly put out $200 or so to break even in hopes that the market improves greatly.

As an aside, renters need to go through board approval, pay a $500 application fee and I need to pay $500 each year to the co-op that the apartment is rented.

Please help!

Thank you.

Socmonkey

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$1100 a month maintenance fee? Is there a steak and lobster buffet every night?

Anyways, the high maintenance fee is killing the resale value (This is why other units have sold for as little as $84k). Dump this turd for whatever you can get and learn not to buy something like this again.

mskyle

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Are you expecting the potential tenant to pay the $500 application fee? Because that's going to turn off an awful lot of renters. If you can afford to sell this (i.e. the bank will allow a short sale or you can come up with the cash to make up the difference) I think you have to do it. It's just hemorrhaging money and it's going to continue to do so. Might as well take the hit all at once.

Right now you are losing let's say $1500 a month on this place (HOA/interest/taxes/insurance). That's $18K a year. How much to do you owe on the place?

Metric Mouse

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Are you expecting the potential tenant to pay the $500 application fee? Because that's going to turn off an awful lot of renters. If you can afford to sell this (i.e. the bank will allow a short sale or you can come up with the cash to make up the difference) I think you have to do it. It's just hemorrhaging money and it's going to continue to do so. Might as well take the hit all at once.

Right now you are losing let's say $1500 a month on this place (HOA/interest/taxes/insurance). That's $18K a year. How much to do you owe on the place?

Wow... This is like a home-owner nightmare.... How do these kinds of places exist?

Rezdent

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If the title of the thread were reworded to reflect your situation more accurately would it look something like this?

Should I sell my co-op at a loss and be done or *try* to rent it out and lose money every month indefinitely while hassling with the co-op and tenants?

If that sentence is accurate, you're losing money either way.  Leasing (which seems like it's not working anyway) just prolongs the pain and ups the hassle factors.