Should we sell or rent out?

if the local market is hot, try FSBO.

I think it will sell rather quickly because there is very little inventory and it's a condo in a good building. I am not sure if that's what we should do. We would make some money on rent too so not only does it pay for itself but actually brings some income. At the same time if we sell, we could invest in stock market which is also hot.

then if u r close to retirement, keep collecting rent so u will have nice cash flow. in case u r still at ur 40's, sell, and do balanced stock/bond investing.

green_cat, All depends on your view of the real estate market relative to the other asset classes in which you would deploy the money from the sale of the apartment? Do not forget to account for vacancies, wear and tear of the apartment while you rent it out.

>Do not forget to account for vacancies, wear and tear of the apartment while you rent it out.

And the effort you'd put in to the ownership vs. the effort you'd put in to the ownership of other asset classes.

$1K a month / $500 after tax income? What is your return if the refrigerator breaks? Sounds like a sell.

>$1K a month / $500 after tax income? What is your return if the refrigerator breaks? Sounds like a sell.

Agree except for the calculation between pre-tax and post-tax.

It's always better to rent than to own.

How can anyone form an opinion on the matter without knowing the numbers?

"I own some stock. Should I sell? It yields $1000 a month after margin. Or if I sold it, I would net a nice amount. What should I do?"

He yields $1K on a 2 bed condo.

assuming they have a mortgage, in a renting scenario the interest is fully deductible and the principle is being paid off. So the actual return post depreciation might be more than $1K if mortgage is amortized.

High rent = High Turnover. Be prepared to be looking for a new tenant every 12 to 24 months. Also lots of deadbeats and scammers; along with apartment wreckers. The real question is do you have the personality to be a landlord?

Your net worth will be very very highly correlated with Manhattan real estate prices just by owning a coop. Owning a rental also and having what sounds like a lot of your net worth ALSO in Manhattan real estate seems unnecessarily risky. If you can sell, you can invest the after-tax income into a diversified portfolio of securities. Not just stocks, but bonds, commodities, non-US stocks and bonds, and yes diversified real estate (i.e. real estate ETFs or index funds - US and non-US alike.) IF in fact NYC real estate remains hot, you have upside in your new coop, it did not miss out on anything.

ANd of course Inonada is correct - 12k a year on a 400k condo is a lot better than on a 2MM condo.

Ah yes the $400K 2 bedroom condo.

I was in same position exactly, albeit absent the hot market. So have kept first place and while in long term it might make economic sense, it is also a pain in the ass being a landlord. Do yourself a favor and sell it.