I own a home in northside FTW  off 28th and riverside (well the bank does)   I am curently looking for a home in the haltom, NRH ect area.  Question is

would you sell the current home

or

would you rent it hopefully for enough to cover payment plus added income tax.  


The situation is this  the current house is a 2 bedroom 1 bath at 1250 Sq with a LARGE 2 car garage and a good sized shed.  My mother wants to move here and says she would like to have this house but cannot move because my father won't move.  She (jokeingly) says she will when he passes away.  anyhow  this place would be perfect for her  but it will be a while before she is ready to move here.    So the question is would you rent as to have the house paid down for her eventual moving or would you sell and let her find something later

As an added the property curently has a nat gas lease on it that was just signed and may bring upwards of 3-400 per mo.  If I sell I'm keeping the mineral rights if I rent I'm keeping the mineral rights.  Also there is a local push from the city for a "trinity river beautification" project  meaning lots of new buisness is moving in and there are some offers to fix up the hood.
Realtor came and told me he thought the house (with a few fixs) would sell for 92K based on similar properties in the neighborhood   I owe $71K (been here 4 yrs)  

with all this data what would you all sugest?  

You can either have really good renters or really Bad renters.  If you don't mind putting some money into it to fix it up for your mother when she does finally move here, then rent it.  Do you have the time and patience to deal with renters and their issues????  And will it rent for enough, based on other properties in the area, to cover your mortgage payment and taxes????

I'm sure you have thought about all of this, but don't kid yourself if you are thinking renters will take as good of care of it as you do.  When they move out, you will have to fix it up.  One thing for sure would be to not allow pets as they can be disastrous.  

Just spouting off things that I remember from when I rented.

Horror stories from my folks who had a number of rent houses have kept me away from renting.

I really don't want the headaches.  Doesn't bother some people, though, so it's really a question of your attitude and what you are willing to put up with.

I would rent the house out.  If you do, be sure to hire yard maintenance yourself and add the cost to the rental fee.  

If you do decide to sell, let me know.

I have thought about the issues with renters and that is my biggest fear  

I figure as far as the yard goes I'm not moving that far  I can go over every other week  mow and weedeat and that gives me the opertunity to keep an eye on the house also.  I can pay 2 payments for a short while  (2 maybe 3 payments)  

I talked with my lawyer and he can write me a contract and sugested to colect first and last months rent up front along with a deposit.  If I have to evict for abuse to the house I have the last mo rent and deposit to fix it up with.  I can do alot of the work myself and have a couple friends that can do electrical and plumbing work.  would have to have a no pet clause as sugested

The wife an I have discused it and we may list it for sale or rent and which ever hapens first is the way we go.