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Owning a rental property is supposed to bring in money. For Oz and his wife, their Tampa, Florida, townhome is doing the opposite. After all the expenses are counted, Oz says they’re losing exactly $730 every month.
Oz called “The Ramsey Show” and shared that the couple never actually planned to become landlords. They bought the newly constructed townhome about three years ago, lived there for roughly 10 months and then moved back to Miami when Oz’s job called him into the office.
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A Rental That Never Made Financial Sense
Instead of selling, they rented the townhome. At first, the numbers weren’t terrible. The rent was around $2,500, and Oz said they were only coming out of pocket by about $50 a month.
Then property taxes jumped once the newly built home was fully assessed. At the same time, rents in the community fell, and their realtor recommended lowering the rent to $2,400. Their monthly mortgage payment is $2,800.
Once district fees, garbage fees, security and other costs are included, Oz said the real loss is $730 a month, or $8,760 a year.
“You were just losing money hand over fist,” co-host Jade Warshaw said.
“Hand over fist. Exactly,” Oz replied.
Warshaw pointed out that Oz and his wife hadn’t chosen the property after studying rental returns and deciding it was a good investment. They became landlords because they already owned the home when they moved.
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“You defaulted to this because it was like, well, we’re moving. I guess we’ll just kind of keep it,” Warshaw said. “That’s not a great plan for real estate.”
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They Want Out, but There’s Another Problem
Oz estimates the couple could sell the townhome today and walk away with about $15,000. Co-host Ken Coleman thought they should take the opportunity, particularly with Tampa home prices under pressure.
“I would get out now,” Coleman said. “Take the 15 and be happy.”
That way, they could remove the headache and get out without taking a financial loss on the sale.
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Unfortunately, Oz had one more detail: They had just renewed their tenants’ lease and still had about 11 months remaining.
Coleman urged him to go through the lease with his realtor immediately and determine exactly what options they have. If they can’t sell yet, he suggested preparing early and potentially getting the property ready to list around the eight-month mark.
The frustrating part is that Oz and his wife, ages 30 and 27, are otherwise doing well financially. They have no credit card debt or car payments, roughly seven months of savings and a solid household income.
The rental, Oz said, isn’t causing problems in their marriage. It’s costing them something else–their “sense of peace.”
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This article We’re Bleeding $730 a Month on a Rental Property. The Worst Part Is We Just Signed Another Lease and Now Selling May Not Be an Option originally appeared on Benzinga.com
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