Rental property under water!!

[poorSAP]

My father passed away and his rental property is under water, what can I do? He was supplementing the rent each month, we personally would like to short sale if possible. The current renter has a lease through December 2019.

 

[Just Blue]

My father passed away and his rental property is under water, what can I do? He was supplementing the rent each month, we personally would like to short sale if possible. The current renter has a lease through December 2019.

What state?

 

[poorSAP]

Leesburg, VA

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

What do his total assets and liabilities look like?

Is there a surviving spouse?

 

[poorSAP]

Still figuring out all the estate planning and probate stuff. But there are considerable assets, ie primary home, life insurance, 401k, social security etc. Yes, my mom is the surviving spouse.

 

[LdiJ]

My father passed away and his rental property is under water, what can I do? He was supplementing the rent each month, we personally would like to short sale if possible. The current renter has a lease through December 2019.

The estate (anything that doesn't pass directly to your mother outside of probate) would be responsible for any shortage on the mortgage so a short sale is possibly not feasible. If the primary residence is titled as joint tenants with right of survivorship, or joint tenants in the entirety, then the house would belong to your mother outside of probate. The life insurance and the 401k should also have beneficiaries and pass outside of any estate. The same would apply to any joint bank accounts or any joint investments.
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The only thing that would be part of your dad's estate are things that are in his name only, with no beneficiaries. If there is little of that kind of thing (other than the rental property) then a short sale would be more feasible.

 

[adjusterjack]

My father passed away and his rental property is under water, what can I do? He was supplementing the rent each month, we personally would like to short sale if possible. The current renter has a lease through December 2019.

What is the market value of the home?
What is the loan(s) balance?
What is the mortgage payment?
How much is the rent?
Is the renter any trouble?

 

[poorSAP]

1. What is the market value of the home? - $360k
2. What is the loan(s) balance? - $305k
3. What is the mortgage payment? - $2800
4. How much is the rent? - $1800
5. Is the renter any trouble? - Not that I know of

 

[Zigner]

The rental is not "under water" - why would you need to do a short sale?

 

[poorSAP]

He was supplementing the different between the mortgage payment and the rent check around $1000/month.

 

[Zigner]

He was supplementing the different between the mortgage payment and the rent check around $1000/month.

The house is worth $360k and the mortgage is $305k. The house is not under water. There is no reason for a short sale.

 

[LdiJ]

The house is worth $360k and the mortgage is $305k. The house is not under water. There is no reason for a short sale.

Not only not under water, but there is plenty of room for realtor commissions and closing costs. The problem I see is that the tenant has a lease that goes through December 2019, and with that big of a difference between the rent and a potential mortgage payment for any buyer, its going to be hard to sell it with the renter still there. The estate may have to do a "cash for keys" arrangement to get the tenant to leave.

 

[adjusterjack]

Since somebody is inheriting substantial assets my advice is keep the house until the tenant's lease is up and then pretty it up and sell it.

Meantime the negative cash flow is a nice tax write-off and the home may increase in value by the end of the year.

 

[LdiJ]

Since somebody is inheriting substantial assets my advice is keep the house until the tenant's lease is up and then pretty it up and sell it.

Meantime the negative cash flow is a nice tax write-off and the home may increase in value by the end of the year.

Its a nice tax write-off as long as the widow's income will not be too high to take the write off. Its also a nice write off as long as the widow's income will not be too low to sustain that 1000.00 a month and still benefit from a write-off. Sometimes cash for keys is a better trade-off.

 

[Angalfaria]

Since somebody is inheriting substantial assets my advice is keep the house until the tenant's lease is up and then pretty it up and sell it.

Meantime the negative cash flow is a nice tax write-off and the home may increase in value by the end of the year.

Great idea. Thanks for the post, think it must help me too. I am in the same position now.