jamlen_IHB
New member
I have been a huge fan of the Irvinehousingblog for a long time but this is only my second post. I read the blog forums daily and learned all the lessons provided by so many and am very greatful for this.
My family and I are dreaming about moving from Pasadena to Irvine for many obvious reasons such as business opportunities, great schools, better proximity to the beach etc. I am struggling a lot with deciding whether to sell the Townhouse where we currently live in Pasadena or keep it as a long term investment and rent it out. Here are some of our facts that provide context if anyone is interested in providing their view (which would be greatly appreciated).
- 1506 sqft 3bd/3ba Townhouse located near Old Town Pasadena, CalTech and South Lake shopping district
- Unit is completely upgraded (did most of the work ourselves) with high end materials
- Bought in 2002 for $310,000
- Value peaked at around $620,000 but could probably be pretty easily sold for around $500,000 right now based on current comps (I know, nothing sells easily today...)
- We provided 20% downpayment for an initial 30 year fixed that was refinanced with a 15 year fixed at 4.875 % in 2003. Current mortgage balance stands at $170,000.
- Would probably be able to rent unit for around $2,500, our current out of pocket with mortgage, HOA and Property Taxes around $2,600 but $1,300 of this is principal repayment.
Our plan is to move to Irvine in the summer and rent an apartment or a house and wait for the market to deflate further so we eventually can buy our long term family home. We do not really need the money out of our Pasadena townhouse for a down payment on the next house as we already have a sizable down payment saved up but I am afraid that prices are going to continue down for the next few years and am thinking about selling to simply lock in our equity of just under $300,000 before it is all gone.
I would greatly appreciate any and all feedback on this topic. My fear is that we love our townhouse and are evaluating this emotionally instead of anaytically so perhaps for others that did not have to sweat and shed some tears ripping out the old kitchen and eating out of tin cans during the renovation, this may be an obvious decision to make and we are just too close to the situation.
My family and I are dreaming about moving from Pasadena to Irvine for many obvious reasons such as business opportunities, great schools, better proximity to the beach etc. I am struggling a lot with deciding whether to sell the Townhouse where we currently live in Pasadena or keep it as a long term investment and rent it out. Here are some of our facts that provide context if anyone is interested in providing their view (which would be greatly appreciated).
- 1506 sqft 3bd/3ba Townhouse located near Old Town Pasadena, CalTech and South Lake shopping district
- Unit is completely upgraded (did most of the work ourselves) with high end materials
- Bought in 2002 for $310,000
- Value peaked at around $620,000 but could probably be pretty easily sold for around $500,000 right now based on current comps (I know, nothing sells easily today...)
- We provided 20% downpayment for an initial 30 year fixed that was refinanced with a 15 year fixed at 4.875 % in 2003. Current mortgage balance stands at $170,000.
- Would probably be able to rent unit for around $2,500, our current out of pocket with mortgage, HOA and Property Taxes around $2,600 but $1,300 of this is principal repayment.
Our plan is to move to Irvine in the summer and rent an apartment or a house and wait for the market to deflate further so we eventually can buy our long term family home. We do not really need the money out of our Pasadena townhouse for a down payment on the next house as we already have a sizable down payment saved up but I am afraid that prices are going to continue down for the next few years and am thinking about selling to simply lock in our equity of just under $300,000 before it is all gone.
I would greatly appreciate any and all feedback on this topic. My fear is that we love our townhouse and are evaluating this emotionally instead of anaytically so perhaps for others that did not have to sweat and shed some tears ripping out the old kitchen and eating out of tin cans during the renovation, this may be an obvious decision to make and we are just too close to the situation.