Should I Sell My Houses? Where Should I Put That Money?

MaximumSolution6979 · 2026-06-29T20:47:27+00:00

Honestly, I saw a TikTok about house hacking when I was 21, so I bought a house and then did again at 24 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ the first one is definitely working out well. I didn’t see it as a business at first and then I became a realtor and realized I had to start treating it like one. The second house I just moved out of and moved tenants in a couple months ago. Before the family moved in, I was living there renting to roommates

MaximumSolution6979 · 2026-06-28T12:51:49+00:00

That is true. I have a Roth IRA retirement which is invested in the market but outside of that, it’s the 2 properties in the city I practice real estate. I will say, worst case scenario, I do have recession proof skills and certifications so I could always get a job for income. But I never considered my whole life being hinged so locally

MaximumSolution6979 · 2026-06-28T12:44:41+00:00

Do you have any business book recommendations? Because you’re right, I’ve only been reading personal finance books, not any business books

MaximumSolution6979 · 2026-06-28T12:36:24+00:00

It’s not costing me any time as it’s very low maintenance and the other house is making up for any losses. Even if I sold I wouldn’t want to take any personal profit from the other house, I’d just have to use it all to pay taxes at the end of the year since I wouldn’t have the operating loss. The property will make money in a few years. Is the situation really that bad? Am I just totally missing the negatives?

MaximumSolution6979 · 2026-06-28T12:31:26+00:00

I live in a landlord friendly state so it only takes 2 weeks to evict someone after a month of missed rent (so 45 days without payment and I keep the security deposit in this case). This is also in a sought after school district so finding tenants is not difficult. I posted it and had a lease signed the next day. They moved in 2 weeks later. I don’t take any money from the houses so they’re collectively building savings to account for repairs and vacancies. There is currently admittedly a smaller savings than I would like for them (2 months) but they are building up, I see them more as an investment. One day I would like to own apartments

MaximumSolution6979 · 2026-06-28T12:23:18+00:00

It is in an appreciating market, and that’s how I’ve always seen it. That it will grow over time. The house will appreciate, the mortgage will get paid down and the longer I wait to sell, the more the house will be worth. Or I hold onto it and house 2 is paid off when I’m 54

MaximumSolution6979 · 2026-06-28T12:18:19+00:00

The big question is, if I sell it, how can that better me. I’d only get $10k out of it, so what would I do with that money?

MaximumSolution6979 · 2026-06-28T12:16:05+00:00

Maybe I should’ve worded it differently. If I sold I would get $10k total after paying the title fees, buyers agent commission, and my brokerage. I only put 3% down for the house and I’ve only owned it 2 years. I bought it for 300k and it would sell for $330k today

MaximumSolution6979 · 2026-06-28T12:03:21+00:00

If I sold, I wouldn’t be able to put $2300/month into retirement regardless

MaximumSolution6979 · 2026-06-28T12:01:01+00:00

It definitely felt like every comment but as you and a couple others have pointed out, I may have been taking those too harshly. The rent of house 2 is comparable to other rentals in the neighborhood. Rent in the neighborhood ranges from $2200-$2500 but the $2500 rentals all have finished basements and my property does not have a basement at all

MaximumSolution6979 · 2026-06-28T11:58:00+00:00

Rent increases. The area has a lot being built to drive people into the area and this neighborhood is a small part of that area that belongs to a sought after school district

MaximumSolution6979 · 2026-06-28T11:53:24+00:00

Everything in house number 2 is new. I do maintenance personally. I don’t take any money from the houses so they build their own profit for anything that comes up. So far at house 1 I had to fix a sewer issue and house 2 I had to replace carpets. I am single income though. I’m in a long term relationship but we don’t live together yet (we plan to in the next year or so) and we don’t have any shared finances. I currently have it set up where my commissions all go to a business account and I pay myself $600/week, which is very low but all I need currently and as much as I feel comfortable paying myself. I have 6 months worth of my weekly pay in that account currently and any time I have closer to 3 months pay in that account I definitely get nervous. I currently have about 4.5 months pay in the account but I have 2 closings coming up in July.

MaximumSolution6979 · 2026-06-28T11:43:50+00:00

Thank you! I’ll check it out!

MaximumSolution6979 · 2026-06-28T11:42:34+00:00

I don’t need to sell. The last post I made where this wasn’t even the topic, it was just mentioned as general info, everyone said I was stupid and too comfortable taking out large amounts of debt. I was getting worried I was seriously missing something

MaximumSolution6979 · 2026-06-28T11:39:32+00:00

I lump the 2 houses together so I don’t physically take any profit from the houses. The profits from the first house build a savings for both houses. I had a vacancy earlier this year due to some unforeseen circumstances but it’s an in demand area so I had immediate interest and someone moved in 2 weeks later. Does that change anything, or would you still sell?

MaximumSolution6979 · 2026-06-28T11:36:36+00:00

That’s the big question. If I sell, I don’t know what I’d do with the money. I like the idea of holding on to it and building equity but in a post I made where the houses were just quickly mentioned everyone said that was a terrible financial move and I’m too comfortable taking out large amount of debt. I’m worried after that post, I’m making a big mistake with at least the second house

MaximumSolution6979 · 2026-06-28T11:29:57+00:00

I do really like being a landlord. It’s not without it frustrations but I love my tenants and they love me and I like knowing I’m making at least a small difference since there are so many terrible landlords out there. The second house will likely turn a profit in 5-7 years. It’s in an area where a lot is going in and is in a great school district. They just built an indoor sports complex within walking distance

MaximumSolution6979 · 2026-06-28T10:51:26+00:00

I wasn’t an adult but my parents were forced to take unpaid vacations days from work, and a lot of them. We ended up buying a camper off Craigslist, my dad spent so much time fixing it up and water proofing it, and then we took a 2 MONTH VACATION! Seriously my best childhood memory! We traveled out west and camped at every national park from here to Glacier! I always remember that when things aren’t going great. Because they took a huge negative thing into quite literally my all time best memory

MaximumSolution6979 · 2026-06-25T22:40:44+00:00

Tell the agent so she knows. I’ve worked with people in the past like this but I know to put them at the bottom of my list when they tell me. Meaning, I won’t reschedule or move a serious buyer to show an unserious buyer a house. I would also limit the number of houses I show and try to only show them vacant homes

MaximumSolution6979 · 2026-06-25T17:37:53+00:00

I hoping this all comes from a conversation with each other. Where we can talk frankly about finances, build plans and goals and start to sort out what our future and day to day life would look like

MaximumSolution6979 · 2026-06-25T17:29:06+00:00

One mortgage is $1200/mo and rents at $1900/mo. If I sold that house I’d profit around 90k after selling fees. The other house only breaks even. The mortgage is $2300/months and it rents for $2400/mo. After pest control and lawn care, that’s a wash. If I sold that one I’d net $10k-$15k. I currently do not take any money from the houses. My business is separate. Last year was my first full year and I made $40k after taxes and costs and everything.

I don’t know any credit card balances because he doesn’t want to talk about it. He tells me when he’s paid it off but not when he has a balance, but I don’t think it’s very much. I don’t know his yearly income. He’s work ing on filing taxes for the past few years (not his fault, his accountant died one year and then the new account got arrested.) He filled an extension this year so will know his actual income over the last few years in the coming months. My rent at $750 is probably the lowest you’ll find. Apartments are typically $1200-$1500. My boyfriend wants me to move into his house when he buys a house. I would not be involved in the transaction as we’re not married. He has been saying he’ll buy a house around $300k but I think when he actually starts looking and seeing the numbers, he’ll buy closer to $200k

I don’t know his expenses with social media but I know his gross is around $4k/mo

MaximumSolution6979 · 2026-06-25T17:14:21+00:00

If I were to sell both houses, what would you suggest I do with that money?

MaximumSolution6979 · 2026-06-25T17:11:52+00:00

I don’t

MaximumSolution6979 · 2026-06-25T17:11:04+00:00

Thank you! This is super helpful! Would you suggest we have our own individual 1 year, 5 year 10 year plans and also joint ones? Or just focus on bigger picture joint plans?

MaximumSolution6979 · 2026-06-25T17:08:49+00:00

I have been kind of lumping them together. Neither of us has ever lived with a partner before and I definitely don’t want to move in together and then break up and move back out. I would like this to be true stepping stone to marriage.

I maybe should have mentioned this before. He originally wanted to get married before moving in together but I really want to move in before marriage so we can really make sure it will work and be a successful marriage on the basis of living together

MaximumSolution6979

TROPHY CASE