Rental Income Property | Personal Finance & Lifestyle | Yakezie Forums

My soon-to-be-ex-wife and I have been trying to sell our home for the last nine months and we've had ZERO luck.  We had one ridiculous offer that isn't even worth writing about here.  If we continue to lower the asking price, we're going to end up bringing money to the table to get out, which both of us refuse to do.

So our new plan is to refinance our current mortgage which will lower our monthly payment by over $300, and then rent out the house.  Renting it will provide us with a passive income stream of $450 to $600 per month, which has to be split evenly between us. 

At this point, it seems like the only available option for us, and it seems like a no-brainer.  But I have some concerns and worries about being a landlord. 

You can read the full details on my blog, but I would really like some advice and/or suggestions.  Is this a good idea?  Why?  Why not? 

Thanks.

TightFistedMiser said:

Owning a rental property with your ex-wife seems like courting disaster.  There will be lots of decisions to make. Are you going to be able to agree?  I wouldn't own a property with my ex, but maybe you guys could make it work.

I agree. I'm not sure if it's the best idea. I feel like there will be arguing in the future and it might lead to a disaster. However, if you believe that you two will be fine, it sounds like an okay idea.

I agree with others. I think the most important factor here is your relationship with your soon-to-be-ex-wife. From what you posted on your blog, it sounds like you consider it a non-issue, since the only concerns you discuss are being a landlord, being able to rent out the house, and being able to get another mortgage to buy another house. I think these are all really important considerations, but first and foremost you need to decide if you'd even be able to maintain a business relationship with your ex-wife. If not, perhaps you could come to an arrangement where one of you takes full responsibility for the house in exchange for a larger share of the rental income. Or maybe it would be worth it to take the loss and sell the house if it means you can completely move on from your marriage.

If you do decide to keep the house and rent it out, I think the best thing you could do for yourself would be to find a new place to live that is very inexpensive – you know there's some risk that you might not be able to keep the house filled with renters, so mitigate that risk by curbing expenses in your future housing as much as possible.

Hi DebtKiller,

A good question and the primary thought is can you manage to work alongside your ex-wife? The other thought would be in regards to property maintenance. Is this likely to be a problem? 

Where I live property rentals are at an all time high because people can't get mortgages. If the property were to be empty could you both survive and pay the extra cost of your mortgage. 

Overall I think on paper it's a sensible move, and I wish you all the best! You can retain the property until the market revives again, or at least until mortgages are being made more readily available. 

After 4 years my home is slowly building value again. Not much but there is life. My rate is 6.5% but the banks won't refi me. Being that my wife isn't on the deed we are in the process of putting her on to then refi under her great credit. We would be saving $600 a month. 

I say let bygones be bygones and get the money. 

You are in a tough situation because you can't sell.  In a perfect world you wouldn't want to be in business with an ex, but right now the extra income would just be nice.  I say go for it and get out ASAP.

Owning a rental property with positive cash flow = Good

Owning rental property with ex-wife = Bad

I would cash out some equity with the refinance to either purchase your ex-wife's share, or allow her to do the same.