The housing market in Myrtle Beach has experienced positive growth over the last decade. And even while prices begin to drop and sales begin to cool in other parts of the country, we’re still doing pretty well in this market. Homes for sale in Conway, Surfside Beach, Socastee, and Murrells Inlet are in high demand. Asking prices are likely to be met, and buyers are still competing for these great opportunities, even as mortgage rates rest at the highest level we’ve seen in a while.
There’s not always a clear answer, however, when one home sells but the other doesn’t. Even in a strong sales market, selling the home for the price you want can be challenging. If it’s not happening, don’t waste your time and energy trying to force things to go your way.
There are other, more profitable, options.
With rising inflation and higher interest rates, selling a home is a bit more complicated. Buyers are eventually going to lose the ability to make the offers that they want, especially if interest rates continue to climb.
Selling right now isn’t your only option. You can rent your property while you wait for the sales market to settle into the ideal situation for you to make the most money on your property. By renting, you have an excellent opportunity to earn some recurring monthly rental income while your tenants pay down your mortgage and your property continues to grow in value.
Let’s take a look at why you should consider renting out a property that won’t sell, and how local property management partners can help.
Renting Your Myrtle Beach Home Provides Income
Plenty of financial benefits await when you rent your property out to tenants looking for a home.
- You earn consistent rent every month. If you’re working with a property manager, you’ll have a good tenant in place and you can expect the rent to come in on time. You can also expect that the rental rate is profitable and competitive for the market.
- Your property will continue to appreciate in value, delivering even more money for you when it is time to sell, whether that’s a year from now or five years from now or 10 years from now.
The rental market tends to be more reliable than the sales market – people are always going to need homes, and renting them is often an easier option for people than buying. So, you’ll have a reliable pool of tenants – more reliable than your pool of buyers. This is especially true in a market like ours, where you have a constant influx of people moving into the area. We have recent graduates, retirees, and even people moving into the area from overseas. The tenant pool is large and well-qualified, which means rental income will not be a problem.
Rental prices are also pretty high currently, which means your tenants will make a sizable contribution towards the mortgage, insurance, taxes, and other expenses associated with owning property. Plenty of good renters are looking for well-maintained homes, and they don’t mind paying top dollar for great living spaces.
Renting Out a Conway Property Comes with Tax Benefits
When you sell, you can expect that you’ll have to pay capital gains tax on your property, especially if you’ve made a lot of money. It’s different when you own a rental. With rental property, you’re able to take a number of deductions.
You can reduce your overall tax exposure and offset what you earn in rental income by deducting:
- The depreciation of the property, which is at an IRS-established 27.5 years.
- Expenses associated with the home, such as maintenance and professional services like accounting, legal fees, or property management.
- Mortgage interest.
Always talk to your tax advisor or CPA before filing your taxes and make sure you’re getting all of the benefits that you’re entitled to as an investment property owner.
Holding Onto a Valuable Asset in Murrells Inlet
You probably had a good reason for wanting to sell your home. However, when you hold onto that asset and rent it out, you are retaining a valuable piece of property. Values are rising. Home prices are higher than they’ve ever been. Keeping an investment that’s worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in your portfolio is never bad for business.
Who knows where you’ll be in a few years? Maybe you’ll want to move back into the home. Maybe you’ll want to use it as a retirement property. If you move out of the area, you could decide to use it as a vacation property and then rent it out on a short term basis when you’re not using it.
By holding onto the asset, you open yourself up to a lot of options, and options are good to have. Everything is changing quickly with shifting economic priorities. Those options will be valuable to have, even if you ultimately end up selling sooner rather than later.
Property Management and Your Myrtle Beach Rental Property
Leasing, managing, and maintaining a rental home takes a lot of time and requires a lot of knowledge. There are complex rental laws to work through, tenant relationships to establish, and you’ll need a preferred list of vendors and contractors to take care of minor fixes and major problems.
One reason that many people would prefer to sell than rent out their home is that they don’t want to do all of the work that comes with being a landlord. The leasing, management, and maintenance can seem daunting, especially if your initial plan was to sell your home. If you’ve never done this before, you’ll probably feel like you’re at a disadvantage.
But, you don’t have to take a hands-on approach to renting out your property. Professional property managers in Myrtle Beach and the surrounding areas can handle all of the day-to-day business of your rental property, take care of tenant concerns, and make sure the value of your investment is protected.
We can tell you more about how we’d work together. Please contact us at J&P Unlimited. We manage investment properties in Myrtle Beach, Conway, Surfside Beach, Murrells Inlet, Socastee and the surrounding areas.
