As Alex reported 11/19/2011 on Property Source Radio.
Realtor.org – Daily Real Estate News | Tuesday, Nov 15, 2011
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More sellers who are tired of their home lingering on the market or don’t want to have to take a loss on their home are opting to become landlords instead.
For example, according to an article at NPR, one couple describes owning a two-bedroom bungalow in Oakland, Calif., which they purchased for $500,000, that was appraised recently at $260,000. When a job relocation was sending them across the country, they decided to rent instead of sell.
But becoming a landlord isn’t an easy role to step into, as some of these “accidental landlords” describe difficult tenants and constant problem or maintenance issues that require fixing.
The number of unintentional landlords is growing. About 2.3 million single-family homes became rentals during 2005 to 2009, a significant increase compared to about 700,000 single-family homes that became rentals during 2001 to 2005, according to Eric Belsky with Harvard’s Center for Housing Studies.
“The good news for the owners or the reluctant landlords has been that the rental market has been so good, they’ve been able to cover pretty much all their expenses and just been able to basically go on with their lives,” Ron Abrams with the Chicago Association of REALTORS® told NPR.
Source: “Would-be Sellers Become Reluctant Landlords,” NPR (Nov. 13, 2011)