# Moving - selling or not



## bull (Feb 17, 2016)

We are planning to move out of Calgary. We own a big bungalow and usually rent out the basement that is always enough to cover mortgage (only 40% of the house). If we are not selling the house, we believe that the rent could cover to pay for mortgage, property tax and insurance and give us an amount of money each month (let's say 800-1000$ per month after mortgage, property tax and insurance)

But we have no plan to come back to Calgary. Do you think keeping the house for renting could be a problem with Calgary's future as well as tax for rental property?


----------



## OnlyMyOpinion (Sep 1, 2013)

Is this the same house with the 3 downstairs tenants that you were trying to shoehorn a 4th into back in Feb? 
Sell it - Why would you even think about keeping it if you will not live anywhere near Calgary. 
Planning to get 6 upstairs? Ever think about neighbours and parking, etc.
Jeez, the greed of some people.


----------



## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

I don't recommend being an absentee landlord, unless it is economical for you to pay a local property manager to look after the property.
From a tenant's perspective, I would not want to lease from an absentee landlord if I could help it.

It may not be a good time to sell in Calgary, but if renting the basement is paying the mortgage, I assume you have some reasonable equity in the place. Time to liquidate it and move on.


----------



## bull (Feb 17, 2016)

OhGreatGuru said:


> I don't recommend being an absentee landlord, unless it is economical for you to pay a local property manager to look after the property.
> From a tenant's perspective, I would not want to lease from an absentee landlord if I could help it.
> 
> It may not be a good time to sell in Calgary, but if renting the basement is paying the mortgage, I assume you have some reasonable equity in the place. Time to liquidate it and move on.


Thanks for your advice 

Actually, I want to sell the house and buy a new one in Ottawa (your location ) because my partner found a job in Mississauga but we could not afford a house in Mississauga so I choose Ottawa as a good place for raising kids and acceptable house price (but high property tax). How do you think about moving to Ottawa from Calgary without job and partner will work in Mississauga?


----------



## bull (Feb 17, 2016)

OnlyMyOpinion said:


> Is this the same house with the 3 downstairs tenants that you were trying to shoehorn a 4th into back in Feb?
> Sell it - Why would you even think about keeping it if you will not live anywhere near Calgary.
> Planning to get 6 upstairs? Ever think about neighbours and parking, etc.
> Jeez, the greed of some people.


Actually, if we rent out the house, we need a property management and rent to a family only. We cannot manage as sharing rooms for sure.


----------



## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

bull said:


> Actually, I want to sell the house and buy a new one in Ottawa (your location ) because my partner found a job in Mississauga but we could not afford a house in Mississauga so I choose Ottawa as a good place for raising kids and acceptable house price (but high property tax). How do you think about moving to Ottawa from Calgary without job and partner will work in Mississauga?


Do you know how far away Ottawa is from Mississauga? It's like a 5 hour drive.


----------



## bull (Feb 17, 2016)

Spudd said:


> Do you know how far away Ottawa is from Mississauga? It's like a 5 hour drive.


I know 
I meant my partner would visit home by weekend


----------



## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

bull said:


> I know
> I meant my partner would visit home by weekend


But then your partner will need to pay rent on a 2nd place. It doesn't seem like a money-saving opportunity. Wouldn't it be better to buy a house in Milton or Kitchener or something where they could have a reasonable commute?


----------



## OnlyMyOpinion (Sep 1, 2013)

Better than Ottawa, but isn't "reasonable commute" an oxymoron when referring to GTA?


----------



## bull (Feb 17, 2016)

Spudd said:


> But then your partner will need to pay rent on a 2nd place. It doesn't seem like a money-saving opportunity. Wouldn't it be better to buy a house in Milton or Kitchener or something where they could have a reasonable commute?


Actually, Ottawa seems having very good schools with bilingual opportunity for kids? And I am French speaker. 

Job there in Mississauga is not permanent, so our hope for final destination is Ottawa. Googling and comparing Calgary and Ottawa gives us the idea to move to Ottawa based on the current situation of Calgary but still love and regret the house in Calgary.


----------



## bull (Feb 17, 2016)

OnlyMyOpinion said:


> Better than Ottawa, but isn't "reasonable commute" an oxymoron when referring to GTA?


You meant Milton and Kitchener would be better than Ottawa? But still not reasonable commuting distance? 

We put kids as first priority, that's why we think about Ottawa.


----------



## OnlyMyOpinion (Sep 1, 2013)

No I meant that commuting anywhere in GTA is a pain in the ***. Ottawa is a total nonstarter - way too far to travel to every weekend. Since the job is in Mississauga, I'd take a real good look there first, possibly towards Burlington (I know of 2 purchasers there in the last 6 mos). Then yes, if that is too pricey somewhere further northwest like Milton/Guelph/Kitchener could work. See if you can find something close enough to the Go Train/Bus system for commuting during the week. Let someone else do the driving while you sit and read or chill.
Don't know how kids would make Ottawa a priority.


----------



## bull (Feb 17, 2016)

OnlyMyOpinion said:


> No I meant that commuting anywhere in GTA is a pain in the ***. Ottawa is a total nonstarter - way too far to travel to every weekend. Since the job is in Mississauga, I'd take a real good look there first, possibly towards Burlington (I know of 2 purchasers there in the last 6 mos). Then yes, if that is too pricey somewhere further northwest like Milton/Guelph/Kitchener could work. See if you can find something close enough to the Go Train/Bus system for commuting during the week. Let someone else do the driving while you sit and read or chill.
> Don't know how kids would make Ottawa a priority.


Thanks for your opinion 

Finally, maybe staying in Calgary is still best choice, for schools, house standard, property tax, insurance and weather


----------



## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

Another option would be to rent a nice family home in Mississauga since the job there is just temporary. 

They do have french immersion in Mississauga:
http://www.peelschools.org/parents/programs/french/registration/frenchschoollist/Pages/default.aspx


----------

