Now, what do I do with my house?

I have decided to move abroad, become a Black Expat and join the Blaxit Community, but what do I do with my house?

You are not the only one with this question.

Homeownership is a prized status in American society. For some of us, this position of “homeowner”, has afforded us an opportunity to build wealth. However, are you truly a “homeowner” or a “houseowner”? The reason for this question is to help you think about what options may be available to you in your move abroad plans.

Often, we develop emotional attachments to our possessions, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. However, if the attachment becomes a detractor to our overall plans, than maybe we need to reassess these emotions. A home definitely can be the basis of emotional ties, but does a “house” really elicit this type of response?

Let’s look at it differently. If you view your house as an asset instead of a home, then emotions shouldn’t be involved. We don’t have emotional ties to our bank accounts or our 401k’s. (Okay, sometimes they cause stress and elevated blood pressure.) Shouldn’t we view our houses in the same light?

Your house is an asset!

Assets are useful or valuable property owned by a person or company that is available to meet needs, debts, commitments or legacies.

Assets are put into service by their owners. Maybe it is time for your asset to work for you in your plans to move abroad.

There are various options that may be available to you, but here are 3 that you may want to consider.

1. You may want to sell your asset (aka your house) and use some of the proceeds you gain from the sale to finance your life abroad. Some of the funds can even be invested to continue to make you money while you are living in your dream destination.

2. You may want to use your asset to start a short-term rental business. If the numbers make sense, you may be able to hire a short-term rental management company, like Guestable, Vacasa or Rabbu. This option may be beneficial if you are not yet fully committed to being abroad full-time. Your asset can generate short-term rental income while you are away. And when you desire to return to your house for a period of time, the management company can remove its rental availability and you can move back in.

3. If the short-term rental option does not work for you, maybe a long term tenant will better fit your needs. You may be comfortable with managing a long term tenant yourself, or you may want to hire a management company that handles longer term rentals, like Home365 or Mynd Management.

Please do your due diligence when selecting a management company or anyone else you do business with.

Deciding to move abroad is a big decision. Including your house in those plans is equally as large.

Please choose wisely.

For more detail on this topic, please visit our You Tube channel and watch the corresponding video.

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Move Abroad Course