By Living Room Realty, August 19, 2020
My clients Mark and Wai-Mon were in touch in June, and wanted to sell their townhouse they purchased in 2016 that had been a rental since. They are from the UK, and bought when they lived in Portland, and intended to have it be their home. When Brexit happened, they decided to switch gears and move back home to be close to their families, unsure of what would come next. They flipped the unit into a tidy rental and it’s been cruising along ever since.
When their tenants moved out, they inquired with my about how the market was doing in this Covid focused time (very hot). They wanted to sell but it had to pencil out for them financially to have it make sense to let go of the unit. We talked through all the different aspects of costs so they could start to crunch the numbers. I had them order a payoff so title could run an accurate report of what their bottom line net would be. Knowing they are foreign sellers, I also recommended they talk with their CPA regarding Capital gains, Oregon out of state tax, and FIRPTA (Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act) to see what their tax obligation would be. I ran a comparative market analysis to give them a realistic range of what to expect for the list price, and called other agents who had pending/sold properties to see how their sales went.
In the end, we worked hard to get all of our ducks in a row upfront, set realistic expectations, and move forward from there. My goal is always to provide expertise and help find answers to questions so my clients have the most information to make the best decision for them. We are set to close this Friday, and things have gone fairly predictably for the transaction. My sellers are excited to be moving forward with cashing out on the townhome, and the new buyer is looking forward to her sweet new spot near Peninsula Park in North Portland.
