Do you see yourself eventually coming back to your condo? Where is it located? If it’s a home that you would happily hold onto and you think you’d come back to, the answer may not be as straightforward as others think (even at a monthly loss).
Many places become difficult to buy back into (eg, SoCal, etc). Markets can take a downturn, but in a strong housing market/locale, you’re often better off holding onto a property in the long run, even when taking into account significant dips in the market.
Depending on where you are located, what size unit you own, and the type of tenant you get, you may not have such long vacancies.
Condos are often much easier to turn over, often requiring less work and time than a single family residence.
We’ve often turned condo units in one day, but we self-manage and start showing and advertising an available property 60 days out if a tenant doesn’t sign a lease renewal.
We also require a minimum of 700 credit score and have found our tenants tend to take good care of our properties.
Would you mind sharing what country you are planning to move to? We are currently traveling with our four year old and it’s much more challenging than we thought.
We are planning to cut our time a year short and I’m really glad we have our home to go back to, albeit, not until next fall, but it would be harder if we didn’t have it at all.
You and your kids might thrive abroad, but you also might find it’s not a great fit for you.
If you give yourself a year or two to make that decision, you could still take advantage of the tax break when you sell (assuming you’re in the US).
