Real Estate the Ramsey Way - My Wife’s Rental Is Losing Money—Should We Sell?

Episode Date: March 2, 2026

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Dave Ramsey here and welcome to another episode of Real Estate, the Ramsey Way, where you'll learn how to make smart home decisions, avoid costly mistakes, and navigate home ownership with confidence. Thomas is in Seattle up next. What's going on, Thomas? Hey, guys. I am recently married, and my wife and I are trying to combine our finances, and I just found out she has a condo with a tenant,

and the tenant isn't currently covered. all the costs of the condo. And so I want to approach a conversation with her about potentially getting out of this condo just because it's not a great situation for us. But I'm concerned because obviously we're newlyweds. I don't want to feel like I'm overstepping or anything like that. How did you just find out that she has a condo? Well, I didn't just find out. I knew she had a condo, but I didn't know the exact numbers of everything.

So I'm just finding those numbers. You didn't knew it was like a dumpster fire that she's losing money on. But you knew before you got married, hey, she has this property over here. Yeah, yeah. Okay. So what's the math ending up being, Thomas? Like what is she charging for rent? And then how much is she having to pay?

Yeah. So she's charging 1291 a month for rent. And she's short about $312. And that's roughly, well, not $312. It's roughly $200, but that's primarily HOA fee. She's paying out of pocket. And what's the market rate for that condo? Is she undercharging on purpose?

No. Well, yes, she is undercharging on purpose. Okay, and how much is the mortgage payment a month on this? The mortgage payment is $1,171 a month. Okay, yeah. So she's barely. She's not breaking. And that's without maintenance, repairs, vacancy, taking all that in consideration.

So why is she undercharging again? Why did you say she is? The tenant who is renting from her is in a tough situation, so she doesn't want to increase the rent. Okay, but this person can't. afford to live there. So they need to be evicted if they can't pay rent. They need to go find somewhere they can afford to live. Right. And that's sort of why I want to approach a conversation of selling the condo. If she's into charity, let her give to a charity, but this is not the way to do it.

And I would be okay with it, Thomas, for like a period of time, but usually these situations are ongoing. And then she's going to look up in three years and is not able to up the rent because this person that she is being generous to now is staying. And she's like, oh gosh, now if I up the rent in three years, how much more they're for sure going to have to move out. Like at some point, this person's not going to be able to afford to live there, is what I'm assuming. Right. Yeah. So it's kind of like it's going to think about it.

Yeah, it's going to happen today or it's going to happen in a few years when your wife looks up and she's like, oh my gosh, I can't even, yeah. I mean, it doesn't make mathematical sense. So she either needs to have a conversation with the tenant, which is probably going to be hard to do and she may not want to do that. But even I would possibly. sell. Do you guys have a lot of consumer debt? We do, yeah.

Yeah, we do. Okay, how much with the condo, how much does she owe on it and how much could she sell it for? I don't exactly know what she owes on it, but she bought it three years ago for $195,000. And I looked on Zillow today and it looks like it's roughly worth $177,000. So I think she's under water on it. Oh, boy. Does she have any equity in it? I can't, I wouldn't, I wouldn't imagine a lot.

Yeah. Okay. I would find out the balance. I mean, you guys are married. I would run through all these numbers and go, hey, based on what we're looking for financial future, which is to become debt-free and have our own financial stability, it would be wise to sell this condo. Because right now you're losing money on it. So even if you sold it and broke even, it would still be a net win for you guys. Yeah, but yeah. So I probably wouldn't have a second property if you guys have a lot of consumer debt anyways, but on top of that, she's, she's not charging enough to make it make sense. And it's not even like she's, you know, there's a, there's a formula out there where it makes sense, right?

If she's charging market rate and she's making a little bit on the side, I'd probably still sell it, but all that say, that would at least make financial sense. This makes double no financial sense. And even if she breaks even, she's still losing money when you factor in all the maintenance and repairs and vacancy. So we need to get out of this and you have the, you know, you have some influence now being the husband to go, hey, this does not make sense. It's moving us backwards financially. We're trying to move forwards. And this is one step of... Yeah, and it can be a kind conversation. I mean, you guys can go into it and just be curious, ask her some questions. Tell her what you've found. Like, hey, you know, this is kind of what I'm

seeing. Like, help me make sense of what you're thinking. And we just want to be on the same page financially. Like, that's the main goal. But I think, yeah, you can be kind. George would probably be like, here's the numbers. We're selling it tomorrow. We're selling it tomorrow. I'm calling an agent. Hey guys, thanks for listening to Real Estate the Ramsey Way. Now, if you're here, you're probably thinking about buying or selling a house. It's exciting and one of the biggest financial decisions you'll ever make. But you don't want to do it with an inexperienced agent who will rush you into costly mistakes,

like the ones some of our callers find themselves in. You need a pro who knows what the flip they're doing and will keep you on track with your financial goals. That's why we only recommend Ramsey trusted real estate agents. These are vetted, hand-picked pros who actually listen to your needs, guide you through the process, and fight to get you the best deal. To find a Ramsey trusted agent near you, go to ramsysolutions.com slash trusted agent. That's ramsysolutions.com slash trusted agent. Jack is in Wyoming.

Hey, Jack, how are you? I'm going to all, sir. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? So I have a dad who's always helped me out with pretty much everything in my life. And I'm extremely grateful and I love him. I love him to death. And he's mentioned that my fiance and I, once we get married and we sort of decide to buy our first house, that he'd be more than willing to kind of buy it for us and then have him just kind of act in the bank.

He's mentioned no interest on that and all the good things that come along with that. But I was just wondering, how do we make sure that it doesn't affect our amazing father-son relationship? And how do I do it? Dave's looking at me, Jack, for me to be the bearer of bad news for you. It will change your relationship. So, I mean, there's no way around it. It does. And so when scripture says the borrower is slave to the lender, your dad is now your bank.

He's your master. And so now it changes the relationship. Whether you like it or not, as healthy and wonderful as the relationship is, this almost always ends up putting a strain. And so I wouldn't do it. I would not sacrifice the most amazing relationship you have with him, which is such a gift to be a grown son and have that much respect and love and honor for your father. Keep it pure. Keep it simple. Keep it clean.

And you and your fiancé, you guys just go. Go and. Go have your life. Yes. go have your life. Do not tangle finances. It's hard to eat Thanksgiving dinner with your master. That is.

Now, let me tell you, and it will affect your wife more than it will affect you. She'll feel the strain in the air more than you will because you and your dad have a quality relationship. So you won't feel it as much, all right? But it's there, and it's an unnecessary strain for a few interest points. Now, let me give you one other question, and then I'll tell you one more thing. It's a great question, by the way. And I'm so happy you've got such a good relationship with your dad. That's such a wonderful gift, especially in our culture today when it's more and more rare.

What's your dad's net worth? You any idea? I don't, but it's, I mean, he does very well for himself. I mean, is that a million or 20 million? It's probably somewhere around 10, 10 to 12. Okay. And the house price would be about what? That would have been part two of my.

question had we had we gotten to that point but i mean you're what are y'all thinking i mean if you just threw out a number like a 500 000 you're brand new getting married and shy in Wyoming half million dollars will buy a great house right exactly yep so if i were your dad i might give you a house instead of being the bank a gift does not got the strings tied to it i might ask you to uh make sure that you invest the equivalent of a house payment so that my grandkids never have debt you could break the he could break the cycle forever now i feel weird for him asking his dad that i know i'm just i said i might ask your dad i'm not sure you would but you might play this for him i might have just asked him he might hear this so um i mean so the the other thing is this the other thing is okay when we went

broke 35 years ago Sharon and i lost everything um her dad loaned us a little bit of money to get the water turn back on and to catch the car up so it didn't get repoed and some stuff like that, okay? And it was not a huge amount, but it was an amount of money, okay? And he is an absolute saint. He is one of the nicest men I have ever met on the planet. And my wife and him have a great relationship. The fact that I owed him money drove me bonkers until I got it paid off. And so that's your wife.

That's the in-law. That's where she's sitting. I wouldn't do it. Yeah, just keep it clean, Jack.