Q&A: I’m Tired of Managing My Rental Property. Should I Sell It?
Afford Anything | Get Smarter With MoneyShow Notes
#752: A caller's rental is performing fine, but a late-paying tenant and a roof replacement have her ready to sell it before she moves to Madrid for her MBA. Paula argues the real fix isn't selling — it's a hire she hasn't made yet.
This week, Joe joins Paula to help a caller decide whether to sell a rental property from abroad, then dig into new data on why women's labor force participation dropped in July while their share of new jobs surged in August.
In this episode, we discuss:
How to tell if you're making the right call for the wrong reason
Why a new roof or a set of windows can be a form of forced investing
The one hire that can solve the same problem as selling your rental
A simple way to estimate a rental property's real return
What to weigh before selling a working investment on gut feel alone
Why women's labor force participation fell in July even as their job gains led the year
Why the trades are becoming a stronger bet than a four-year degree for some new grads
This one's for anyone facing a big financial decision that feels more emotional than mathematical — whether that's a rental property, a career move, or a job you're not sure is worth keeping.
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
Note: Timestamps may vary slightly depending on dynamic ad placements.
(01:45) Why she wants to sell a rental that's "objectively good"
(03:25) When it's actually okay to sell a good investment
(10:03) One hire that stops panic-selling a rental property
(14:44) The simple math to compare rental returns vs. stocks
(17:31) Paula's own confession about hating her first rental property
(22:22) Why doing what you're best at beats doing everything yourself
(30:11) 100% of last month's labor force drop was women
(31:54) The real reasons women are leaving the workforce right now
(32:18) Why women got 85% of new jobs created this year
(47:00) The industry that could fix jobs and housing at once
🔗 RESOURCES MENTIONED
👉 Torn on selling a rental? Get our free 10-day guide, which includes a deal-analysis exercise to help you decide with the numbers, not just your gut: https://affordanything.com/fiire
👉 Sign up for our newsletter (get the new site first): https://affordanything.com/newsletter
👉 Leave us a voicemail with your own money question: https://affordanything.com/voicemail
👉 Read the BLS jobs report Paula cites in this episode: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
More from Afford Anything | Get Smarter With Money
#760: A couple in their late 30s and early 40s with $1 million invested may never need to save another dollar for retirement, because left alone, that money could grow to about $4 million. The harder question isn't the money. It's which of them keeps working to carry the family's health insurance. Paula and Joe start with Beth, an accountant married to a burned-out tech worker, who wants to know whether they can cut back on work now. Then they tackle a retiree's Ivy League financial aid questions and a New Yorker asking whether renting forever is a financial death sentence.
#759: At 19, Jaspreet Singh bought a rental for $8,000. What followed was a nightmare tenant, a lawsuit, and a later house stripped of its copper, and it taught him what the real estate books leave out.
#758: Joe says that if you tell an employer you’re not motivated by money, you’re unemployable. Paula says that’s exactly the person she wants to hire.
#757: Ron Johnson is the creator of the Apple Stores and former CEO of JCPenney.
#756: In September 2008, Jared Dillian watched about half a million dollars of Lehman Brothers stock go to zero in a single week. He wasn't allowed to sell any of it. What he built afterward is a portfolio designed so he never goes through that again.