A friend of mine emailed me last night for looking my opinion. She’d been working as a nurse at a hospital for nearly 7 years. She recently was given the opportunity to become a travel nurse. Should she rent out or sell her home?
To be honest, I really had no idea what a travel nurse was and had to wiki the term. While nursing history has changed over the years, today nurses can accept temporary positions that allow them to work across the United States. For example, if an experienced nurse wanted to spend the winter in Florida, she could seek position nursing position in Miami for two or three months during the middle of winter.
What an interesting way to spice up a career in nursing!
However, there were a lot of details she left out of her email that would have helped me give her a more appropriate response. How long would she be gone? Does she plan on returning home any time soon?
There are many considerations to think about before renting or selling a home. Granted, in the short term, renting a home can be a great to increase your cash flow. However, there are big responsibilities involved with being a landlord.
At the same time, selling a home can be one of the most important transactions of a lifetime and is an important personal and financial transaction.
If my friend’s nursing travels keep her from home in the short term and she doesn’t mind the responsibilities of being a landlord, then renting her home out might be in her best interest. If, on the other hand, her sense of adventure lasts a bit longer, she might want to consider right out selling her home and moving on. It all depends on her long term career goals and plans.