Siblings in nursing home; highly desirable property deeded to my husband and me. What to do now?
8 months ago
I came to the US from Trinidad in 1974 and have been living in the US since. For personal family reasons, I only went back to TT 4 times in all those years. My sister who is now in a nursing home deeded her mortgage-free property to me. It is in a highly desirable area of San Fernando, in a gated community. My husband and I renovated and updated the property including adding a 3rd bathroom and a new roof. Now, we can only stay in TT for 2-3 months each year. This means that the property will be empty for 9-10 months of the year.
Because my brother and sister are in nursing homes in San Fernando, we plan on visiting TT yearly. We are in a conundrum and need some advice: because the property will be uninhabited for most of the year, (a) should we sell the property and rent a place to stay when we visit, or (b) should we keep the property, rent it as a vacation rental, and have a place to stay whenever we need it?
We don't know if we will one day decide to return to TT to continue our retirement there. The property is in a highly desirable area and after merely talking to a realtor, we are already getting very tempting offers. However, when we checked, we could not find suitable rentals within a reasonable distance to the nursing homes, so even if we sell, what good would it do us if we cannot find a place to rent? We are torn.
I hope the "wisdom of the crowd" will help us gain some insight into what to do. Has anyone else faced such a decision? How did you handle it? (Note: We have no other relatives or family in Trinidad). Thank you so much for responding.
Because my brother and sister are in nursing homes in San Fernando, we plan on visiting TT yearly. We are in a conundrum and need some advice: because the property will be uninhabited for most of the year, (a) should we sell the property and rent a place to stay when we visit, or (b) should we keep the property, rent it as a vacation rental, and have a place to stay whenever we need it?
We don't know if we will one day decide to return to TT to continue our retirement there. The property is in a highly desirable area and after merely talking to a realtor, we are already getting very tempting offers. However, when we checked, we could not find suitable rentals within a reasonable distance to the nursing homes, so even if we sell, what good would it do us if we cannot find a place to rent? We are torn.
I hope the "wisdom of the crowd" will help us gain some insight into what to do. Has anyone else faced such a decision? How did you handle it? (Note: We have no other relatives or family in Trinidad). Thank you so much for responding.
