You don’t hear about people selling their houses to rent apartments very often. That’s why I was curious when I found out my friend Sarah and her husband were going to sell their family home in a popular suburb of Calgary and start renting a much smaller apartment downtown. Why would they (with 3 young kids) want to abandon their huge house and beautiful backyard?

Simple…for the money!

The truth is, they bought their house before the big real estate boom. And it’s value has doubled in the time they’ve owned (over 6 years). They see the real estate prices starting to come down all over Calgary and they want to make sure they get every cent of equity out of the home while they can. So they’re selling up, selling off a lot of their stuff, and starting again in an apartment.

Renting means less upkeep and less stress.

Right now, Calgary apartment vacancy rates are high. They realized they could rent an apartment for just a bit more than they were paying on their mortgage but in a rental they won’t be paying house insurance, heat for an entire house over the winter or getting stuck with unforeseen costs like a new roof or new water heater. And, they can continue to rent until they think the housing prices have stopped falling and put the equity from the sale of their house into a new house that will hopefully rise in value again.

Crazy gamble or genius?

This is a bold move for sure. And only time will tell if they’re making the right decision. But as they say, fortune favours the brave! So if you find yourself in a similar situation to Sarah, maybe take a look at The Arch, it might just be the your key to getting the equity out of your home now while housing prices haven’t fallen too far and still living well while you ride out the downturn.

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