Woman Called Back to Office Annoyed She Bought Home 1,000 Miles Away

Sep 16, 2023

Jamie Sexton was one of the many people who took advantage of remote working by moving from the pricier state where her job was located to a more affordable area.

Sexton, 44, works as a pharmacist for a healthcare provider in San Diego. She was paying $4,000 a month to rent a two-bedroom home in La Jolla, a coastal suburb 20 minutes north of downtown San Diego.

She didn't think she could afford to buy in San Diego, where homes cost $900,000. So, under the impression she could work remotely forever, she opted to conduct her house hunt in Oregon's capital city, Salem.

"My husband and I really like the West Coast," Sexton told Insider. "With California, the house prices went up extremely high during the pandemic, so we couldn't really afford to easily stay there."

Sexton purchased a three-bedroom house in Salem in March 2022 for $375,000. Her husband moved in shortly after, and she joined him around August.

But in January of 2023, her job called her back to California.

"For the moment, my job is still remote," she said. "But the indication we were given a few weeks ago is that we are going to come back on-site."

Luckily for Sexton, she bought the Salem home in cash and isn't tied down with a mortgage payment, which gives her two options for moving forward: sell the house or rent it out.

Both choices are tricky. Selling in the current market is hard because prospective buyers can be daunted by the possibility of increased monthly costs due to mortgage rates that are much higher than a year ago. Becoming a landlord has its own set of challenges, from screening tenants to delinquent rent.

Sexton listed the home at a price similar to what she paid for it to see if anyone would bite. So far, she has received offers in the range of between $300,000 and $330,000 — below the $375,000 purchase price, and below the Salem median sale price of $405,000, according to Redfin. Salem's median home-sale price topped out in July 2022 at $475,000 and is now declining, Redfin found. In December, it was $404,450.

The alternative, being an out-of-state landlord, makes her anxious.

"It freaks me out because I can't go by and check on the house," she said. "The other thing is there's a negative connotation toward being a landlord — it may not be correct, but it seems like it's a lot of headache and hassle."

Sexton is leaning toward the renting option because she said she's not in a position financially to take a loss on the house, plus receiving regular rental payments will help her afford to live in San Diego again.

She's trying to adjust her mindset to accept the purchase of the home that she's only lived in for six months, likening it to an investment in stock.

"My other choice would've been to put my money into the stock market, and that wouldn't have been beneficial either," she said. "At least now, I have a more diversified portfolio."

Did you buy a home with remote work in mind, and have since been called back to the office? Email reporter Jordan Pandy at [email protected] to share your story.