watcakes

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone can help me as you may have been in the same position at one time.

I am now living in Perth but still have my new apartment in Lytham ST Annes. I am struggling to sell it because of the darn housing market and good ole Barratts under cutting us by selling brand new homes for not much more than what I can realistically sell mine.

I know in 10 years time I could make a juicy profit as Lytham is a sought after area but I really could do with selling it so I don't have to transfer money over the UK every month which is a nightmare.

I have looked into these companies who buy your homes of you but the price they are giving me are ridiculous and there is no way I can afford to sell at such a loss.

I was just wondering if anyone has been in the same boat as me and come up with a solution. I do not want to rent it out as it means an increase in mortgage plus various forms need completing and health & safety crap.

Obviously if anyone here is interested I am more than happy to pass on the details. It is a beautiful new flat overlooking the sea near Fairhaven Lake. It has 2 beds, 1 ensuite, all pristine condition and parking space.

Hope someone has a magic wand.

Take care.

Bermudashorts

Many of us that have moved in the last year or two have faced the similar dilemma.

We (Mr BS and I) decided that there was no benefit in selling with both the housing market and the exchange rate against us. I have never been interested in owning and renting out property and particularly so when it was my own home. However we soon got reconciled to the idea. The agent looks after everything for us and it is pretty hassle free from our perspective. I think you are right there are some checks that need doing but we didn't organise a thing, agent did everything.

If you need to change your mortgage then the terms might be slightly less favourable but you would have to weigh that up against selling in current times.

In a nutshell though you have two options, sell now at what you have stated would mean a big loss to you. Or sit it out by renting it out. There is no magical way of selling your house for more than the market is curently willing to pay.

Turban Explorer

You either sell it at rock bottom or rent it out. No real other choice.

To be honest there isn't really any point selling it as what would you do with the money you release? There is no real return in a bank account, transfer it to Oz and you get virtually nothing. My advice is to get long term reliable tenants and watch the mortgage slowly get paid off.

watcakes

I know I know, I am just wanting to tie up all loose ends. The money being transferred to the UK would obviously pay for Perth bills instead of using savings. The good thing on our side is that the property is in a beautiful location and I know once the market picks up it will be a very desirable property. I have rented other properties in the past and I just can't be bothered with it anymore. I can afford to leave it empty as it's less hassle and the mortgage lender wants an increase of 2% then the agent charges silly fees and I would still have to put some money towards the monthly bills. So i'd rather it stay empty on the off chance someone wants to view it and can move in. I just thought it was worth a post incase someone happened to be on the lookout for a property in that area or knows of someone who is. You never know!

Anyway - I believe in magic
You have to.

Amazulu

I'll take it off your hands for GBP25k cash

johnnye

Renting it out - Great if you have good tenant and a good agent but it's pt luck unfortunately. You only need one set of bad tenant to be put off being a landlord for life. Better to sell it as long as you can afford the loss.

Instead of transferring the money to Aus, lock it up in some bonds at a fixed interest, or purchase some blue chip shares - you'll get some return even if its just the dividend

eddie007

We got shafted by the housingi market crash then by the exchange rate crash... With hindsight we should have kept it and rented it out... However hindsight IS 20:20 vision...

My parents were power of attourney for us in the uk... Do you have trusted friends/family who can be made POA?

I certainly wouldnt trust one of these, we buy your house from you at less than market rates or take a massive commission companies...

Basically we couldnt cope with the aggro of renting out a pristine, ready for the market house, with some of the horror stories you hear about peiple trashing the place... But we WERE idiots, it would have paid for itself....

Bermudashorts

There are horror stories of course, but they are the exception not the norm. With the right checks the risk of that can be limited.

Our house had been renovated and decorated in the previous 24 months and no doubt there will be wear and tear when we want it back (to sell or live in again in the future who knows).

We have just told ourselves that we will decorate it again at that point, new carpets if required and it will be good as new. We decided better that than selling at a loss and then transfering at a rubbish FX rate.

eddie007

We weren't so sensible....

If the rental covers the mortgage payments it makes NO sense to sell

sparkleauz

G'day!
We've been down under for almost five years now, and find ourselves in the position of having to sell our house in the UK. We have been renting it out fine for all of that time, and the rent covers the mortgage easierly.
The problem we have is that my wife has been unable to work for the past year as our daughter has repeated kinder, and slowly but surely the money is running out. We declared our house to the ATO, and they take into account all of the money we make on rent as income, but then we still have to pay the mortgage. It was never in the plan to sell the house, but we have two old cars and now my job is at risk, I feel we should try and take control of the situation while we can. Not that we have any idea on how to sell a house in the UK! Does anyone know of a thread on BE which would of help?

Cheers
Jon

Kiwipaul

A number of things you can do to reduce your costs are:

1) Convert to an interest only mortgage and stop paying off the capital. This means all your bank interest payment is tax deductible.

2) Are you claiming depreciation on the house and contents which is a deduction you can make against any income you earn.

As regards selling it try selling with a tenant in place. Give the tenant an option of a rent reduction and successful sale bonus or a bigger successful sale bonus but no rent reduction to give the tenant an incentive to help the sale along.

I've just sold a property in Auckland and I gave the tenant an option of rent reduction or success bonus of 8 weeks rent. They took the success bonus and the house took 15 weeks to sell and today it completed and my solicitor paid over the 8 weeks rent.

Overall it was a success although I took a pounding on the price.

hmunker

Well Jon I assume at some point you are going to have to return to the uk to sort the legal side of selling the house.To give you some idea of your house value in your area try the popular website http://www.rightmove.co.uk/

Beoz

The market dictates it's value. Perhaps you're over-estimating it's worth. Just a thought.

GoodToBeInPerth

I suggest you look into a "rent-to-buy" scheme, everyone is a winner:-

1) Tenant comes into property and commits to the property as eventually they will buy it

2) You win as obtain rent and have somone who cares, AND you negotiate the price that you will sell it at in future

3) Company that sets it up.

Look up the "National Property Builders" site for more details

In Exile

rent it out and wait.
do not sell it.
or sell it to me for cheap.

its more affordable than ever at the moment to send AUD>GBP. Why compromise this now by selling a house at a real low point in the market?
For a bit of short term pain now, I genuinely believe that it will be worth it, and I reckon that ultimately you will regret it.

Sell it when its worth something and the AUD is worth nothing, not the other way around