nena11

This is the reason why we can't afford to drop the price as this will compromise the money we will be taking to NZ, luckily I have a reasonably good job in the UK and as we are still waiting on hearing back from INZ (regarding ITA) we are not on a big rush.... of course we (OH and me) whish we could be there tomorrow but we may have to wait another year (or two)

CharlesMacLeod

I know this may be a stupid question, but if you rent your property out in the UK while living in NZ, and then sell up are you liable for Capital Gains Tax (if the taxman finds out)? I had heard that if the property no longer counts as your home, you have to fork over the cash. I hope I was told the wrong thing, as I doubt we will be able to sell our property in time to move when we wish.

traciridgwell

Oh MooMoo! What a situation to be in!! Hope it works out for you!
My only problem is that our mortgage is so high that the rent wouldn't cover the mortgage and bills! Margaret had a good solution though - am looking into that at the moment!

Margaret Parkinson

There was no problem when Gail sold hers 12 months after moving to NZ maybe the amount remaining after paying off the mortgage was not enough. I did go into the tax office and asked about tax on the rent she was receiving and they gave me a form because even though you are not in the UK you are still liable for the tax on the rent. As she rented it privately we did not look any further into it. However if you go through an agent I think they will be duty bound to tell the tax man.

June.

JK1

I have read this with interest we finally have accepted an offer in the last 10 days for well below what we were expecting but have been on the market since the beginning of last September. We still made a small amount of money but with little buyers out there and the potential of prices falling further we have taken the hit! I sympathize with you all and know the emotional roller coaster you are all on. you need to believe it will happen and kick a few agents back sides.

I have heard of people offering potential part exchange for a smaller house which they have then rented out therefore releasing equity and not renting your treasured home and memories being potentially trashed. It might be worth approaching you agent with this idea and also doing some of the leg work yourself dropping leaflets etc just a thought!

traciridgwell

Thanks - all ideas gratefully welcome! Congrats on your sale, hope it wasn't too hard a hit! Best wishes

Bakers

We're thinking of renting our house here rather than trying to sell and then renting when we get to Auckland. Mind you, we don't have a tenant yet!!!

traciridgwell

You are obviously able to rent out, whilst still being able to cover your mortgage?! Our mortgage is too high, wouldn't be able to rent out for enough to cover it! Good luck with tenant finding!

2poor4this

I think you have to pay capital gains tax if the property has not been your main home for 3 years.
So potentially you could rent it out for nearly 3 years then sell without incuring tax.
I think you get the first 4 years to import money tax free to New Zealand so you can then transfer any money to NZ without incurring tax that end.

I also believe that if you cary on renting beyond the 4 years you may well be liable for tax on the rental in both the UK and New Zealand.

Please feel free to correct me as this is probably what were going to end up doing

Grimbonz

A very helpful lady wrote a thread about tax issues a couple of weeks ago which has answers and links to more info on the question of paying tax on rented house in the UK once you are no longer a UK resident.

The thread is by Squeekyboo called "Leaving the UK? - Tax FAQ"

Hope that helps. We're also playing the waiting game on the house, although we are lucky in that rental will cover the mortgage if things don't happen, but time is running out as my job starts in October.

Charlie Paynter

I think 2poor4this is correct regarding tax. However, tax is only paid on profit, and whene you have a mortage, agents fees, maintenance costs etc set against the rent, I am sure the profit would ne nominal. But, please do not forget that your mortgage company may not allow you to rent out and if this is so, you will also have a problem regarding building and contents insurance.

Practical

I'll add my "professional" opinion as well .In my 35 years in property I would now say ignore the 5% advice. Unless you have something unique to sell ,or are in a niche location you are going to need to give substantially more than 5% to make the chain move. You may of course just get randomly lucky which is what most people would like to happen. The faster you wish to sell the more you will have to give.

The problem is we are about to go into the mid summer market that is typically a dead zone. After that you have effectively got 2 to 2 1/2 months to get a sale before you go into the slow zone (winter sales period).

Right now the largest general issues facing property is the lack of lending power and the radically different lending terms which is starting to become something of a downward pressure for price. That is also leading to less confidence which effectively takes buyers to the sidelines as well. There is little reason to think this is about to change. It may ease next year ,but I think a substantial change is here to stay more likely for some years to come.

Next year I see much lower short term rates which will help ,but the main sticking problem of how much equity to put down will still be slowing things down at the bottom which in turn limits movement further up the price ladder.
As for NZ they are as overbought and overpriced as the UK market so selling here to buy there should not be much of a consideration.You can effectively consider yourself to be buying back into the same market which is a neutral position.

TeamEmbo

Yep, but here 150,000 GBP at 0.37 exchange rate will buy you a very nice new 4bed, en-suite, double glazed, double garage, pad. (i speak for my local area - recent ad Oxford Estate $399,000).

howden40

We were extremely lucky, put our house on the market when the kids went back to school in September 07 (had thought it was late August but OH says Sept), sold within 3 weeks for £2,500 under the asking price. Just after we exchanged contracts the market took a dip, don't know what we would have done otherwise. Probably would have sent OH on ahead and followed eventually.

My mother put her house on the market after we sold and she's had no luck at all dropped the price by £15,000 so far. Prior to the slump people had actually knocked on her door asking if she would sell as she lives in an extremely sought after area.

The market will improve. You can always consider short term lets while you sell (we had discussed that when first putting house on market - one of our what if's) and power of attorney to sell can be given to solicitor, close trusted friend or relative, it doesn't cost much.

Best of luck
Pauline

Margaret Parkinson

It cost our daughter & son in law £100 to give us Power of Attorney.

June