iainandsam

We moved out nearly 2 years ago, just when the market decided to crash. So we decided to rent out our house and now want to buy over here. Very frustrating as if we had sold then and changed our money we would of been alot better of, if only we had a crystal ball!

We have great tenants and don't want to risk our house being empty, we will offer them a rent reduction but our agent seems to think they will look for another property as soon as we give them notice.

Is anyone else in the same situation, does anyone predict if the market or exchange rate will rise significantly in the next few months, i noticed the pound has gone up slightly. When is the best time of year to put houses on the market?

Thanks for any suggestions

coolshadows

I believe the increase in VAT (to 20%) in January, and the high number of redundancies in the public sector (up to 600,000!) will have a huge impact on the UK housing market (we own one too!). I think it will be a couple of years before the market really picks up again. I'm expecting prices to begin to fall again towards the end of this year and into next.

(the new tory government seems to be having a FIRE SALE!)

eugene43

It depends on what part of uk south east doing above expectations selling for pre crash prices.

MaCCCa

We have been struggling trying to sell ours in Hull. Ours is the cheapest 4 bed detatched in the area and still no-one is buying. There's loads of houses for sale but never see any with 'sold' on them. In 9 months we have had just 7 viewings.

We have just had to decide to rent ours out and have found a lovely family who eventually want to buy it (so they say!) We will break even rent wise so its a weight off our mind!

Reading fan

What area is your property ?

As above the south east is still selling very well in the right places. I live in the same town as eugene43. Completed about 3 weeks without house going on open market and achieved considerably more than guide price. There seems to be a lack of property on the market and this could be holding prices up temporarily. We are looking to buy but there is nothing around. Any agent you speak to will say expecting price stagnation from the Oct time but again think this depends on the area.

michelleh

Hi. we moved out 16months ago, after trying to sell for over 12mnths (reduced by 20k) we ended up renting (changed mortgage from repayment to interest only just incase we needed to cover) . We are from Liverpool and have been informed by estate agent looking after rental that they forsee another housing crash...Our house was originally valued at 189K , estate agent told us we would be lucky to now get 140K!... We simply cannot sell at that price and take the knock on exchange rate as well...that is even if we could sell it!! On top of that need every bit of money to help get on property ladder here. You are not alone which I hope helps

nickywes

We also have a house rented out in Hertfordshire. It has been tenanted for the last 2 years and we would love to sell but nothing moving very much over there from all accounts.
We dropped 130k before we moved and it still did not budge. It has made life really difficult over here as we bought a house and then the interest rates went up 6 times but we are surviving at the moment (wish we hadn't bought though to be honest). Think we will leave it rented out for another year to see if it picks up and then try to sell.

Nicky

spankysparkle

many in the financial sector seem to think that the 'recovery' we have experienced is coming to an end and that the recession will take hold again, so not good news.

eugene43

Newbury, Washcommon Rg146hd

Reading fan

Hi sorry eugene43 - not your property but the posters ! I live just down the road from Wash Common so know your area well.

bayleysdownunder

We accepted a sale on our property which fell through days before we left the UK in 2007. Was pretty bad timing so we decided to let it out. We had great tennants for over a year before they moved back to Germany and the house was then empty for a few months. Was hard going financially, but we now have it let out again. We have concidered selling but the market is so bad at the moment. I guess we'll just sit it out for a while.

JAK

Similar story to everyone else I am afraid. I am seeing a few more sale signs on lower priced properties, but the higher end seems to be alot slower. We have a 4 bed detached property which has been on the market for over a year and only a handful of viewings. In September we can change our mortgage without incurring any penalties so are seriously considering renting it.

jan

I have property in the u.k. One of which was our family home. It has been on the market now for the last 18 months and is in a nice suburb of South east London.Pricing makes no difference whatsoever in securing a sale unless it is really under price. Pure luck if a buyer is found having said that the smaller units appear to sell more easily but beyond £250,000 and the market is slower. In fact it is a buyers AND a renters market which includes london.
Much depends on individual circumstances depending how much equity is in the property,rental yields,what interest rate you have,taxes,running cost's,etc.
The best approach would be to have a financial buffer and test the market or check out zoopla.com or property snake to up to date data on similar sales
Personaly I think exchange rate being what it is and such low returns in interest in the u.k the money is perhaps best left in the property.Also there is good reason to think Oz property is not going upward at the moment not unless salaries rise dramatically. If I were a gambling man I would bet u.k. interest rates will rise modestly and aussies drop a little which will hopefully bring sterling up a little. Timescale who knows, but generally I think any equity invested in u.k. property will return more $ in two years time than it will at this present moment in time.

iainandsam

Thanks for all your replies, we are in Bedfordshire. Think we may wait till next spring time and try it then, then at least if it is empty for a while it will be over the summer and not the winter. Just wish we could guarantee our tennants staying while on the market, soo frustrating!

Samleeuk

We have rented UK house out for nearly 2 years now, was debating trying to sell early next year when tenancy up but..... not sure what to do, just seen accountant who informed us we must now declare what we make on rent and pay Oz tax on profit....cracking down on that this year. He also said if we buy here we have 6 months to sell UK house or we will be liable for tax on the sale profit here (which could cost a fortune) They minus off tax paid in UK which would be none and charge additional on your tax bill here...so really made our minds go into overrive!