Major Edmund Lockyer

be careful with your cash with what you take , can easily lose it , trust me, been there, got t-shirt and lost loads....

as the guy said before, stick it in the bank earning 7%.

lyndhurst

think thats a good point we live to what we have but if we have more we spend it.

me thinks these are wise words

c x

guest5234

Defiantly rent your house in the UK out, house prices in the England have risen unbelievably over the last few decades, average house price today £230,000 ten years ago it was £95,000, the experts are saying therewill not be a house crash in the future as the economy is in good health, there might be a stall for a couple of years but the trend upwards will continue for the future….rent if you can as if you decide to come back you might find prices have gone out of control again.
Houses in my area are still going up month after month and I think you will also feel more settled in Oz knowing you have a home to back to if you cannot settle in Oz.

Jox_co

We had hoped for the same, but having had our house on the market since Feb 2007 (nearly a year!!) and not had a single offer we are now worrying as hubby has job to start May/June, eagerly awaiting visa so that can happen, and don't really want to rent out if can help it. We could do with the cash!!

Fingers crossed we sell soon, have dropped price so who knows!

Good luck to all who do manage to sell and to those who rent with no hassle.

Can anyone give me any help with renting if we have to. Will we be allowed to do that with our current mortgage??

Jayne

Major Edmund Lockyer

going thorugh all the motions now.

you have to tell your mortgage people.

i can help what do you want to know, as its all fresh in my mind.

Jox_co

Don't know really, our mortgage rate goes up in May as we have been on a fixed rate. If we don't sell house and need to rent can we not stay with the same mortgage on the variable rate or is it a different type of mortgage?

Major Edmund Lockyer

what you can do, is change it to interest only, on a buy to let, and release equity if you have it.

also ensure your rent to mortgage is %125 and your fine.ie rent =1000 and mortgage is 800.

Jox_co

it is a repayment mortgage, can we still do interest only? Don't know what we'd get rent for the house. With current house sales so slow, don't expect it to be much different with renting. Probably a silly question, but why 125%?

JAJ

Why does your rent need to be more than your mortgage? Because you need something to cover your other costs, agent's fees, buildings insurance, maintenance etc.

When looking at your mortgage cost, the real cost is the interest element, not the full repayment amount.

JAJ

Have they?

Data from the Nationwide Building Society shows that the average house price in the first quarter of 1975 was GBP10,388, which in 2007 pounds is GBP70,617

The same average house price in Q4-2007, almost 33 years later, is GBP183,959. That equates to an annualised growth rate of 2.9% after inflation, or something quite similar to the growth rate of the British economy in the same period (which you would expect).

If you smooth out the 1975-2007 figures into a long term trend it works out at 2.5% annually.

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/hpi/historical.htm

Still a good investment to beat inflation provided you hold it for the long term and don't buy right at the peak of a temporary boom.



Maybe true but 2006-07 is likely the peak of an inflationary period while in the mid 1990s property was just emerging from a crash (now forgotten).


There is some debate about whether the British economy is really all that healthy. Of course, if inflation takes off to the 7-10% range then house price may remain static in nominal terms even while they fall in real terms. This happened between 1975-77 and again between 1980-82. Interest rates got rather high at that time, too.

guest5234

Well thanks for proving my point that houses prices have risen so much over the decades

Timandjayne

We are in the same dilemma as you. Rent Or TRY to sell.

We've been on the market for 7 weeks now, had an offer but low due to scare on the housing market, a second viewer liked the property but hadn't put there's even on the market? why do these people look and waste my time and then to top it off it went quiet with xmas.

Now I'm beginning to really panic!! I've just had to put it on the market with another agent aswell. I have to be sold in 8 weeks. Not a chance!!
My new agent is very exciteable full of enthusiasm and thinks we won't have a real problem but I'm running out of time. I don't think I'm gonna have a choice in the end it will be renting our property out I think??

guest5234

If you end up not really liking Oz at least you will have a home to return to if you rent.

Jox_co

Its an awkward situation to be in, hope you have more luck than we are having. Keep in touch to let me know!!

Fingers crossed for you. Where are you heading for?

jAYNE

h2oskineil

If you rent it....

Get an NRL1 from for the tax office. That way you'll recive 100% of the rent, without the form the renatl agent must (by law) deduct income tax from the rent.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cnr/nr_landlords.htm

Check out Rent insurance, to cover the rent if the tenant cannot pay. They will pay the rent for as long as it takes to get the ouse back so that it can be rented again. I think we pay aout 250 GBP per year.
www.letsure.co.uk

Check out British gas Home Care to cover all your plumbing, electrics, central heating etc.
We had the central heating control pack up last year and the boiler before that... Well worth the money.
http://www.britishgas.co.uk/products...down-care.html

Recommend you use an agent (that you know is good). Our agent sends the money on time every month and telephones with any problems or questions.

My Tax accountant suggested I work out how much income I have received from the property
Deduct all the expences, rental agent, insurance, maintainance 1 X flight to the UK to check on the property (if the property is in joint name you claim 1 X flight each).
If you can show you made a loss, then this is a tax deduction which can be claimed for. I think it's called negative gearing here in Oz.

Neil.