romniox789

Hi all,

We're toying with the idea of letting out our flat before we migrate rather than selling it. We've no experience of letting, but having struggled to get a place we love in the UK and figure we won't make anything on it anyway, so why not let someone else pay the mortgage?

Anyway, just wondered if anyone's got any experience of this? We figure it would provide us with a nice pot of cash in time and something to fall back on if needs be, but are unsure of the amount of hassle it will be. We think if we get a letting agent to do all the work it might not be as difficult as we suspect, but don't know how this works out in practise (or in cost!).

Any advice?

Cheers!

purple rain

We are letting our house through an estate agent (local firm, highly recommended) I think the fee is 10-15% we are letting ours initially for a year whilst we are in Brisbane then if we stay we might continue to rent it out for the forseeable future as we have a lot of equity in it.
from what we have been told we leave all of the problems in the hands of the agent they sort out collecting the rent ect and can arrange repairs up to agred costs if needed, no hassle. We have had someone visit us and they went through what we needed to do ie ensure the electrics are checked and certified, same with the gas, he told us what to leave the pros/cons of furnished/unfurnished. Why not do the same, it costs nothing

NKSK

Our house has been let for the last 5 years (we've been abroad since 1999 and back in the UK (living with family) since Jul 04) and we've decided to continue letting for the next 2 to 4 years. (Leave for Australia in July)

Reasoning:

1. Our tenant wants to stay there for at least another 12-24 months.

2. The property market in the area is fairly stagnant - we felt that we would be chasing a collapsing market if we tried to sell

3. Whilst we are 95% confident we will love Australia, we are not 100% sure. If we come back at least we have a house to live in or sell.

4. Australia's property market is stagnant at best (possibly excepting Perth). Property prices are unlikely to increase massively over the next couple of years. (So no massive need to buy now)

5. Renting in Australia is very cheap compared to the UK (no 'council tax' also).

6. Renting in Australia allows you to check out the areas that you may wish to buy into.

7. the exchange rate is historically poor at the minute - a future 10% 'rise' may offset any drop in the value of your UK home.

The only downside that I can see is if the Perth (where we are headed) market continues to rocket and the UK continues to collapse - but given the low rents in Australia, I think we'll just ride out the storm for a few years. It's highly unlikely that the Perth housing prices will permanently outstrip the UK.

You do need to be aware of the 'marketability' of your property in the UK. A flat sounds very 'lettable' though.

cypry

Hi Romniox,
We were going to sell our house as we have a fair bit of capital tied up in it. Then we thought again and the "say it doesn't work out" scenario came into play. We are going to rent ours out and remortgage to release some of the capital to take with us. We own another house in Cambridge and have let that out for 4 years without a problem. The letting agents are the best way to go although they do charge a percentage from every months rental for full management. Another pitfall we just found out is that you will still have to complete a UK tax return form for the income on the rental. Talk to and get an accountant as the rental agencies are obliged by law to deduct 23% from the rental income before it even goes into your bank account for overseas landlords. You can get a FICO number from the tax man and this will exempt you from the 23% but do get an acountant.
I know it all sounds a hassle but I think after a couple of years of living out in OZ and you decide that you've made a good life and want to remain. Then close your options and sell. It might just be the wisest decision you ever made!

worzel

I may be an accountant but I am going to give you a totally non-financial answer. If you sell you will be more likely to stick it out if things don't go to plan in the first few months/years.

cypry

I can see your logic there, but isn't it wise to have options? There are some people that would return if things didn't work out regardless of whether the bolt hole was there or not. It definately takes a certain type of person to stick it out when the chips are down. If you cut all your ties and it don't work then you really will be miserable. I say keep the property, even just for a while (supposing you don't need the money) then when you've decided that you've made a good life for yourselves, then sell. Or even keep it as an investment. Just make sure you rent while you still own the UK property or the tax man will get you for CGT. You can't own a property in Oz and one at home without incurring CGT and if you earn over $65,000 in Oz it can be as high as 47%. (That wasn't for you Worzel as you will already know all about CGT)

romniox789

47%! ?!*& - Whoa! OK, this needs some research. Sounds sensible and much to our plan - rent till we find somewhere we like and see where we're at when that happens. Just can't bear to see all the effort we went to to get the flat thrown away for very little cash back (we've not got much equity in it).

The theory behind it is to protect our options. If things don't work out then I'll have thrown everything into it and will be back where I was 5 years ago living with parents.... If things do work out then what's the worst that can happen - someone pays the mortgage?

Or, am I looking at it far too simply? I guess financial implications (i.e. CGT) are going to be a biggee!

Cheers

LindyLoo

My thoughts are exactly the same as yours. We have 2 flats, one in Glasgow and one in Edinburgh. Finding tenants has been no problem. My sister manages one and a letting agent manages the other (13% cut in rental fee).

We just about break even on rental income v mortgage payments and running costs.

We really like Oz and are giving ourselves 2 years here to get our citizenship. After 2 years who knows? If we want to go back we can. If we stay we can keep on letting the flats out. In the meantime, we have someone else paying our mortgage, increase in equity and not too many hassles. (I’ve heard the nightmare scenarios....but so far, so good). We have 3 months mortgage payments stashed away, just in case!

I think it's called, keeping your options open.