Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

I'm just waiting for my police checks to come through before applying for professional registration and then obviously look for a job.
However my house is on the market and I'm not getting any viewings at all.

My parents have said that if I get a job offer I should go for it and they will sort out selling my house. That's all well and good but I still have a mortgage to pay plus rent in NZ.

I have considered renting it out but I know of numerous people who have been well & truly shafted by their tenants - house totally trashed, bogus references, all fittings ripped out etc. Unsurprisingly these stories put me off renting it out! There's also the faff of getting a buy to let mortgage and sorting tax out etc:thumbdown:

Does anybody here rent out their house in UK and use lettings agents? If so, what fees do they charge?

Ideally I just want to sell my house and get rid before I go to NZ but I don't want to virtually give it away either especially as the exchange rate is so dire! Also I've noticed that the number of jobs vacancies seem to be in decline and I don't want to still be here in UK because of my house when my skill disappears from the LTSSL!!:scaredhair:

Re: Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

We sold our house but looked at renting it out. The agent offered 3 levels of management and the fee was 5, 10 or 15% of the monthly rental, depending on what you wanted them to do. Basically for 5%, they would collect the rent.
You need to contact a few agents in your area and get them to value your house and ask about renting as well - then you can find out what safeguards they have in place to protect your home should you go down the rental route.
There are a few people on here that have had their occupations suddenly disappear from the skills list, so that is something to consider.

Re: Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

have you checked the price of other houses in your area similar to yours and made sure that its on at a competitive price? Check ourproperty.co.uk to see what other houses in your area have sold at.
As for renting we were told by a mortgage advisor at Santander that as we had no option but to rent the property out they could not force us to take on a buy to let mortgage and that we had not bought the property to rent there was nothing they could do about it and to just carry on paying the mortgage.
In the end as we managed to sell both times (first sale fell down on exchange day as the buyer lost his job) within 3 weeks of going on the market we decided to just tell the mortgage company that we were leaving the country, the buyer had fallen through but we had booked everything so had to leave, they gave us 3mths grace on payments. means the payments missed plus interest goes on when a sale does go through but does give us some breathing space to save some money if things aren't signed sealed and delivered within that time scale. Suppose if it isn't then we are back in talks with the mortgage company.
As Chippy says contact Estate Agents and just talk to them about it, it does seem there are lots more checks in place nowadays as more people are having to rent.

Re: Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

I rent my house out. I hired an agent who charges 12%. I deliberately chose a specialist letting agent as I had heard you get a better service. By pure coincidence I discovered they were the agents for my neighbour's house so I checked with the owner and they said they were happy with the service. They do credit checks and regular visits. I had a couple of problems before the house was let but I think this was down to one individual. When I complained to the owner of the firm it was dealt with quickly and I've had no problems since.

A lot might depend on what sort of area your house is in. I'm in Surbiton - quite pricey but with a high demand for rental properties. The rental more than covers my mortgage and fees plus I have a bit left over.

I didn't need a special mortgage but you do need landlord's insurance. Choose the level of cover you feel most comfortable with and don't try to do it on the cheap.

Most of the people I have read about who have had major problems have tried to take shortcuts or do it on the cheap. Get the professional in, pay for decent insurance and don't get in the way of the agent doing their job.

The thing that made it easier for me is that I have decided that should I return to the UK I will not live in London, therefore I don't plan to live in this house again. Taking the emotional connection away from it and seeing it solely as a business helps keep the anxiety down. That's my view anyway.

Re: Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

I'm afraid the harsh truth here is it is listed at too high a price compared to comparable (in potential buyers eyes, not yours), properties.

I can appreciate this may leave you in an uncomfortable place vs equity to bring over etc etc etc (it did us), but that is the long and short of it.

So address the price, come up with a realistic "sell within 3mths" figure then assess whether you a) Can afford to emigrate and b) still want to at whatever revised equity/cash figure that leaves you.

Hoping the housing market will move up to meet you is your other course of action but leaves you with a somewhat uncertain timescale.

Re: Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

We had two houses (one each before we met).

We accepted that we neeed SOME money from one, so sold mine at a loss of $100,000 compared to market value, the buyer knew I was emigrating and stiffed us, but I went for the deal in the end to put a deposit on the sort of house we wanted over here in NZ. You WILL sell if you go well under what you really want for the property ....

We rented Neil's house out and still do, but to friends, plus his auntie lives opposite and tells us if there are any obvious problems. The friends have been OK, but the house is still in dire need of re-decoration which Neil may do or pay for when we are over again.

If we didn't have a very good friend renting it, we would have sold it.

Jan

Re: Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

Hi,
We rent our house out in the UK. Our agent charges us 10% and my dad is first port of call if there are any problems. So far so good, the only thing that worries me is when we do decide to sell it may scare off our tenants and we'll be left to sell an empty house,paying both the mortgage and our rent here in NZ - but I guess we'll just cross that bridge when we come to it.

Re: Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

I've looked around and most agencies to charge between 10 and 15% for full management.
I think I'll wait a couple of weeks and speak with my estate agent if I get no joy, I'll most probably have to drop the price. I really can't see it selling any time soon though:(

Re: Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

If you are going to let, do it unfurnished:

1. It takes more of the emotion out if your stuff is not there
2. It makes it easier to handle when you sell it (not need to rush around getting rid of your stuff - especially from the other side of the world)
3. If you house is empty but furnished you have to pay full council tax.

Re: Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

Jan n neil. What did the buyer do??Worried about my mum's buyer. She's told everyone she is emigrating.

Re: Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

I had friends that were estate agents and they said estate agents lie and give a house a high valuation to get it on the the books, and after 6 months they tell them how much it is really worth and tell people to reduce it to that amount.

Have you compared the price to other houses in the area

www.rightmove.co.uk

Re: Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

We tried halfheartedly to sell, then rented out. Although we haven't had any major problems, tenants never look after a house very well and it will need redecorating and mostly new carpets before we sell, which will all have to be done remotely, adding to the expense. Also, although the rent covers the mortgage, it's effectively a very poor return on the equity we have tied up.
Agree with the good posts above, you shouldn't need to change your mortgage, you didn't buy to let. We told our mortgage company our situation up front and didn't have any problem or increased interest rate. There are some good deals on landlord's insurance now if you shop around. In your position, I'd sell for what's it's realistically worth, and deposit the money until the exchange rate shifts a bit; I wouldn't bring my life savings here at less than 2.25, preferably 2.5 unless you're absolutely desperate for the cash
Good luck - the North Shore is a great place to live

Re: Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

My estate agents actually asked me what I wanted as an asking price and as I'd already done my research (used Rightmove) I was able to give them a figure.

I dropped the price after a while and did get a viewing but that was it. I have kept an eye on all the properties in my area and only a couple have sold in the last six months so I have decided to rent the house out. I had a valuation by a letting agency and they said they'd have no problem finding a tenant. But luckily for me, one of my work colleagues has just sold her house as she's downsizing (from a five bed) and couldn't find anything suitable.
She viewed my house and will be my tenant when her house sale completes. :thumbsup:

Lapsed Kiwi - I've been in touch with my mortgage company and they've already told me that I if I rent the house out they will change it to a buy to let as it wouldn't be fair on their buy to let investors if they don't!!!:sneaky: My current deal with them runs out at the end of the month so I will be switching lenders.

Re: Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

Good for you!

Re: Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

We have had our house on the market for 5yrs :frown:
We have now reduced in total £125k and despite reducing it again recently nothing in our area is selling. We have decided that if we getto NZ we will be renting it out as we really don't want to give it away.
Originally when we started the emigration process we wanted to cut all ties with the UK but as previously stated we are now looking at it as a business, making a slight monthly profit, then as the market recovers we will sell at a more realistic price :fingerscrossed:

Re: Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

We moved to NZ in 2006 and put our house in Southampton on the market. It was up for sale for a year and only got a couple of silly offers. So we had to withdraw it from sale and rent it out. It took us a couple of months to find tenants through a local agency and have only had about a month when the property was empty between tenants.

Re: Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

Back in 08' I had mine up for week before I left the UK, and an offer at asking price straightaway, sadly they couldn't sell their's and pulled out a few months later. It then took another 10months to get a sale, significantly less, but still with GBP trading at a decent $2.85 still, it was a reasonable offer in stale market.

A few months later, when finally exchanged contracts and settlement time GBP was at $2.30, do I wish I moved the money at that rate now!! Instead it's in a UK bank account earning virtually zero interest and GBP again below $2. Sometimes I'd wished I rented it.

Other thing to think renting it though is any CGT implications, once you've rented it for a period of time (forget what it is) any gain becomes liable to CGT - it's pro rated, no account of the fact that rental period may have coincided with a declining or flat property market.

Re: Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

We rent out for the same reason....property will always climb in value and money in a UK bank is stagnent cash!

Re: Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

U K Real Estate Is Overvalued, 30% Countrywide To 50% Within London according to economists as reported in the NYJ.

That's why you are not getting any viewings.

Drop the price, a house is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

Re: Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

Property won't always climb, depends when you bought and how long you want to wait.

Each property as a market value at a point in time, as the prev poster says drop the price to it, and someone will buy. Price above and it will be a long wait for a buyer.

Certainly money in a UK bank is stagnant and declining cash though.

Re: Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

I've not read through all the replies...I know I should! :o

We rent our house our in the UK. I think a lot of sales depend on where your house is as that has a LOT to do with how quickly you sell.

Our reasons for renting it out were purely selfish ones...
- We needed to know that things in NZ would work out before cutting our bridges in the UK - we had paid a fair bit off our mortgage and didn`t want to have to start at the bottom of the market again if we returned.
- We also rent it out unfurnished as, according to our letting agent, if we rented it furnished we would have to make sure that everything worked corrently and pay to have it all tested to the correct safety standards (including sofas and beds) - I can`t remember the right terminology he used. We left the kitchen with 1 year old washing machine and a brand new fridge freezer - both with 5 year warranties.

We rent it out with a 10% agreement with our letting agent. There was an option for 8, 10 and 12% - the 10% agreement seemed much better value for money for us. They email us if there is ever a problem (for example the tenant broke the gas fire - proven by a gas tester - she had to pay to get it fixed). Part of the 10% agreement is a rent guarantee scheme (not insurance which costs extra) which covers us for 6 months rent if the tenant stops paying and is effective immediately whereas the insurance schemes don't kick in for a couple of months - or so I was told.

We were very lucky with our tenant. She went in to the agents the same afternoon we asked them to market it and came to view the next day and had reference checks the same day and put down the holding deposit. It didn't even make it to rightmove. I still can't believe how lucky we were. :D

We have 2 year work visas and will only decide then whether we plan to stay or return to Blighty - it depends which one of us you ask on which answer you get at the moment!

Re: Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

Hi,

I think the biggest problem with renting out when away is the ability to stay on top of things from such a long distance.

Many letting agents will add you to the pile after a sales talk is done and you're in, so to speak, but not all.

The two options for most when unable to sell is use a relative/friend/agent to let it out but I think it's worth considering a few other options too.

Rent to buy is fast becoming a popular way to SELL your house and has dozens of benefits over a traditional sale most notably that you typically achieve around 100+% of today's value. Another is the fact that you'll have no repairs to pay for just your normal landlord insurance. If it's a second property you'll also save on capital gains tax which is a nice thing too.

Downsides, well you won't get paid straight away so using the funds to migrate would be a no-go.

Upside is that you typically get a guaranteed sale within weeks rather than months/years...I guess all in all there are more upsides that down.

There are plenty of other ways to sell pre and post emigration and with a degree of flexibility (most people emigrating already have that) then there are dozens of better ways of selling up instead of standard letting for sure.

Look up on google:
Lease options, rent to buy, walkaway, distance selling... to name a few.

Any questions I'm happy to answer, just post here.

Jim

Re: Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

Whatever you do try your best to sell your house!! We didn't and still have our house rented in the UK which is a total pain!! We were as you say 'shafted' by our tenants who decided they didn't want to pay rent any longer but still wanted to stay in our house!! After that very expensive fiasco we went with an agent that gives you a guaranteed yearly rental income regardless of whether the property is tenanted or not. It is below market value but worth it for peace of mind. They are called Northwood and I think they are all over the UK. The other issue with keeping your property rented in the UK which we didn't realise is that your mortgage broker may increase your interest rate - ours did by 1% (if you inform them that is - which we had to).
Also that you have to pay 'Non Residents Witholding Tax' in NZ whether you are making a profit on your rental property or not - we are not and have to pay this tax on the interest 'paid' not earned on our UK mortgage - go figure! Again this is if you decide to declare it which we have, we now have to do tax returns in both the UK and NZ. I know people who don't do this but unfortunately we got sprung with everything!
The other thing to bear in mind is that if you sell once you have been out of the Country for a certain period of time you may be liable for capital gains tax in the UK. Sorry to throw all this at you but I just wish someone had told us all of this in the beginning! Good Luck

Re: Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

Is there anywhere to advertise to expats? I made the mistake of renting out to friends.... never again!

Re: Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

We are so glad that we sold up in UK before we left. It makes settling here in NZ so much easier. Family offered to manage our property if we had to rent it out, but in the end we reduced the price and it sold.

If you have had property since the boom in the late 90's, then I'm guessing you made a good profit then (our house tripled in value (1997 to 2003).
We looked at it in a philosophical way, that we weren't really losing money on a property we bought in 2008, we just didn't make as much on our first house as we first thought.

If you cant change the situation, you can always change the way you feel about it.

My point is you have to weigh up the pros and cons, and as long as you dont give your house away, then losing a bit on what you paid for it, soon gets forgotten when you are in a position to buy here.

I lost more sleep over the exchange rate to be truthful, but again it only stings for a while :-)

Hope this helps.

Re: Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

We sold our house six weeks prior to leaving Britain last year. We did not want to rent our house out. I've read to many horror stories regarding tenants, either people you thought you knew, or thought were friends or had been vetted etc. Lazy managing agents who frankly don't care.

Rent doesn't always cover the mortgage then there is paperwork and insurance and legal liabilities. Plus being an absentee landlord sounds like a hassle. I accept not everyone is honest with their lender and/or insurance company. That remark was not aimed at anyone.

Then when it comes to selling whilst still overseas, that's a whole sheaf of liabilites too.

That's why it was easier, for us, to sell it and get rid.

Re: Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

Hi Trish

We're doing exactly this now. I'm renting our house out until we know for sure we like Auckland, New Zealand so we have something to come back to if needed. If you need to sell it to get the money then thats a different matter and fair enough. Use a letting agent for sure, let them manage it for you, most will charge around the 10% mark of your rental, as does ours. You need to shop around for the best mortgage a bit. I was with halifax, sacked them off they wanted to put the rate up big time. You should, as long as you don't have a fleet of property's rented out already, be able to get a consent to lease from your mortgage provider - you shouldn't have to change it to a buy to let straight away. you will 2-3-4 years down the line, but each lender is different. We went with HSBC in the end. They don't have a increment on the rate or anything, you just phone them up and they send a consent to lease form. Not that i've told them yet! :blink: DOH! As long as you pay your mortgage though they shouldn't have a reason to get in touch with anything major. Just switch your bank to online and paperless so they don't send post out that won't get to you.
When you rent it out, advertise for long term tenants, 12mths or so, but do a short term let initially of 3 to 6 months and make sure the agent knows and be clear it is so if you get a rogue renter you can boot them out after a short period of time rather than waiting until your place is proper wrecked. Your agency will do all the background checks, you should also get insurance against your rental income through them for the first 6 months to protect you a bit.

Anyway hope that makes sense, if you want further help just drop a line.

Phil

Re: Advice please on what to do about my house!
 

No they wouldn't to see it. On their paperwork it will just advise you to let your mortgage provider know you are renting otherwise you could be in breach of your mortgage conditions blah blah blah! :-) you will need landlords insurance though, have you got that sorted? I got some quotes the other day on a couple of well known comparison websites and went on the direct line website, and direct lines quote came out much cheaper!


Have fun!
Phil