Originally Posted by Am Loolah

That's awful June. Was the management agency doing regular inspections? Unfortunately the law is on the side of the tenant with regards to rent defaults, and it can often be 3 months of non-payment of rent before it can even get to court. There is also the issue of most deposits being completely at odds with the damage that can be done. You can of course take out rent insurance, some agencies offer this themselves otherwise it's worth considering someone like Letsure I think, so your rent is guranteed if the tenants stop paying - but I'm pretty sure you're not covered for damage done by them.

Originally Posted by Margaret Parkinson

Well I am one of the parents who was gutted when my daughter & family said they had applied to go to NZ. I tried not to show it and so did my husband but agreed that they were doing the best for themselves. They have been there just over 3 years now and we have been to see them 3 times and are going again in the New Year for 6 weeks. We shall do this as long as our health permits. My son has been and is going again in December. My son in laws sister, brother & families have been as well.

After seeing the lifestyle they have we have to admit they did the right thing and my only grandson who will be 18 New Years Eve loves it.

I am 72 and have no problem with computers. I do not use skype I use ichat because Gail (in NZ), my son (in UK) and myself all have Apple computers and we can have 3 way chats. Because of this I have felt they have never left its as though they are in the next room. I am with Talktalk international which means I can ring NZ for free as well.

I do hope you can persuade your parents to see that you are doing what you think is right for your family and come to terms with it and wish you all the best.

Originally Posted by Paula2007

Hi

Both my children live in New Zealand - we are the parents who live in England. We have no other children - I have no parents and no brothers and sisters so when they told me they were going to live in New Zealand I had to just smile and keep a brave face, although inside it was tearing me apart.

Apart from all the advice from other posts - we visit them at least once a year - breaking off our journey in Singapore. Use Singapore Airlines and we stay in the airport hotel and have a good sleep, shower, change of clothes etc.,

A couple of visits ago when we were with our children in New Zealand we bought a CD mini movie camera and left the camera and about 10 hour long blank CD's with then. They then record any significant events - we now have 2 grandchildren in New Zealand, 1 born in April this year and we have not seen him yet. But we have seen him dangled in front of the Web Cam and also the first day of his life on CD when his big sister went to visit her mummy and little brother in the hospital, these are special moments which we would have loved to have been a part of but couldn't - I do think that a movie camera is a good idea - especially if your parents are not fussy using SKYPE. The mini CD just plays on our DVD player attached to our television and we can watch it on the full screen instead of a computer screen.

We have been waiting for our son to have been a resident for 3 years and now we have applied for a parent visa to go and live in New Zealand with our children and grandchildren. Hopefully one day, if you stay, your parents may think of doing this also. It is a long and winding road for everyone, but eventually looking forward to the trips and ringing them every week on a cheap 2p per minute phone line - it gets a bit easier. One bit of advice I would say is don't let them take you to the airport - you will cry all the way to New Zealand. Say your farewells at home - you will still be sad and probably all cry but it is much better. Good luck - and go for it - if you don't try it you will never know and will always be wondering. That is what I said to my children. I had brought them up to stand on their own two feet - and be independent - this is your life. Good luck to you both.

Originally Posted by luvwelly

You can't expect them to do this...dealing with tenants is fraught with pitfalls and danger...I have rented my UK property out for last 5 years, have had two Managing Agents and only three tenants in that time...the middle tenant was evicted by the Managing Agent and a solicitor with me 10,000 miles away.....you should go for full management and then they can handle the UK tax situation, obtain the annual gas checks, do quarterly site visits, basically take all the hassle away and get authority from you to do stuff just by email.
If the tenant is of good enough quality to get it, it is worth taking out the Landlord's insurance against the tenant defaulting etc etc as the legal costs of evicting someone are high...higher than the premiums and some policies compensate you for lost rental income also.
Make sure your house insurance covers malicious damage by tenants etc.

Learn from my mistake and NEVER release a tenant from a relative's guarantee to pay the rental.....we did at Managing agent's suggestion because they had had a good payment record and they then promptly went bad on us as their relationship broke up.
It's hellish out there...you can't expect your rellies to take the stress of this on and they wouldn't know how best to handle things anyway...so it wouldn't be in your best interest to do so either.
Managing Agents aren't my favourite people though but I certainly couldn't cope without them...!

Originally Posted by Am Loolah

I think luvwelly is right in as much as pay for a professional to manage your house, it is pretty complex stuff and if it didn't go smoothly it could be a real worry for your parents.

My mum was devestated when we told her we were leaving with her only Grandchildren. She wasn't particulalry nice or supportive about it and like to throw in the guilt trip card at every available opportunity. To be fair she was 74 at the time and she is on her own and not in the best of health. But one of my brothers lives relatively close to her and is single so I figured he could do what I'd done for the preceeding 15 years and step up to the mark.

My Dad who is happily remarried was so supportive I often wondered if he wanted to get rid of us! I soon learnt the more I mentioned Dad's positiveness the more Mum had no choice but to come round too or else run the risk of looking like the party pooper!

She has been out to visit for three (long) months and is planning another trip next February with my two older brothers. Dad is hoping to visit next November with my step-mum. Mum phones every week. We tried Skype and a web cam but my teenagers find it sooo tedious and she is such a techno-phobe that we've resorted to the old dog and bone.

She loved where we live and NZ from when she came to visit and now easily realises how much better our lives are and how much happier we are.

Hope you can come to some sort of arrangement with yours.

Originally Posted by N1cky

Remember to look at it from your kids view as well, you are taking them away from their grandparents, can you live with their resentment over that

Its something we didn't think about when we moved our 5 year old away

Originally Posted by Cadibel

Thanks for giving us the other point of view - it's easy to only see things from our point of view - we are so excited about this it is hard to see that obviously they're not...

Thanks also for your posts about renting - I think we obviously need to look into this in a lot more detail about management agents etc.



Thanks for your advice - the video camera idea is great and something I think we'll definitely invest in. I really hope you get your visa soon - it must have been really tough to miss out on all of those significant moments in your children's lives but I love your philosophy about independence...similar to something my dad said to me and I guess the best gift you can give to your kids is roots and wings. I hope I can be as generous when my time comes.



Thanx luvwelly,

Loads of good advice then - we will have to do a lot of research into this I can see! Starting to think that maybe renting isn't that good idea but might not have many options if we can't sell

Still, another hoop to get through and if we really want to do this, I guess we will.



Hoping too that they come round - particularly the mums! It's good to know that she can now support the move in retrospect, so to speak The guilt trip thing sucks doesn't it, it's alrady started. Good to know that you're mum has come over - my dad has said he will - my mum and my ils say prob not

Hope fully they'll change their minds in time. I know they don't like flying and it can be a long 30 hours but it is just that, isn't it - 30 hours?



Hmm, I suppose we haven't really thought about it loads, if I'm honest. They don't see that must of their grandparents - probably 5 or 6 times a year as my parents live a long way away and my ils often busy with elderly relatives. Did your 5 year old see a lot of their grandparents?

Originally Posted by Margaret Parkinson

That's another point Ryan was our only Grandson who we used to see every week taking him out most weekends and we would be altogether on holidays. However he was 14 when they left so he would have been growing away from us anyway as teenagers do as they get older and would not have wanted to be seen out with the old folks. We now have regular chats, he tells us all his news introduces us to his friends on the webcam which is more than he would have done when he was here now that he is 17. He has arranged to have a week off work when we go so that he can come out with us so its not all bad is it.

We tried to be strong because we lived our lives as we wanted to so why should they be made to feel guilty for trying to make a better life for themselves.