madcarole

I am thinking of renting out the house instead of selling until the market improves.. has anyone any experience of this..

carole

Hillybilly

I had mine rented out until last year when I sold. What did you want to know?

Beachcomber

I rent my cottage in the UK out short-term to holidaymakers. I wouldn't ever consider a long let for just the very same reasons that I would never let my apartment on the coast here in Spain on a long term basis.

madcarole

the reason i am asking is..with the property prices in the uk falling and being unable to sell at the moment..i am considering renting my property on a ;pong let and coming to spain..hubby taking early leaver package and walking away..
hopefully in the next 3 years the property here will sell and we then have the finances to buy and live for the next few years until we receive our pensions...
i know the costs of letting and have a letting agent coming to talk to us this week..it is the same company that is selling our house so they are familiar and have the room sizes and photographs..
Is it too big a risk????
can we afford to spin the money out for 6 years rather than 3????

worry worry worry

the ideal would be we sell but we dont live in an ideal world..

carole

Hillybilly

Only you know your lifestyle, outgoings etc.
Renting out brings its own risks, worries etc but it also means you haven't burnt your bridges if it doesn't work out in Spain.
In 3 years time whilst you may be able to sell for a better price in the UK it's also possible that property prices in Spain will have gone up. Right now there are bargains to be had pricewise.

XTreme

Hi Carole....just to let you know I'm still waiting for a response this end!

Cape Blue

Tranquilo - its all pretty easy.

get lettings insurance with emergency call-out for water/electric etc.

get the gas system corgi tested, suggest you stick a couple of fire extinguishers in the property and smoke detectors. the agent may insist on an electrical test.

try and beat the agent down to 10% for full management

store anything you have a particular attachment to

be prepared to do a chunk of painting & cleaning when you come to sell

Depending upon how small your mortgage you will get some sort of income.

Look on the bright side - you can spend some time renting in Spain to ensure you end up in the right area, rather than just buying somewhere are realising it was wrong afterwards.

el sid

We've rented our house out for the past three years through an agent and have been fairly happy, but it did get tricky when we didn't have anybody in it for 3 months.

The finances over here were well and truly stretched.

I guess if you need the income every month in order to manage it can be quite a risk.

scampicat

We rent our house, but our son is one of the tenants with two other young men.

I agree with what another poster has said about safety items. We have smoke alarms on every floor, two CO detectors, a fire extinguisher and blanket and a fire escape ladder for our son's loft room.

Also if your house is rented you must BY LAW have a gas safety certificate annually. We have a contract for maintenance and servicing of the central heating and issuing of the Safety Certificate with British Gas.

Also your insurance will go up as you will have to have specialised Landlord's insurance. We also have insurance policies for emergency electrical and plumbing repairs.

Don't forget that if you rent it furnished that you must put money aside for replacing items. I had to buy a new fridge-freezer just before Christmas, and this week my son has rung to ask if they can replace the microwave.

And speaking of that, I don't know how I would get these items if it wasn't for my son living there - so that would be something else to consider. I have a joint current account with my son that I can transfer any money into for this sort of thing and then he can pay with his debit card.

In our case, the rents pay for the upkeep of the house and give us extras like holiday money. We don't have a mortgage on the house and we don't heed the money to live on in Spain. We live here on my husband's Teachers' Pension and it is just about enough, but the money from our UK house gives us a bit of a 'buffer' for extras/emergencies . ( I was a bit miffed that I had to use our 'ferry money' to buy a new fridge-freezer!).

Hope this helps!

me me

My advice is to get an agent, who will put the tenants on a schedule 21 (or something like that). This seems to be the norm now and has replaced the 6 month shorthold tenancy agreement. This means that you can get them out quickly if needed ,and you do not have to have serious reasons to do so. This is a roll over month to month tenancy. As for insurance, I let out 2 properties in UK and with Landlords insurance with Norwich Union, I pay just of 50 a month in total. You need to have a gas safety certificate (yearly). Everything is a risk but I think you are wise to rent out, there are scare stories out there, but also positive outcomes, too. I know lots of people who burnt all their bridges and said that they would NEVER go back to live in the UK. Due to hardship of one type or another, they are all back in England, and some have had a bad time being rehoused and so on. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Chiclanagir

I rent out a cottage in the UK on a long term rent which enables us to live here with a bit of a top up. However next year we will get our state pensions so will be in a better position. I am considering spending money on the place and renting to holidaymakers so that we can then go back for a few weeks when it isn´t let out and have our own place instead of staying with family. It is in a good position in Torquay so shouldn´t be a problem but how do you cope with change overs and cleaning etc?

Beachcomber

We handle our own bookings through Independent Owners.com and have a young but trustworthy niece living nearby who works flexible hours and does the 'meet and greet' and day-to-day management for us.

This supplements her income and we don't get ripped off.

Pugsy

Sorry, just to add to this. The SECTION 21 has in no way replaced the need for a normal Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement, an AST, which is normally granted for 6 months. This is because the laws on possession, either down the section 21 (no blame) route or the section 8 (breach) route, are such that possession cannot be taken before the fixed term is up. A tenancy becomes periodic if the original fixed AST is left to continue, without a new agreement being drawn up. In my experience, professional agents and tenants always renew, it's not in their interests to go periodic. Another thing, serving a section 21 along with the tenancy agreement is not likely to enhance any goodwill the tenant may have for you. Take legal advice if you need to serve notice later on, as dates are very important.

You must abide by strict landlord/tenant laws (which favour the tenant, by the way). Also safety certificates, laws on fire safety and furnishings. Most importantly (but this will be taken care of by your agent) the TDS, which holds and insures tenants deposits. Any discrepancies and disagreements on check out go to independant arbitration. If deposits are not lodged within a strict (and short) timeframe you can be liable to a fine of 3x the deposit amount (say if your Tenant finds out and shops you) and your possession notices may be invalidated.

You will need to register with HMRC for the Non-Res Landlord Scheme to receive your rental income gross, otherwise the agent will deduct tax (as they are required to by law). This is easy, just a call or email and fill in the form.

If you're letting furnished, it's easy to have things replaced, either coordinate with your agent (which you will need, living overseas), or order online with tesco/argos/homebase whoever and have delivered direct to tenants.

Put aside a small warchest for voids and emergencies.

It's a good option if you can let go emotionally, if you can't I'd say ride it out.

Chiclanagir

I understand that if you have a shorthold tenancy agreement you do not need to keep renewing it every six months but if you want to evict the tenant you do need to give two months notice.

scampicat

Yes that is correct and you don't need to have a reason to evict them. However, if they do not leave on the eviction date, you have to apply to the court for an accelerated possession court order. This is not expensive (as far as I can remember) and it will be granted to you if you have given the tenant notice correctly, but does take a few weeks. Then the tenants have to leave when the court says.

We had to do this for a property we used to rent out (now sold and it funded the purchase of our Spanish house!) as the Council would not rehome the tenants until we had a court order. It was relatively painless.

You are not allowed to just change the locks or put all the furniture in the street while the tenants are out!

Hope this helps.