would you rent out or sell UK house?
May 25th 2012, 8:34 pm
#16
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Joined: Apr 2012
Location: Cumbria to Northern Michigan
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Re: would you rent out or sell UK house?
This is a hard decision. We rented our house out for 5 years but then got our green cards and figured we weren't going back any time soon. We also figured we would need to spend some money shortly on re-decorating and replacing furniture/appliances etc so we decided just to sell. Little did we know that this was when property in the North of England was about to go on a tear after being left behind by the South for many years (this was in 2000). We sold our house in August 2000 for GBP 73,000. The next owners then sold it in January 2006 for GBP 225,000. That was painful to see!
Unfortunately the housing market in the US has fallen way behind that in the UK over the last 10 years, which will make it very expensive to move back to the UK (if we want to). I could almost buy a mobile home in my parents' vilage with the proceeds from my nice 3 bdrm house in Ohio.
Who knows what's going to happen in the future and owning real estate 4,000 miles away is not always easy. I would be tempted to keep the property at least until you are more settled in the US.
Unfortunately the housing market in the US has fallen way behind that in the UK over the last 10 years, which will make it very expensive to move back to the UK (if we want to). I could almost buy a mobile home in my parents' vilage with the proceeds from my nice 3 bdrm house in Ohio.
Who knows what's going to happen in the future and owning real estate 4,000 miles away is not always easy. I would be tempted to keep the property at least until you are more settled in the US.
May 25th 2012, 8:42 pm
#17
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 41,518
Re: would you rent out or sell UK house?
This is a hard decision. We rented our house out for 5 years but then got our green cards and figured we weren't going back any time soon. We also figured we would need to spend some money shortly on re-decorating and replacing furniture/appliances etc so we decided just to sell. Little did we know that this was when property in the North of England was about to go on a tear after being left behind by the South for many years (this was in 2000). We sold our house in August 2000 for GBP 73,000. The next owners then sold it in January 2006 for GBP 225,000. That was painful to see!
Unfortunately the housing market in the US has fallen way behind that in the UK over the last 10 years, which will make it very expensive to move back to the UK (if we want to). I could almost buy a mobile home in my parents' vilage with the proceeds from my nice 3 bdrm house in Ohio.
Who knows what's going to happen in the future and owning real estate 4,000 miles away is not always easy. I would be tempted to keep the property at least until you are more settled in the US.
Unfortunately the housing market in the US has fallen way behind that in the UK over the last 10 years, which will make it very expensive to move back to the UK (if we want to). I could almost buy a mobile home in my parents' vilage with the proceeds from my nice 3 bdrm house in Ohio.
Who knows what's going to happen in the future and owning real estate 4,000 miles away is not always easy. I would be tempted to keep the property at least until you are more settled in the US.
May 26th 2012, 10:48 pm
#20
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Re: would you rent out or sell UK house?
Well, we were very tempted to sell. The 20k profit was the net profit after taking off legal fees, stamp duty when we bought the place (10k!!), estate agent fees, renovations of course, etc. We also weren't going to ship any furniture, electrical items or bulky stuff so it would either be ebayed for next to nothign or freecycled or dumped.
I think that's not too bad for a net profit over 3 years. I know London has done well but we're in a nice and leafy but not trendy or central part of London. There's a ripple effect which has kept prices up but not the kind of increases you see in Chelsea and Kensington.
However, we just found out that the penalty for getting out of the last 2 years of our 5 year fixed rate is over 5000 quid so that changes things quite a bit and is basically throwing money away to the bank. We've told the buyer that we'll sell if he increases his offer by that much and given that he wants the house with everything then we'll see.
Otherwise I guess we'll wait at least two years, keep on paying down the mortgage and hope that the double dip recession doesn't whack house prices too much.
I think that's not too bad for a net profit over 3 years. I know London has done well but we're in a nice and leafy but not trendy or central part of London. There's a ripple effect which has kept prices up but not the kind of increases you see in Chelsea and Kensington.
However, we just found out that the penalty for getting out of the last 2 years of our 5 year fixed rate is over 5000 quid so that changes things quite a bit and is basically throwing money away to the bank. We've told the buyer that we'll sell if he increases his offer by that much and given that he wants the house with everything then we'll see.
Otherwise I guess we'll wait at least two years, keep on paying down the mortgage and hope that the double dip recession doesn't whack house prices too much.
May 26th 2012, 11:31 pm
#21
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Re: would you rent out or sell UK house?
Well, we were very tempted to sell. The 20k profit was the net profit after taking off legal fees, stamp duty when we bought the place (10k!!), estate agent fees, renovations of course, etc. We also weren't going to ship any furniture, electrical items or bulky stuff so it would either be ebayed for next to nothign or freecycled or dumped.
I think that's not too bad for a net profit over 3 years. I know London has done well but we're in a nice and leafy but not trendy or central part of London. There's a ripple effect which has kept prices up but not the kind of increases you see in Chelsea and Kensington.
However, we just found out that the penalty for getting out of the last 2 years of our 5 year fixed rate is over 5000 quid so that changes things quite a bit and is basically throwing money away to the bank. We've told the buyer that we'll sell if he increases his offer by that much and given that he wants the house with everything then we'll see.
Otherwise I guess we'll wait at least two years, keep on paying down the mortgage and hope that the double dip recession doesn't whack house prices too much.
I think that's not too bad for a net profit over 3 years. I know London has done well but we're in a nice and leafy but not trendy or central part of London. There's a ripple effect which has kept prices up but not the kind of increases you see in Chelsea and Kensington.
However, we just found out that the penalty for getting out of the last 2 years of our 5 year fixed rate is over 5000 quid so that changes things quite a bit and is basically throwing money away to the bank. We've told the buyer that we'll sell if he increases his offer by that much and given that he wants the house with everything then we'll see.
Otherwise I guess we'll wait at least two years, keep on paying down the mortgage and hope that the double dip recession doesn't whack house prices too much.
May 26th 2012, 11:51 pm
#22
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Re: would you rent out or sell UK house?
Why? We're on non-immig visas anyhow so no green cards or citizenshp for us.
May 27th 2012, 12:45 am
#23
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Joined: Aug 2004
Location: MA, USA
Posts: 92,170
Re: would you rent out or sell UK house?
If you go for greencards, it'll make a difference to your taxes if you were to leave the US. Your tax situation while in the US is also global, but if you flog the house after leaving the US without ever having got a greencard you'd be in much better shape.
May 27th 2012, 1:45 am
#24
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Re: would you rent out or sell UK house?
People change their minds. Many on L1 visas require in their contract that the employer will apply for green cards within a specific period of time. Others didn't have that in their contract and decided that they would like to stay longer but couldn't get the employer to start the green card process or was started so late that time ran out (depends on EB classification) so they had to leave the US due to the maximum time limit allowed on a L1 visa.
May 27th 2012, 11:16 am
#25
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Re: would you rent out or sell UK house?
People change their minds. Many on L1 visas require in their contract that the employer will apply for green cards within a specific period of time. Others didn't have that in their contract and decided that they would like to stay longer but couldn't get the employer to start the green card process or was started so late that time ran out (depends on EB classification) so they had to leave the US due to the maximum time limit allowed on a L1 visa.
May 27th 2012, 11:51 am
#26
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Re: would you rent out or sell UK house?
Even a green card can be deemed abandoned if you live outside the US for more than a year so many become USCs before they leave just in case they want to return. However a green card is not automatically abandoned after one year and you have a right to plead your case before an immigration judge. Others live outside the US for several years and return and the POE officer admits them while presenting their green card and so I guess you could say they have not abandoned their green card (maybe not 100% legal but maybe also not 100% illegal).
Many had their green card and were told on the forum to naturalize before they left the US in case they wanted to return but said they have no desire to ever return to the US to live. Two years later, they are unhappy in the UK and are trying to figure out how to return to the US. Then they ask should they just enter the US on their green card or should they hire an immigration attorney to plead an abandonment case?
Last edited by Michael; May 27th 2012 at 12:05 pm.
May 27th 2012, 12:44 pm
#27
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Re: would you rent out or sell UK house?
We're on G visas Michael. Different rules apply to most other visas.
Basically, we're in the US indefinitely - if job works out could be for the rest of my career - but won't be changing status. We also would lose a whole lot of benefits if we became usc or pc as no longer would be on expat/international package.
Basically, we're in the US indefinitely - if job works out could be for the rest of my career - but won't be changing status. We also would lose a whole lot of benefits if we became usc or pc as no longer would be on expat/international package.
May 27th 2012, 4:39 pm
#28
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Re: would you rent out or sell UK house?
We're on G visas Michael. Different rules apply to most other visas.
Basically, we're in the US indefinitely - if job works out could be for the rest of my career - but won't be changing status. We also would lose a whole lot of benefits if we became usc or pc as no longer would be on expat/international package.
Basically, we're in the US indefinitely - if job works out could be for the rest of my career - but won't be changing status. We also would lose a whole lot of benefits if we became usc or pc as no longer would be on expat/international package.
May 29th 2012, 3:40 pm
#29
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Joined: Jul 2010
Location: Calgary, Alberta
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Re: would you rent out or sell UK house?
Sell it, for reasons already mentioned, the main one being you need someone to keep an eye on it like a property agent and it's hard to be a long distance landlord.
I know tons of people here in Canada who've bought properties in Florida and Arizona who regretted it purely because of that.
If you're engaged in the business of being a rental agent and you have many properties then it makes more sense, but one property alone it's generally too much hassle from a long distance.
Unless of course you need some ties abroad to justify your non-immigrant status in the US, but I'm assuming you're an LPR.
I know tons of people here in Canada who've bought properties in Florida and Arizona who regretted it purely because of that.
If you're engaged in the business of being a rental agent and you have many properties then it makes more sense, but one property alone it's generally too much hassle from a long distance.
Unless of course you need some ties abroad to justify your non-immigrant status in the US, but I'm assuming you're an LPR.
