Houses not selling - has anyone tried letting?

The Cutches · 05-10-2007, 09:41 AM

Like many of you, our house is up for sale during a really slow period. We we wondering if anyone had decided to let their house while it is still for sale? The thing is, ours looks really nice at the moment and we were thinking that if tennants didn't keep it looking good then it might make it even harder to sell. Does anyone have any tips?

FANX

Rajni · 31-10-2007, 06:10 PM

Hi
Not much of a help, but just to let you know that we are in the same boat. Planning to leave by December and no news with our sale. We are also thinking of putting it for renting. Fingers crossed. I will appreciate if some one sheds light into this matter

Raj

june coates · 31-10-2007, 08:06 PM

like you i have my house on the market for 6mths now.i have applied for cp.visa and have decided to go over on 1yr. visitor visa in the hope that my cp.visa will be granted before the year is up.i will leave my house empty and on the market as i can stay with my daughter untill house sells.i have nothing to lose as i have no family left in england and need to be with my family for xmas.good luck to everybody else with a house to sell.
june

8788jt · 31-10-2007, 11:47 PM

Hi June

I know this sounds really boring but make sure you check your insurance policy before you leave the property empty.

A lot of insurance companies will only allow you to leave the house empty for 30 days so you could end up having no protection for your home or contents.

Yes, I work for a bank/financial company !!! How boring am I????

Joanne X

KazzE · 31-10-2007, 11:52 PM

Hi

I have been dealing with my sis and my Dad's house while they are being rented and it is not always straight forward, tentents do not always take care of the house as if it were thier own

Sis has had 4 tenents now the first and third left stains, dirty kitchen, broken toilets, blinds, missing curtains the third ones smoked despite a no smoking clause and tried to have 5 adults living there with two babies and only 2 adults on the lease, some sort of benefit scam going on we think! the house stank when they left and we only gave them half thier deposit back - oh and her letting agents who she was paying to represent her did nothing I had to go a talk to the tenents.

Dad had a loverly girl and her baby renting his with her parents as guarentor, she left with two months on the tenency gave back the keys and basically told us to chase her for the rent she owed, her Dad said the same, could not care less that they were doing my Dad out of nearly £2,000

The last tenents in my sis house have been a pain about letting people view it even though they knew it was on the market when they agreed to rent it
so letting out is a good idea as you will at least be getting some money but be prepared for problems and you have to let go of it as 'your home' and think of it as a business.

Don't know what we will do if we have not sold by xmas, will have to cross that bridge when we come to it.

good luck

DebsX · 01-11-2007, 11:52 AM

We're also in the same boat.

Our house has been on the market for 3 months now, and even though we've reduced it in price by 15k, we still can't find a buyer.

As we planned to rent for 6 months first in Oz, we figured as long as we could cover our mortage repayments in the UK, renting it out for 6 months, would be a viable option for us.

At least that way we would be in Oz and starting our new lives, rather than sitting here in the UK waiting for that buyer.

However, when we thought about it more, all sorts of doubts started to creep in. Mainly those posted by Kazz.

Also apart from that, what happens if after 6 months we lose our tenants and can't replace them.
We would then be in the boat of having to pay rent on a house in Oz and having to finance our mortgage in the UK. We also were afraid of our house being trashed. Especially when the agents only come to check on the property once every 6 months.

In the end, with everything taken into account, we decided the renting the house out option was just too risky for us, and possibly we had more to lose than to gain.

Not sure if this helps, but if like us your house is being used as your biggest source of cash injection to start your new life in Oz, please give it plenty of thought before renting it out to someone you don't know.

Debs x x

The Cutches · 01-11-2007, 12:27 PM

It's such a tough decision isn't it. We never expected the house sale to hold us up, it's soooo frustrating! We share all of those concerns mentioned but on the up side, my parents do live nearby so I could ask them to oversea things for us. I was going to contact one of those agents that guarantees the rent to see if it would still cover the mortgage. We've got a viewing on Saturday and if nothing comes of that, I'll contact a couple of rental agents next week to see what the deal is. I'll keep you all posted.

CC
x

ozdreamer · 01-11-2007, 12:54 PM

We are in the same position - house has been on the market a couple of months and nothing

.
We have had long conversations with our agents and have asked them to come up with other ways of getting buyers through our door, one has agreed to split the cost of a quarter page ad in the local paper and the other one has asked how we feel about having 'open days'. At the moment we are willing to try anything to get that elusive buyer.

gary12 · 01-11-2007, 12:59 PM

We are planning to rent out our house for the first 12 months of our stay in Oz. We live in a small Warwickshire village where houses are snapped up, usually !! 8 months ago a house in our road sold within 2 weeks, now another has been on the market for over 6 months and dropped the price with nothing. None of the houses in our village are shifting at the moment yet a few have gone up for rent and they are gone in days. It's a chance you take, do you leave it empty and hope it sells or risk getting a tennant that makes a mess? For us we are going to risk it and hope that we get some civilized people who will treat our home with respect. Fingers crossed!

We are also fortunate that a friend has suggested a very good agent.

Someone may correct me and please do however I understand that you can claim a percentage (10) I think against wear and tear and also some sort of tax incentive,

best wishes Michelle

june coates · 01-11-2007, 01:13 PM

hi debs,
i have no intention of letting my house out.i will leave it in the hands of my estate agent to sell.i believe i can give my solicitor power of attorney so i wont have to come home to sign i can sign before i leave england.good luck with yours.
june