Fishenka Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 Hi, me again were you happy with the decision or would you've done it differently second time? if you sold, how quickly did you buy a place in Aus etc? we seem to be unable to make up our minds + worried about tenants trashing the place, difficulties with selling it later remotely etc. thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MovingtoTasmania Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 Hi Fishenka. We are selling our place in the UK, partly because I don't think I will return at any point in the future and also because of the hassle involved with long distance rental. I would rather not be an absent landlord in case of problems and it's a lot of burden to put on relatives if they have to sort things out if they go wrong (not to mention the stress of being on the other side of the world). I'm rather of the thinking that you make the decisions that are right for you at the time that is right so therefore no choice is the wrong choice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3FatCats Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 We rented ours out for the three years we have been in Aus a) because at the time we had to leave in a hurry and b) were just on a temp visa. The agency we used took a management fee and looked after any issues, we just got an email to confirm the costs for repairs. This worked fine for us, but is an expensive option, you could waive this if family could step in for example. Things to bear in mind if you rent IMO: have some spare $$ in the bank to cover any periods with no rental income, tenants come and go, they might not replace immediately. Accept your home will no longer feel like your home once it has been rented out. Our tenants were reasonable people but still made changes they were not supposed to, and I now have to replaster, redecorate etc. Accept that the house will generally need some TLC if you return, to cover things an owner would do but a tenant may not i.e. proper gardening vs just cutting the lawns, paying attention to fixing little things here and there and generally not loving the place like a proper home (because they are just renting!). Also you will have to declare the rental income in your tax return, rules vary depending on your type of visa. Personally, I am very happy to have rented out, I am now returning and have a house ready for me, plus the mortgage has been covered and it is a good investment for us. Everyone will have a different situation so I can't say what you should do, maybe if you stand to get good equity from the property now then try and sell? Good luck anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABL275 Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 Same - we've rented for 3 years as I came over on a 457 visa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortlepuss Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 We rented as we came on a 457 visa so it was sensible to do so. Now have citizenship and intend to return to UK. Having our house in the UK will make it much easier to settle back, but one of the reasons we want to return is that renting in Brisbane is a grim, insecure and very expensive business. You really are treated as a second class citizen here if you rent, and there seems little protection for tenants. We are paying a huge amount of rent, whilst also paying tax on our UK property. It's a tricky decision to make - In retrospect I wish we could have been in a position to have bought a house here, as our Australian experience would have been a very different one. Having said that Australian houses represent very poor value for money, many are shoddily built, and expensive to maintain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paisleylass Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 We rented ours out purely beacuse the selling market was very grim and only got worse a year or so into our time here - when we re-mortgaged the valuation was 30% less than we paid! We don't want to make a profit, just want to get back somewhere close to what we paid. it is risky, and it's been expensive for us to rent the house out, with all the repairs, cleaning and long gaps with no rent coming in it has been a nightmare, and very stressful. One set of tenants badly abused the house then disappeared with the keys, so had to get locks changed, that was awful. But we haven't involved family, we pay the agency to look after the house which has worked well, it's not their fault if tenants misbehave. had the selling market been stronger at the time we'd have had no hesitation selling, and we're on a 457 visa. Even if we went back ( hopefully we are about to get PR), we couldn't face returning to that house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishenka Posted June 29, 2014 Author Share Posted June 29, 2014 Thank you all for your replies but I have to admit it's concerning that everyone wants to go back to UK... Is Oz really that bad? :-/ selling the place in the UK doesn't sound like a great idea any more then.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn2002 Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Fishenka We rent our place in the Uk, mostly for similar reasons to the previous posters. We tried to sell before we left, but with only one offer of £40k under what we paid for it, we gave up. We came to the conclusion that the mortgage would still be paid, we weren't in a position to buy in Australia at the time( we still aren't) also the exchange rate was only about 1.5 AUD/GBP at the time. We use the agency who rented it to manage the place they charge around 8% of the rent per month. We have been lucky as we have only had to get a couple of inexpensive things done. However, renting was not our preferred option, the rent does not cover the mortgage after the management fee, so we have left money in the Uk to cover this, also incase anything major goes wrong and the landlord insurance. We are still in contact with our neighbours in the UK and I am confident we'd find out pretty quick if they thought the family were trashing the place. But I don't like the thought that our major asset is on the other side of the world and I can't check on it every now and again. We only rented as selling was not financially viable for us at the time. It is comforting that if we did want to go back it is there, but as my hubby and kids are Aussies I think it unlikely. We plan to sell next year, providing the tenant wants to renew the lease. It all depends on your individual financial situation, make sure you do the sums properly and can cover periods when the property may not be rented. Also investigate the tax aspect. Dawn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortlepuss Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 It's nice to have it as insurance if you do want to return. If you're committed to Oz, then it may be better to sell.. I think people make more of a go of it here if they cut ties.... If you're on a 457 then no need to sell as you won't be taxed on it. If you are keeping it, and your mortgage is low (our mistake) you may want to increase the mortgage to draw out a line of credit and ensure that the interest part of your mortgage is sufficient to offset against rental income - that keeps the tax down! It's such a tricky decision and so personal - you also have to weigh in mind currency fluctuation - If you sell, move over and the pound appreciates against the dollar then you will find your spending power quite reduced if you return - and may not be able to afford a house similar to your old one!! Of course for many, they have made a great deal out of the recent strength of the dollar against the pound - and have returned back richer than ever!! Such a gamble.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l1sa Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Hi there We have sold, for 2 reasons. One) because its a way of having to make it work, if you know you have a house to return to, it makes it just that bit easier to do so. Two) My OH is a self employed builder/carpenter and alot of his work has been for landlords after tennants have moved out!! OMG, some of the places have seriously been destroyed! Plus, if you do want to return, would you want to go backwards?? After an experience like moving to Oz, you'd be a different person, I'm not sure you'd be willing to just slot back in where you left off. But like others have said, it all depends on everyones individual situations, some are not in a position to sell and make any profit, some can't sell. It all comes down to your own personal decision. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmyay1 Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 We kept our place and rented it out. We now have it on the market and it's a pain to sell it after being here for 18 months and having bought a place in Melbourne. Hope it will sell soon as it has gone from feeling like some security when we first moved here, to an annoying inconvenience which we just want rid of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beddy Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 We sold our house in the Uk as we needed the equity for the big move and unfortunately ended up selling it alot cheaper than we wanted . We needed to activate our visa and when we weighed it up we figured for us it was best to take a lower offer than go out and activate our visa and come back and try and wait out for a better offer which may or may not have happened . We have no regrets even though we are still not in a position to buy a property over here and been here nearly two years . I do have friends that have rented their property out in the Uk and they have had no problems Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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