CharmedP3 Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 So we were going to put our house on the market in the next few weeks after we'd finished a bit of sprucing up. But next door neighbour came round last week to say they were putting theirs on the market and the sign went up yesterday. So would it be a bad sign if we both had them on the market at same time? The are practically identical in terms of layout...except we don't have a conservatory and our driveway is shared (and to be blunt ours is alot more modern than theirs but they are pensioners) and ours would therefore be a tad less than theirs (theirs is up at £149,950 and if you fancy a nosy at theirs here's the link Halifax HomeFinder).... Anyway....with the somewhat downward spiral of the housing marking and economy in general (and the competition from next door lol) we are thinking of NOT selling... we are lucky enough to be able to save a reasonable amount each month and if we work really hard at this for the next year we would have several thousand saved....not alot when you have flights etc to consider......but "do able".....just But what are the tax implications (if any) of owning a property in the UK while living and working in Oz? To be honest if we kept the house we would probably have to take a bit of a hit on the rent income V mortgage payment the way things are atm... As I type this I know we sound mad.....but things seem so volatile ....also if we didn't sell it would mean not being able to pay off a loan before we went....can we still make the payments from over in Oz or would we have to settle it before we went does anyone know? Sorry for the long post...just weighing up our options :spinny: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuju Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 Hi Rachel, I had a peek at your neighbours property and i woudnt worry about the two properties up at the same time, theirs as you said is rather in need of updating & the consrvatory is very small, if you wanna go on the market do so and forget about next door. Soz im not up on the tax side of property but sure someone else will be able to help you. stuju Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest beermeister Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 Hey, wow......We have almost exactly the same situation except in reverse: we've had ours up for sale for 12 weeks and our neighbours have just decided to put theirs on as well. They're pretty similar houses with theirs only slightly bigger, has a conservatory and pricing £20K higher. At first, we were a bit peeved because of the competition, but we're a bit more relaxed about it now. The UK housing market is so bad that I don't know if 2 houses in a row for sale makes it much worst. The only advice I could give is that if you're thinking about putting it on, have an empathic chat to your neighbours to let them know in advance, explain your reasons, and see if you can agree on what not to do (e.g. not to slag each other's house off if your viewer asks about the one next door). One thing that annoyed us was that our neighbour made the flippant remark "we're just putting it on to see what happens" which made us see red because clearly they couldn't give a toss about the effect on ours - we would have been far more happy if they were fully committed because at least our pain of more competition would have been going to a worthy cause. We've had a fair bit of interest in our house but no firm deals to speak of yet. I gotta say that I'm feeling very downbeat about actually selling a house at the moment and reckon you got more chance of winning the lottery.....unless you want to give it away, and I really mean give it away (i.e. knock the price down by 20 to 30%), there's just nobody interested at the moment because cash/first home buyers are looking for the bottom of the market. To help us make our decision, I've done a detailed financial analysis of renting verus selling for a knock down price and, based on OUR situation, and a forecast of 4 years for the market to recover back to the current price, we can accept another 11% drop in house price from where we are currently, otherwise renting is the better option for us. Hope this helps, but remember this is only my opinion and you need to look at your own situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharmedP3 Posted July 16, 2008 Author Share Posted July 16, 2008 Well we ummed and aaaad a bit and decided it would be too tight financially NOT to sell. So we have 3 valuations booked this week. First one was last night, another today and one tomorrow. We have the same agents (Halifax) as next doors is up with coming round tomorrow. The agent was quite positive about the market and "claims" they have seen a slight increase in sales this past month or so.... he also said that two house next door to each other being up for sale is not neccessarily a bad thing, as they often get familys of Asians who are looking for 6 bedrooms properties in the form of 2 semis that they can snap up for say £300K together rather than going for an actual property marketed as 6 bedrooms iyswim which would probably be nearer the £500K mark..... there is a lot of logic in that, especially as they like to surround themselves with their extended family. Anyway first valuation came in at £140K and an "expect to sell for £135K".... we expected £140, but hope we DON'T have to drop to £135 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pinhead Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 I hate to put a dampner on your expectations but in the current market if you EA values your property at £140K you won't get £140K or £135K unless you're extremely lucky. Cash buyers in the past have been a very good thing but in the current climate they have all the power will not offer you full listing price except in exceptional circumstances. The phenomomen of 'Guzundering' is also becoming more prevelent where the buyer drops the offered price at the last minute and says 'take it or leave it'! My property's been on the market for 6 weeks at £375K without a single viewing but according to the EA it's not down to the price but the lack of people looking to move at the moment. Despite stating that repeatedly we've dropped the price £10K this week. As a general I rule I'd say that if you take the mid to highest valuation you get and knock off 10% that's the price you're likely to get (around £126K in your case). I originally hoped to get £335K for my property before getting valuations, I upped this to £350K after listing at £375K but now I'm begining to think my original expectation was right. I'm not going to rent my property so it's sale or don't go (with a minimum price of £335K), fortunately I still have until mid Feb to exchange. Good luck with your listing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Que Sera Sera Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 It is a really confusing time at the moment isnt it? Our kitchen is totally pants and needs doing before we put the house on the market. Is it worth doing it still do you think?, because we are probably going to get a completely ridiculous offer anyway but will we sell it at all without doing it? Our mortgage payments are sky high and we would not be able to rent it out as the rent we would get would not cover the mortgage payments, also we need the little bit of equity we may have left to fund our move. We are not worried about renting in Oz as it would appear we would be able to get some nice properties for far less per month than we are currently paying at the moment. Decisions decisions decisions:unsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pinhead Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 It is a really confusing time at the moment isnt it? Our kitchen is totally pants and needs doing before we put the house on the market.Is it worth doing it still do you think?, because we are probably going to get a completely ridiculous offer anyway but will we sell it at all without doing it? Our mortgage payments are sky high and we would not be able to rent it out as the rent we would get would not cover the mortgage payments, also we need the little bit of equity we may have left to fund our move. We are not worried about renting in Oz as it would appear we would be able to get some nice properties for far less per month than we are currently paying at the moment. Decisions decisions decisions:unsure: Unless your kitchen is a real eyesore / grubby then I wouldn't do anything to it than give it a good clean. If the kitchen is not new people can change it to what they personally like once they've moved in. My kitchen is around 20 years old but is in good condition, one of the EA who valued my house said 'it's in good condition and not an eyesore, if the buyer wants to change it they can pay to do it after they bought it' ie there is no need to reduce the price because it's not a new kitchen. Another probably more relevent point is do you have the time to spend decorating when your house could be on the market now? Especially with the time it's taking to sell properties at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Que Sera Sera Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Unless your kitchen is a real eyesore / grubby then I wouldn't do anything to it than give it a good clean. If the kitchen is not new people can change it to what they personally like once they've moved in. My kitchen is around 20 years old but is in good condition, one of the EA who valued my house said 'it's in good condition and not an eyesore, if the buyer wants to change it they can pay to do it after they bought it' ie there is no need to reduce the price because it's not a new kitchen. Another probably more relevent point is do you have the time to spend decorating when your house could be on the market now? Especially with the time it's taking to sell properties at the moment. Grubby how very dare you!:biglaugh: no its just a tad unloved, wonking drawers and old fashioned. I don't want to spend any time or money on it if I don't have to. Another question. Does anyone know how long the EPC pack (I thinks thats what its called) is valid for.We started to plan to sell the house last year and paid the £500 for the pack and then decided not to sell (what a plonker!) Also we would rather not use the same EA as they were rubbish so can we demand the pack and use it with another EA? does anyone know what the hell I am talkng about?:chatterbox: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pinhead Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 HIPS last 3 months after you've taken your property off the market or indefinitely if you don't. SO if you had them done over 3 months ago you'll need to pay again. I'm assuming you're refering the energy part of that? Information on sellers pack - buying and selling a home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest beermeister Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 The agent was quite positive about the market and "claims" they have seen a slight increase in sales this past month or so.... I don't want to sound rude, but the EA's will still say anything to get new business. Perhaps you're area is an anomally, but the reality is that the housing market is continuing to deteriorate, at least in my area. Our EA told me the other day that each week that goes by sees a further reduction in activity. Maybe it won't affect your decision in the end, but it would be a pity to base your decisions on the silver tongue of an EA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Que Sera Sera Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 HIPS last 3 months after you've taken your property off the market or indefinitely if you don't. SO if you had them done over 3 months ago you'll need to pay again.I'm assuming you're refering the energy part of that? Information on sellers pack - buying and selling a home. Thats the one thank you and damn thats another flipping £500.00 then. Oh well we definatley will be using another EA the last one was rubbish. They advertised our house as an end terrace when its a semi and said we had off street parking when we have a garage! They put it right but if they can make mistakes like that. Also our energy bit was not good and they decided to put that with the picture as a selling point. Can anyone recommend a good EA or is that an oximoron ? :biglaugh:(sorry can't spell!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharmedP3 Posted July 16, 2008 Author Share Posted July 16, 2008 Well we had another valuation today...came in at £135K and said to expect between £130 - £135 but not to market it at any less because then people trying to avoid stamp duty will push to get price even further down......on the subject of "decor"....I guess in some respects we are lucky....our kitchen is barely 12 months old....but today's EA advised us to re-decorate main bedroom (it's quite obvious due to stripped off wallpaper that we are in middle of that) and to redecorate hall, stairs n landing too (also on the agenda).......he says that it IS a big decision maker for people at the moment as they are generally pushing themselves to the limit financially anyway, they don't want to have to spend more money on decorating! Interestingly....maybe it's a Northern thing...but all the EA's I've spoken to have reported an increase in business in the last 2 weeks with more offer's coming in.....don't know if that's flannel from them or not.....but despite the general UK wide drop in house prices......in Yorkshire and Humberside prices have not dropped much at all....and in some areas they have even increased a little :unsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Que Sera Sera Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Well we had another valuation today...came in at £135K and said to expect between £130 - £135 but not to market it at any less because then people trying to avoid stamp duty will push to get price even further down......on the subject of "decor"....I guess in some respects we are lucky....our kitchen is barely 12 months old....but today's EA advised us to re-decorate main bedroom (it's quite obvious due to stripped off wallpaper that we are in middle of that) and to redecorate hall, stairs n landing too (also on the agenda).......he says that it IS a big decision maker for people at the moment as they are generally pushing themselves to the limit financially anyway, they don't want to have to spend more money on decorating!Interestingly....maybe it's a Northern thing...but all the EA's I've spoken to have reported an increase in business in the last 2 weeks with more offer's coming in.....don't know if that's flannel from them or not.....but despite the general UK wide drop in house prices......in Yorkshire and Humberside prices have not dropped much at all....and in some areas they have even increased a little :unsure: I can beleive that because at the moment in the south you would be hard pressed to find a 3 bed house under £150,000 and thats in a rough area so lets face it money makers still want to buy as do first time buyers so fingers crossed you may benefit from this misery! :yes:And good on you if you can! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest earlswood Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 So we were going to put our house on the market in the next few weeks after we'd finished a bit of sprucing up. But next door neighbour came round last week to say they were putting theirs on the market and the sign went up yesterday. So would it be a bad sign if we both had them on the market at same time? The are practically identical in terms of layout...except we don't have a conservatory and our driveway is shared (and to be blunt ours is alot more modern than theirs but they are pensioners) and ours would therefore be a tad less than theirs (theirs is up at £149,950 and if you fancy a nosy at theirs here's the link Halifax HomeFinder).... Anyway....with the somewhat downward spiral of the housing marking and economy in general (and the competition from next door lol) we are thinking of NOT selling... we are lucky enough to be able to save a reasonable amount each month and if we work really hard at this for the next year we would have several thousand saved....not alot when you have flights etc to consider......but "do able".....just But what are the tax implications (if any) of owning a property in the UK while living and working in Oz? To be honest if we kept the house we would probably have to take a bit of a hit on the rent income V mortgage payment the way things are atm... As I type this I know we sound mad.....but things seem so volatile ....also if we didn't sell it would mean not being able to pay off a loan before we went....can we still make the payments from over in Oz or would we have to settle it before we went does anyone know? Sorry for the long post...just weighing up our options :spinny: Tyhat looks a nice house for the price...blimey...that is cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharmedP3 Posted July 16, 2008 Author Share Posted July 16, 2008 Tyhat looks a nice house for the price...blimey...that is cheap. Wanna buy a lovely modern house in Halifax when you come back to England Earlswood lol It is SO much cheaper to live oop norf than it is darn sarf :biglaugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest vickiweath Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 I don't want to sound rude, but the EA's will still say anything to get new business. Perhaps you're area is an anomally, but the reality is that the housing market is continuing to deteriorate, at least in my area. Our EA told me the other day that each week that goes by sees a further reduction in activity.[/quote] Hate to say it but I agree with 'The Beermeister'....my house has been up for sale for 4 months, we live in Newcastle. The economic slowdown is at it's worst up here and believe me it's telling. My house has been gutted from top to bottom, have also dropped price twice and NO viewings.....IT IS DEFINATELY GRIM UP NORTH AT THE MO! My OH is a joiner and a lot of trades people have been laid off and there is very little work about aswell.... Good Luck with your house sale though! We really want to sell ours as the prices are still dropping round here!:arghh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest earlswood Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Wanna buy a lovely modern house in Halifax when you come back to England Earlswood lolIt is SO much cheaper to live oop norf than it is darn sarf :biglaugh: It rains to much up North:biglaugh:you get more than twice the annual rainfall of darn sarf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharmedP3 Posted July 17, 2008 Author Share Posted July 17, 2008 It rains to much up North:biglaugh:you get more than twice the annual rainfall of darn sarf. Ahh....a flaw in my plan! I knew there must be one!!! Tis true....for it has perpetually pee'd it down for approximately 6 years now..... oh no no...I tell a lie...the sun shone briefly for 10 minutes 27 June 2004 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LightMum Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 But what are the tax implications (if any) of owning a property in the UK while living and working in Oz? To be honest if we kept the house we would probably have to take a bit of a hit on the rent income V mortgage payment the way things are atm... There are other threads on PIO that cover this in more detail, which is where we found out about it. May not be suitable for all situations, but for us it works : we move to Oz in August and after failing to find a buyer we are likely to be renting out our house for about 2 years until market conditions change so it will sell. We have no intention of moving back to the house. The advice we found includes : - switch to interest only mortgage (saves us 25% on mortgage payments even after allowing extra 0.5% for standard variable rate buy-to-let and no redemption charges arrangement with same lender). You're not reducing the capital but it helps with cashflow at what is an expensive time. Mortgage may offer payment holidays for up to 3 months a year which helps if the property is untenanted. - if funds are tight in the short-term to pay for your move then see if you can use any payment holiday that you've qualified for on your current mortgage to reduce your outgoings for the last three months before you move and rent it out. The non-payments go back onto your capital balance but paying off the mortgage is probably not the most important thing on your mind when you're trying to pay for shipping, flights, rental at other end, gap in employment etc and having to rent out your house rather than getting the equity out of it. - register for "non-resident landlord" status if your 'normal place of abode' is going to be outside the UK. See www.hmrc.gov.uk/cnr/nr_landlords.htm. If HMRC approve your application for it then agent will pay you the rent without deducting tax first. There are more details about the benefits of this and rules such as still declaring income on tax returns, allowable expenses etc via this link. - negotiate with rental agent for best rate. Without trying very hard we got a quote of 11%+vat for fully managed with no extra fees other than professional clean at start and maintenance costs, and a quote for 13.5%+vat from another agent who seems to offer an even more complete service. Both are likely to put in professional long-term tenants with whom the house is more likely to survive mostly intact. With the rental market being strong (in our area at least) they don't have to work very hard to find tenants so % charge for finding tenants should be minimal or 0. - keep funds in UK account to cover unexpected costs without incurring exchange rate hit. With rent coming into UK account and mortgage / fees coming out will keep the balance in our account fairly even anyway. - renting house unfurnished you still need to provide white goods (fridge/freezer, washing machine, cooker, optional dishwasher) in the kitchen. If you've got decent stuff that you want to take with you then just buy cheaper basic replacements for your rented UK house from eBay or Comet Auctions (via Comet website - unboxed or slightly marked products with I think 1 yr guarantee). - Oz customs won't be too happy if you ship your lawnmower and garden tools, but your tenants will need them so that's a bit less stuff you have to bother selling. Hope that helps, and if anyone can fill in the blanks regarding taxation on rent income between UK and Oz then I'd appreciate it, otherwise I'll keep trawling the threads to make sure I understand it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pinhead Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 If you leave your house unfurnished you don't need to pay council tax & water charges while it's empty between rentals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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