Guest Granada Posted May 3, 2010 Share Posted May 3, 2010 Hello All Ok so we have decided to put our house out for rent so we can head off. We have only been on the market a few months and have had interest but the two "serious" viewers couldn't get a mortgage ( nothing to do with the house employment history / deposit issues). There are now so many houses for sale in our area that we are honestly thinking in this climate it is the wrong time to sell. We are lucky in that any rent we will get will cover the mortgage, we have enough funds to get us over and see us through a couple of months. We wouldn't be buying in Oz for a couple of years anyway so figure why not rent, pay another few thousand off the mortgage and see if the economy and housing market is better in a couple of years ( not to mention the exchange rate!) I know renting can be a nightmare so we are planning on using a fully managed letting agent ) our Estate Agent actually who we like very much and has send she can still put the feelers out for a sale whilst we are renting). Now the decision is made we feel OK about it but I only ever seem to read horror stories, has this been a good decision for anyone here :err: Thanks Jen xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmaroo Posted May 3, 2010 Share Posted May 3, 2010 We are renting out too as the the chance of selling before we want to go are slim. It will be a while I think before the housing market is stable. There is also the possibility that as much as we want to go to Australia once we get there we realise that its not for us, so better to hold on for a couple of years just to be on the safe side. Good Luck Emma Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Granada Posted May 3, 2010 Share Posted May 3, 2010 We are in the same boat Jen as we want to rent and not sell up ! I think a good agent is vital and also a general handyman who knows your house and appliances so that the agent can't fleece you with repair bills. It happens ! Thanks for that, never thought on the handyman, I will take tel nos of a guy I know just in case. The agent says she has guys she knows who work on all her properties and we have discussed setting a limit of say £100 for her to approve on my behalf. I do trust the agent, she work for herself and has a good reputation locally, she inspects 3 monthly which is more often than the big agents and charges a bit less but it is still a worry. I am sure for most people renting out is fine but when its your own home its a bit scary :wideeyed: Jen x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Granada Posted May 3, 2010 Share Posted May 3, 2010 We are renting out too as the the chance of selling before we want to go are slim. It will be a while I think before the housing market is stable. There is also the possibility that as much as we want to go to Australia once we get there we realise that its not for us, so better to hold on for a couple of years just to be on the safe side. Good Luck Emma Thanks Emma :biggrin: x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest thebeatties Posted May 3, 2010 Share Posted May 3, 2010 Hi , We too are in the same boat, going down the rental route, no point in selling with the exchange rate the way it is now, so may as well get somebody else to pay off the mortgage. We are also using a reputable company to go through with 2 monthly video inspections. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Granada Posted May 3, 2010 Share Posted May 3, 2010 Hi ,We too are in the same boat, going down the rental route, no point in selling with the exchange rate the way it is now, so may as well get somebody else to pay off the mortgage. We are also using a reputable company to go through with 2 monthly video inspections. Cheers Glad to know we are not on our own with this one :biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dunkyboy Posted May 3, 2010 Share Posted May 3, 2010 I have had my house on the market for 3 weeks now with no viewings as yet, we are planning on moving to WA in August and I am now beginning to think maybe renting it out might be the best option, houses are taking quite a while to sell in my area so I doubt if I will get it sold in time for our move, we will be renting for at least 1 year when we get to WA so selling our house in a year or even 2 years time might be a smart thing to do with the exchange rate as it is, decisions, decisions !!! Nothing is straightforward and simple with this moving to Australia thing :arghh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gary12 Posted May 3, 2010 Share Posted May 3, 2010 We are in the 2nd year of renting out our UK house. Several things that you need to consider are that you will probably have to change your mortgage to a buy to let after a period of time, so lenders will do this for free others won't. Don't think just because your agent is reputable/long standing that they won't mess up. We have just got rid of our agent who was one of the oldest most reputable in the area....how I will never know! Make sure that you have a set limit of spend without authorisation, don't go with their repair men, our agent didn't act on our instructions which then got the tennant in a tizz so the agent sent in their own repair men and sent us an email saying they would authorise him to repair the hot water system by way of replacement at a cost of over £3k. I went nuts and got someone in and the cost was £274 all in!! We also had the house cleaned 3 times and the agent still said it needed cleaning and someone from their books would go in. No way! Turns out there were cobwebs in some of the rooms, the house had been empty for 3 months! I have to say it was so stressful in the first 6 months to have it rented out that we wanted to get rid of the tennants and sell up. Thankfully now it has all settled down and we are renting with the same tennants direct. Saving them and us. You may get stopped tax at source which we have, to give an idea we rent for £850, and were seeing less than £500 of it after agents fees and tax, therefore meaning we had to top up the mortgage from this end. just because they say they do regular inspections you may find that you need to ask them to go in. Finally and I guess for me the most important thing is to cut yourself off from the property, still seeing it as your home is not the right thing to do. I found it really hard for someone else to be living in my home, the home where we had bought our children up and had many happy memories, worrying if they were trashing it etc. You have to see it as an investment and detatch yourself from any emotional ties to it. Some think keeping your house will mean that you have a way back to the UK if things don't work out but trust me it is not the easy option in the short term. Touch wood our rental is now going along tickty boo and I know there are many on here whom have had no problems what so ever but just be prepared. Cor, that was a rabmble! regards Michelle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest itskaren Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 Hello All Ok so we have decided to put our house out for rent so we can head off. We have only been on the market a few months and have had interest but the two "serious" viewers couldn't get a mortgage ( nothing to do with the house employment history / deposit issues). There are now so many houses for sale in our area that we are honestly thinking in this climate it is the wrong time to sell. We are lucky in that any rent we will get will cover the mortgage, we have enough funds to get us over and see us through a couple of months. We wouldn't be buying in Oz for a couple of years anyway so figure why not rent, pay another few thousand off the mortgage and see if the economy and housing market is better in a couple of years ( not to mention the exchange rate!) I know renting can be a nightmare so we are planning on using a fully managed letting agent ) our Estate Agent actually who we like very much and has send she can still put the feelers out for a sale whilst we are renting). Now the decision is made we feel OK about it but I only ever seem to read horror stories, has this been a good decision for anyone here :err: Thanks Jen xx We have rented out our cottage for 2 years now via an agent. The first year we were fleeced with lots of repairs.. ie tap washers, a bit of painting etc .. nothing major very minor stuff. It cost a fourtune. The agents don't care as long as it is done. We now have a friend/handyman that does all the little jobs. So much better. It is money for old rope for the agent but I suppose as we live so far away they have got you by the short and curlies! Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Perth Princess Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 We have been renting ours out for almost 2 years now without any hassle. We tried to sell but we put it on the market just as it crashed. I'm glad now that we didn't sell as it is a comfort to know we have a home in the UK should we need one. I actually visited the house between tennents and expected to find it shabby, but it looked the same as ever which was reassuring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lymingtonlass Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 quite agree about the emotional bit about seeing it as an imvestment. OH moving out at the end of the summer and we are moving to a smaller place here in the UK for the final yeat to finish off education for GCSEs. Make some money and make the break at the same time so that finally leaving will not be such a wrench. That's the plan anyway ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Granada Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 Fabulous reply Michelle, thanks so much. I have got the forms to claim tax exemption as I read about thet somewhere. After initially saying no to renting the bank are fine and said we can go ahead. I asked if I need to reapply at any time but they said not. Hopefully that will be the same when the certificate arrives. I am certainly going to make sure I get second opinions on any work needed now, I didn'tcreally think of the importance of that one but I will put that to the top of the list! Glad everything is running better with you now ..... hope our road is a little smoother. Thanks again and rant away, you must have needed to get that out xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Granada Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 We have rented out our cottage for 2 years now via an agent. The first year we were fleeced with lots of repairs.. ie tap washers, a bit of painting etc .. nothing major very minor stuff. It cost a fourtune. The agents don't care as long as it is done. We now have a friend/handyman that does all the little jobs. So much better. It is money for old rope for the agent but I suppose as we live so far away they have got you by the short and curlies! Good luck. Another vote for the local handyman .. on to that today .... Thanks Karen x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Granada Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 quite agree about the emotional bit about seeing it as an imvestment. OH moving out at the end of the summer and we are moving to a smaller place here in the UK for the final yeat to finish off education for GCSEs. Make some money and make the break at the same time so that finally leaving will not be such a wrench. That's the plan anyway ! Well good luck with everything ... timing can be such a pain, we would have left before now but I have one finishing A Levels and then we are good to go! :biggrin: Thats why we are going for the rental, we want him to enjoy his year off before applying to Uni. Being sat here whilst his friends are off away would not have been good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lymingtonlass Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 yes we have one child who will be finishing primary and one needing to finish gcses. A year without OH will not be so bad as it will give hime time to suss out areas and we then have time over these holidays to check out schools etc. Lots of messing around and moving of boxes but I am sure it will be worth it . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Granada Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 yes we have one child who will be finishing primary and one needing to finish gcses. A year without OH will not be so bad as it will give hime time to suss out areas and we then have time over these holidays to check out schools etc. Lots of messing around and moving of boxes but I am sure it will be worth it . I'm sure it will :biggrin: Take Care Jen xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metoo Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 Granada Are you absolutely certain that you don't have a relative who is willing to rent you house off you. We are also in the same boat as yourselves and thought we would rather leave our house empty than let strangers through the door. However, we were discussing the situation with some of our family members and they asked if they could rent our house as it was nicer than the one they currently rented. I know it sounds really obvious now but because they were already settled in a rental we never gave them a thought. They are now installed in our house and happily paying a lot less in rent than previously, also they are currently decorating the bedrooms for us in colours we have agreed together, so no nasty surprises. We trust them as they are family and so we have a win win situation. Best of luck, Metoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Granada Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 Granada Are you absolutely certain that you don't have a relative who is willing to rent you house off you. We are also in the same boat as yourselves and thought we would rather leave our house empty than let strangers through the door. However, we were discussing the situation with some of our family members and they asked if they could rent our house as it was nicer than the one they currently rented. I know it sounds really obvious now but because they were already settled in a rental we never gave them a thought. They are now installed in our house and happily paying a lot less in rent than previously, also they are currently decorating the bedrooms for us in colours we have agreed together, so no nasty surprises. We trust them as they are family and so we have a win win situation. Best of luck, Metoo Thanks for the reply Meetoo. Sounds as though you have found the perfect solution ! No such chance of that for us though :dull:. I did consider renting to my neice who is a student nurse and a couple of her pals but after seeing pictures on Facebook of the wild houseparties shr attends I changed my mind:policeman: Jen x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sharpie76 Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 Hi Guys we are in the same position we are renting our house from this week we are just waiting for our visa's then off to Melbourne so nerve racking waiting week by week for the visa's to be approved. not long now we hope, glad we are not the only ones leaving our homes in the hands of others. Good luck all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lindagarrattley Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 I am also in the process of renting my property whilst in Oz. If you complete H M Revenue and Customs form NRL1 (available online) you are exempt from tax on rental income whilst non-resident in UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cbms Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 We are planning on renting the house out as well for now, so it is good to get an idea of what others have done. The forms that everyone has filled out for tax can anyone send me a link for them and let me know when you supplied this back to the tax man. I have read also that you have to be aware of things like capital gains tax etc and you could be taxed in Australia as well, is this the case or have I just read some of this information incorrectly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest EdisonCheug Posted August 7, 2010 Share Posted August 7, 2010 We have been renting ours out for almost 2 years now without any hassle. We tried to sell but we put it on the market just as it crashed. I'm glad now that we didn't sell as it is a comfort to know we have a home in the UK should we need one. I actually visited the house between tennents and expected to find it shabby, but it looked the same as ever which was reassuring. cant agree more. unless im in a tight budget, i wont sell it. as Perth Princess said, it is a comfort to know we have a home in the UK.:biglaugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest girlwizz99 Posted August 7, 2010 Share Posted August 7, 2010 I would definitely rent it out. I have two houses I rent out in the UK as there is no point my selling them and converting at 1.7 to dollars. Also the income is around 5% on the money invested - as opposed to a fruity 0.5% in the bank! Plus, mortgages are very low for now. Although it can be a hassle chasing the tenants for rent and arranging the maintenance don't forget if you are in Australia as a temporary resident you don't pay tax at source in the Uk on the rental income, nor will be liable for capital gains when the market improves (which it will) and you can sell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest girlwizz99 Posted August 7, 2010 Share Posted August 7, 2010 We are planning on renting the house out as well for now, so it is good to get an idea of what others have done. The forms that everyone has filled out for tax can anyone send me a link for them and let me know when you supplied this back to the tax man. I have read also that you have to be aware of things like capital gains tax etc and you could be taxed in Australia as well, is this the case or have I just read some of this information incorrectly? The forms are available at the link below. You need to return one to the tax office and then get them to write to your estate agent to prevent them deducting the tax automatically when they pay you in the rental monies. Regarding capital gains tax the Australian government can have a go at this but there are no shortage of offshore accounts (eg, Guernsey and Jersey). Also, I believe, and don't quote me(!!), this only applies to permanent residents and citizens. If you are temporary it doesnt apply. You can remain temporary I think for 3 years , which is quite a window to sell in.... HM Revenue & Customs: The Non-Resident Landlords (NRL) Scheme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cbms Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Thanks very much girlwizz99 - If I have any other questions would you mind me sending you a PM in the future? The forms are available at the link below. You need to return one to the tax office and then get them to write to your estate agent to prevent them deducting the tax automatically when they pay you in the rental monies. Regarding capital gains tax the Australian government can have a go at this but there are no shortage of offshore accounts (eg, Guernsey and Jersey). Also, I believe, and don't quote me(!!), this only applies to permanent residents and citizens. If you are temporary it doesnt apply. You can remain temporary I think for 3 years , which is quite a window to sell in....HM Revenue & Customs: The Non-Resident Landlords (NRL) Scheme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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