To sell or to rent?

bigbird1241

Hi
Not sure if anyone can help, but looking for some advice.
Our house has been on the market for 6 months with plenty of viewings but no offers. We have dropped the price several times and are quite aware in this climate we wont get what its worth. Should we rent our property out which will cover the mortgage and we rent somewhere smaller ourselves. This means we can stay on the property ladder and look at the longer term when prices hopefully go back up.
Any advice or experiences greatly received.

tamarto

What would you do if a T moved in and didn't pay rent?
What about if they destroyed your house.
Can you afford to pay the rent on your place & the mortgage?

HappyMJ

Probably not worth doing. Although the rent covers the mortgage there are other costs involved in collecting the rent, paying for repairs and maintenance, advertising and so on. You be better off getting a lodger in.

G_M

Renting is a serious undertaking - a business - with legal, fiancial, tax implications. It may well be the answer for you, but to fully understand what's involved, read this post and the links within it.

BitterAndTwisted

Just sell it for whatever you can get for it. Currently, there is no property "ladder" it's more like a snake and there's no guarantee that property prices will go back to soaring like they did in the last decade. And it could very well take a decade or more for your property to return to it's past "value".

doire_2

"Wont get what its worth"

Maybe you mean you wont get what you think its worth. The market has changed.

mlz1413

1 - the rental income you receive above your mortgage interest payment is profit and you will be taxed on this.

2 - you cannot claim the rent you are paying out as an expense.

3 - what if your tenant leaves after 6 months and it takes 4 weeks to redecorate and then 4 weeks more to re-let, can you afford rent & mortgage for those 2 months?

4 - are you aware of any tenant & landlord law?

5 - what if your LL ceases the tenancy after 6 months? do you also kick our your tenant or will you move to another rental?

6 - are you prepared to rent for at least 5 years? this is easily how long it may take for house prices to rise again.

mattdragon2

Renting seems like a good decision but there are many problems that can arise.

More and more people like yourself are renting out houses, this redudes the actual rent you might have to charge to compete for tenants.

Prices are going up sky high for pretty much everything: food, gas, oil, insurance etc. This means people have less money to spend on rent and houses.

The bank rates are low and when they increase, it will not favour people selling houses. This means you will probably be renting your house for a longtime or unless there is a wage increase.

You will need to readup on the process of being a landlord which is a lot to take into account.

If I were you I would stay in your house, pay off as much mortgage as possible (if payed up save for deposit), then when it comes to buying your next house, you will have more money to buy a bigger house. Remember that house prices are relative, so if your house goes down in price, so is that other house you have your eye on.