Moving Abroad do i rent or Sell

berserker

Need your advice guys,

I'm looking to move to canada at first on a 2 year work permit but may stay there.

I'm not sure whether to sell up here and buy in Canada and make the most of the current exchaneg rate.

OR

Rent my Property here, look to buy a smaller house in canada with a small mortgage due to reduced house prices.

any advice would be great

nollag2006

If you're coming home at the end of your two year stint, surely you don't want to lose your place on the housing ladder in the UK?

Why not just rent it out, and have someone else pay your mortgage for a couple of years.

As for buying in Canada - are you sure that you can recoup your sales and purchase costs within a two year window? Surely renting for such a short timeframe would be a better option

moneysavinmonkey

perhaps you should rent for the first 12 months in Canada till you get to know the area and whether you want to stay on?

If you like your house in the UK then rent it out, until you know if you will be coming back or not... if you don't like it then sell it now. I don't think you really need to worry about getting off the 'housing ladder' as prices aren't likely to go up above inflation and may even go down significantly in the next two years.

PasturesNew

Sell, sell, sell.
No doubts. My reasoning:

1] The market in the UK is wobbling, it's likely your place will fall in value over the next 2 years. By quite a bit.
2] You may not get a tenant. Or you may get the tenant from hell. Your letting agent might be pants.
3] There are costs involved to rent it: permission to let/potential for mortgage interest rate to be increased; different insurance; legal obligations like gas checks etc
4] If something happens in Canada so you want to stay on, or travel, the fact you have a property here will be dragging you back
5] You will probably earn more money banking your equity (without risk) than you'll get from renting (after legals/fees) + renting it is riskier.
6] You might want to stay in Canada

And while we are on the subject .... why even bother to buy in Canada. If you do the sums it's probably cheaper for you to rent over there (not to mention the lag between arriving/owning, then wanting to leave/selling and getting the cash.

So: Sell here. Rent in Canada. Increase your savings. See what you fancy doing in 2 years' time.

Good luck!

CB1979_2

where you based over here berserk?

that has to be taken into consideration too

berserker

Thanks Guys,

My long term goal is to stay in Canada hence the reason I am looking to buy out there.

Pastures new those are the exact reasons I am thinking about,

1979 I'm based in Grimsby so I feel if there is going to be a house price drop uit will hit here first

CB1979_2

yeah to be honest, i'd sell i think.

but why do you want out of grimsby?

SquatNow

Sell as fast as you can.

Price VERY aggressively.

All the expert think prices have peaked and expect them to "cool" (aka drop) over the next 18 months.

Given the state of the british economy it will take a LONG TIME for prices to recover to current levels, if at all. Sell up now, stash the money in a canadian bank account in canadian dollars while you still have time.

Canucklehead

Good evening: www.britishexpats.com is an excellent resource for those considering a move abroad. Post your queries on the Canada forum and get good advice from people who have experienced your options (of course you might already be a member;) ) One thing to consider is property selling costs across the pond...my sister has a real estate agency on the east coast and commission is 6-7% for houses and 10% for building plots....but agents are expected to do much more than in the UK for their money and are required to hold professional qualifications and undergo extensive training.

HTH

Canucklehead

berserker

Canucklehead wrote: »

Good evening: www.britishexpats.com is an excellent resource for those considering a move abroad. Post your queries on the Canada forum and get good advice from people who have experienced your options (of course you might already be a member;) ) One thing to consider is property selling costs across the pond...my sister has a real estate agency on the east coast and commission is 6-7% for houses and 10% for building plots....but agents are expected to do much more than in the UK for their money and are required to hold professional qualifications and undergo extensive training.

HTH

Canucklehead

Thanks Canuklehead, WOW thats some steep commission.

Not been on that site so thanks for the link

nollag2006

SquatNow wrote: »

Sell as fast as you can.

Price VERY aggressively.

All the expert think prices have peaked and expect them to "cool" (aka drop) over the next 18 months.

Given the state of the british economy it will take a LONG TIME for prices to recover to current levels, if at all. Sell up now, stash the money in a canadian bank account in canadian dollars while you still have time.

"All" the experts don't predict a crash.

"All" the experts predict modest house price rises going forward.

Don't believe me?? Have a look at the predictions section here:
http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/

I think the only thing cooling (aka dropping) in the property market over the next 18 months is interest rates.

Hold on to your house here in the UK, and sell it in 2 - 3 years if you decide you want to stay on in Canada, or you could keep it on as your pension, and buy a second home abroad