Sell up or wait it out

incantota

Moved to NE Scotland about 5yrs ago at the peak of the housing boom, bought a 5 bed house (which needed renovating) for about 340k, Trying to sell up now as we have decided to move back to England as work hasn't been the same for us since the oil price crash and DH has found work down south. Spent over 30k renovating the house; new kitchen, new bathrooms, carpets, driveway ...the works. Had estate agents come value the house last week, they are quoting 310 - 320k saying the downturn has affected the housing market causing about 15% reduction in house values. This would mean a loss of over 50k for us, which is just ridiculous. We would like to settle where we are moving to so would ideally like to buy. Question is, should we just cut our losses and sell or hold on and see if the market will pick up and prices go back to normal? We really can't afford to continue paying mortgage in Scotland and also be renting in England at the same time. We have considered renting it out, but it is a large house and not many people look for such large rentals.
What to do?

ProDave

What hosing boom 5 years ago?

I am not far from you and house prices in most of Scotland have been virtually static since the crash in 2008. Aberdeen perhaps is a bit more volatile and it is hard to sell there due to the oil industry slump.

The threat of Indyref #2 is doing little to persuade incomers to move up here and buy our houses either.

We are letting our old house as we could not sell it when we tried 3 years ago.

Sadly imho for prices to go back to "normal" would require the SNP to lose control at Holyrood.

davidmcn

You're closer than most of us to the oil industry (which is what has caused the Aberdeenshire boom/slump), so what do you think the chances are of things picking up? Even if prices go up, you've potentially got high costs of keeping the property insured/maintained, return visits to look after it, etc.

Linton

If you wait and see, how long are you prepared to wait in your unsettled state? Months? Years? Decades? There is always the chance in the meantime that prices will drop further or not rise as much as prices in England. I suggest you forget your previous expenditure and move on with your lives on the basis of the situation as it is now.

xylophone

If you think that it will be difficult to find tenants and that without them you couldn't afford to pay the mortgage as well as rent in your new area, then you'll have to sell as soon as you can for as much as you can and swallow the loss?

Cakeguts

You aren't going to get back what you paid for a kitchen, new bathrooms and new carpets because you bought them at new prices and you seller gets them 2nd hand. So work out the second hand price for all the things you put in new and see if you are still going to lose a lot of money.

MovingForwards

Have they valued it at 310k to 320k or said to market it at offers over the above figures?

Have you had quotes from 3 different EAs to see what they all come up with?

Have you checked to see what local similar properties have sold for recently?

Nebulous2

It depends where you are in the North-East. Commute to Aberdeen area does better than others. The new Aberdeen bypass is likely to strengthen some areas- such as Ellon, Stonehaven and Inverurie. Further out is a hit or a miss.



Some of the fishing villages still have money, but it needs to be the right property - generally modern, not older.


Edited to add: BBC are doing some work on Scottish property prices at the moment. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-46954213

timeism0ney

There aren't many people looking to rent large houses but equally there aren't many landlords offering them. Might be worth monitoring what goes on in your area.

In our area (Yorkshire) 5-bed family homes for rent get snapped up within hours.

Stubod

..If it were me I would bite the bullet, sell up and take the "hit" and move on otherwise you will either never sell / move, or possibly be stuck with a house you can't rent...but that's just me...

tlc678910

If you rent out your Scottish property and renting yourself in England, let's say waiting 5-10 years for the property to recover 50k, prices where you are renting might have gone up the same 50k. So if you had bought in England over time you could have recovered the same 50k without the hassle of being a landlord and paying tax on your rental receipts while needing to pay rent (after tax) yourself.

Chances are when you then later sell your Scottish property for more you will have to buy for more also and might have capital gains tax to pay on the sale.

If prices fall either property could be affected.

If you think there is a likelihood of prices falling with Brexit you could sell and rent hoping to buy cheaper later.

Tlc