Fed up with being a landlord

EdGasketTheSecond

bertpalmer wrote: »

I would agree with this - my wife has a letting agent for her property.

They certainly take quite a bit of stress out of finding tenants and managing the property as it's something she really doesn't enjoy.

Yes but when there's a real problem they won't get involved, like tennats who wont pay or get out; they leave it all to the Landlord to sort out.

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser

If you're talking about letting agent management fees, all of it.

atush wrote: »

But with the new tax rules, how much of those costs are tax deductible?

capital0ne

EdGasketTheSecond wrote: »

Yes but when there's a real problem they won't get involved, like tennats who wont pay or get out; they leave it all to the Landlord to sort out.

I can echo this, when you have problem tenants the letting agent will wash their hands of it and say it's down to you as the landlord.

Albermarle

we might have a lump sum of around £250,000 to invest

I think it is clear from some of the answers that you first need to ask yourself if you want to generate an income of £10K that keeps up with inflation and try and keep the capital largely intact ( maybe to pass on as a inheritance ) ,In this case it inevitably means taking some managed but significant investment risks.
Or you take the income with zero/small risk but the capital will slowly disappear.
Or something inbetween.
Also is taking a lower income than £10K an option?

atush

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser wrote: »

If you're talking about letting agent management fees, all of it.

For how long?

Marvin42

Many thanks to all who have taken the time and trouble to reply... there are several comments which give us pause for thought, and I'm grateful that you have opened up the subject for us. We have several months to mull things over before we need make a firm decision... the present tenancy agreement expires in October 2020, and I want to give six months notice to quit.
To fill in a few gaps.... the property has always been professionally managed for us, for which we have been paying around 11% of gross rental income; I'm not sure its been worth it, but at least they have always done the advertising and the credit checks etc when there has been a change of tenants, and I have never had to have face-to-face dealings with tenants.
It has also occurred to me that the present tenants ( who've been in for about 4 years) might be interested in buying the property, so that's another part of the equation.
I used to be able to save a bit of money by doing repairs and renovations myself between tenancies, but increasing age and decrepitude now mean I need to pay people to do all that, and that usually means accepting whichever tradesperson the agents want to use, with little choice of pricing.
As far as the level of income I want to take from the investment is concerned, it would not be a fixed amount each month... just whatever I needed as circumstances dictated. So some years I'd be taking more than others....difficult to fix an average.
Anyway, thanks again, everyone, for your input. It will help us feel our way towards a complicated decision.

atush

If they bought it, you could save loads on not paying an estate agent.

Get it valued by a couple though

chucknorris

Marvin42 wrote: »

In addition to the home in which we live, my wife and I own a property which is currently let, and bringing in a profit of about £10,000 a year before tax. We are owner occupiers free of mortgage, in our mid-seventies, and are losing the appetite for being landlords, so are considering giving our tenants notice and selling the property, which might realise up to £300,000 in today's market; after paying CGT we might have a lump sum of around £250,000 to invest. We rely on the income to provide luxuries such as holidays and running a car, to support a son who is unable to work and on meagre benefits, and to supplement our state and small occupational pensions. What alternative investments can be suggested that would bring in a similar, (if not better!) return? We are quite risk averse, so no highly speculative suggestions, please.

I know what you mean, I am totally fed up with being a landlord (LL) too, I have now been been a LL for almost 29 years. I started selling up about 2 years ago, and I am about 60% the way through. I already had quite a lot in equities, so I chose corporate bonds to invest in, but I invested in more risky individual corporate bonds that I considered represented value (not everyone's cup of tea, I accept that).

From a strictly financial viewpoint, property wins hands down for me (mainly because the CGT amount still works for me), but like you, I had just had enough of being a landlord (I still have 2 properties (assuming my current sale goes through). I anticipate that financially you will lose by moving away from property, but your lifestyle will benefit.

bostonerimus

I rent out an apartment on the ground floor of my house, so if I want to stop being a landlord I’ll either have to sell the whole place of turn it into a condo. But if I did sell I’d take the money and just put it in a large cap heavy index that is dominated by dividend paying companies. The dividend income would be pretty stable and then capital gains and maybe principal could be spent if necessary.

Bravepants

bostonerimus wrote: »

I rent out an apartment on the ground floor of my house, so if I want to stop being a landlord I’ll either have to sell the whole place of turn it into a condo. But if I did sell I’d take the money and just put it in a large cap heavy index that is dominated by dividend paying companies. The dividend income would be pretty stable and then capital gains and maybe principal could be spent if necessary.

I think this is the best way to let out property...to actually rent out part of your own home; a room, an apartment, or an annex.



You are still then technically ONLY responsible for one house, and your tenants would be less likely to misbehave with your property!