Inherited House - Keep and leave empty vs renting it out

MalMonroe

Sorry for your loss.

I am another vote for sell it. I've just been reading a thread on this very site where someone inherited a house - but with a sitting tenant. The OP in that case wasn't aware of all the checks and health and safety measures they were now responsible for - as well as a lot of other things - and is looking at selling it, with tenant still in situ. 

Being a landlord seems like a really big and costly hassle of a headache. And as Thrugelmir says above, empty houses still incur costs. TonyMMM is also right, empty properties do take looking after.

You still have to pay council tax, just for starters  -  more info here - 

https://www.gov.uk/council-tax/second-homes-and-empty-properties

Even if you don't need the funds from a sale, you can squirrel it away somewhere in a long term savings account. You'd have better peace of mind and less to pay out than if you had another property to maintain.

Leaving it empty is just asking for trouble, to my mind.

mjm3346

Sell                   .

luvchocolate

You will have to pay more for insurance and also a worry Incase it gets vandalised. 

Bendy_House

Hi Den.

Why wouldn't you just sell it? What's stopping you? The emotional tie? If so, try and rationalise that 'tie' and imagine, if you can, how you'll feel in, say, 6 months time if you don't sell it. It'll still be an empty house, with all the risks and costs that brings. And it'll still be 'there', and so will you.

Nothing will have changed, and it will likely have cost you money. And what then? Will you feel differently about it then than you do now? If so, how and why? Or will it be a case of 'give it another 6 months and let's see then'? In which case the risks and costs will be increasingly, probably quite dramatically - an empty house is not good news.

If instead you want to rent it out, then you need to be prepared to say 'bye' to the house for - almost certainly - years. Very few folk want to rent for just 6 months or one year. But, if you cannot bear to see the house sold, then just find a good trusted agent, and pass everything over to them - they'll take 10% or so, but they'll handle everything, all the legalities, and all the inspections. Even the repairs - they'll run these past you first, but all you need to say is "Use whatever GasSafe/Joiner/Roofer/Whatevs you usually use..."

You are bound to accumulate in rent waaaay more than you'll ever fork out in maintenance, so even fully-managed, it should provide an extra income each month.

If the house is sound but perhaps cosmetically tired, then you can even suggest that the new tenant can have a month's rent free if they redecorate.

Sell it if you can bear to - it's most likely at, or very near, the top of the market at the moment - or rent it fully managed if you just want a delay for a couple of years. Leaving it empty is such a risk, but also - it could be argued - ethically not so good.

theoretica

Leave it sat empty for a while and there is a definite risk it will deteriorate faster than if it were occupied - and maybe attract squatters or vandals.  Leave it too long and the council tax starts attracting penalties.  So, unless you actually want to be a landlord *and* this is a good choice of house to rent out I would also suggest you strongly consider selling it.  If you want to be a landlord you might find you are better off selling this property and buying something else.

Den1970

Thank you again everyone. All the comments have been really useful and have actually put it into perspective. I think it is a case of heart ruling my head and all your advice and thoughts have helped so much to enable me to see this. I now agree that  selling will be the best option all things considered as I have never aspired to be a landlord and keeping it empty does not seem like a sensible move either..

Bendy_House

Whilst I would agree that selling it is probably the best option, the renting alternative does not mean you become a hands-on landlord if that's what concerns you. Fully-managed by an experienced and reliable outfit should make it painless, and something you can pretty much forget about until you make a decision about the place further down the line.

I think you'd have to have a pretty good reason to hang on to it, though - like you might actually want to use it yourself in the future. Or it's in part of the country where you'd like to visit regularly. That sort of thing.

I think that most factors - like the buoyant state of the market - should be leading you to sell, unless you really really don't want to.

Cakeguts

Just sell it.  The house did your mother well she doesn't need it anymore so just sell it for what you can get for it and use the proceeds for something that you want to do.

rexmedorum

theoretica said:

Leave it sat empty for a while and there is a definite risk it will deteriorate faster than if it were occupied - and maybe attract squatters or vandals.  Leave it too long and the council tax starts attracting penalties.  So, unless you actually want to be a landlord *and* this is a good choice of house to rent out I would also suggest you strongly consider selling it.  If you want to be a landlord you might find you are better off selling this property and buying something else.

Empty properties are also at much greater risk of farud, and con artists.

Flugelhorn

Sell and move on - part of growing up is closing the door for the last time on your parents house and taking the keys to estate agent. Remember parents from items you keep which will last far better than the house. 

Tenant won't look after it as well as you and the costs of leaving it empty can add up.