Should I LET My House?

m00m00

It's also more expensive/difficult to get insurance on an empty property, as well as the risk of extra maintenance costs due to issues like damp etc.

Renting it out at a loss is a far better option than leaving it empty.

of course selling it could be a better option than both.

Rabiddog_2

Where is the best place to find out about a landlords Budget? and a tenant would have to pay the council tax wouldn't they.

speedtwin

Normally the tenanant pays the council tax and all gas/electric/water bills and if the accounts are in the name of the tenant (which they should be) even if they leave a debt there is no come back on the Landlord.

Dont use the first agent you speak to and the cheapest is not always the best.

If you use a agent get a copy of the contract the tenants signs.

It is not hard to manage it yourself there is plenty of info on the web but dont cut corners.

If anyone has questions about renting I will answer what I can it is my job

macaque_2

speedtwin wrote: »

If anyone has questions about renting I will answer what I can it is my job

Yes, I have a question. Do you think the country would be better off without the parasitic professions? When I say parasitic professions I am talking about estate agents, letting agents, solicitors, mortgage advisors, financial advisors, financial consultants, blackmailers and thieves.

speedtwin

Not at all there are a lot of cowboy landlords out there ripping people off. But I do think it would be a lot better off without very very stupid people who might have had a bad time with the above professions and are are so small minded they now tar them all with the same brush and ask pointless crass questions.

Merry Xmas

macaque_2

speedtwin wrote: »

Not at all there are a lot of cowboy landlords out there ripping people off. But I do think it would be a lot better off without very very stupid people who might have had a bad time with the above professions and are are so small minded they now tar them all with the same brush and ask pointless crass questions.

Merry Xmas

A nation mired in debt, millions living in houses they cannot afford to repay, amateur BTLs mading disastrous decisions, corrupt self certification, new builds at bogus prices, bancrupcies on an exponential growth curve, house prices on the edge of a cliff. Do you wonder why these 'professional advisors' get a bad press? It is not as if this is the first time the 'professional advisors' have scammed the nation (Pensions miss selling, share pushing, endowment miss selling, Loyds underwriting scam etc.

Your time would be better spent shopping corrupt members of your profession than moaning at me.

dys

northie_1 wrote: »

Hi all,

This is my first post, so hello and seasons greetings to everyone...

I know this is a pretty vague question, and there are lots of possibilities, but I am just after a few opinions really.

I own a modern 2 bedroom semi in a cul-de-sac location approx 1 mile from the centre of a large town. The value of the house is probably £85-90k, and my outstanding mortgage is roughly £65k. My payments are currently £490, and I have 20ish years left on my term.

Recently I have spent a lot of time at my partners house and am musing over what to do with my house.

Does anyone have any ideas on how I work out whether to rent my house out, or sell and re-invest the equity?

Might be worth saying, houses of similar type are renting in my area for £450-500. And although house prices are falling further a field, they still seems to be rising by small amounts in my area. Also worth noting there has been quite a few developments locally giving an increase in local jobs.

All help is gratefully received..

Let's put aside for the moment the issue of whether house prices will fall / rise / stagnate in the short / long term. Those figures you quote are pretty tight, even assuming that you have a tenant in the property 365 days a year and they pay £500 a month bang on time every month, you would be barely breaking even with your repayments. Factor in two things that will be virtually 100% guaranteed to happen: you will have periods when there are no tenants hence no rental income yet you still have to pay a mortgage, repairs and maintenance will need doing on the property so you need to spend money on that. I've still grossly oversimplified this scenario: there's a load of other costs which you will have to pay.
You talk about possibly changing to an interest only mortgage: where is the capital repayment going to come from at the end of the term of that mortgage? The reduction in monthly repayments from an io mortgage comes at a cost and finding the capital at the end is that cost.
Now lets talk about house prices. Consensus seems to be there will be a fall next year or at the very least a stagnation over the short term with a fall over the medium term. I think your comment that "it's different in my area" is a red herring, the reality is there is no such thing, if prices fall they will fall. Maybe the predicted interest rate cuts for 2008 will reduce mortgage repayments but will they offset predicted house price falls? My gut instinct is no. Off on a tangent slightly right now is a time to be an experienced financially astute landlord, not a first time landlord with a relatively small degree of knowledge and understanding (NO offence intended).
If you want to do this go ahead, IMO it's not a good move financially and you would be better off selling at a competitive price now and sticking the money in a high interest account or doing some research to find better investment returns: there are a lot of options for novices out there at the moment have less risk and better returns than property.

speedtwin

Originally Posted by macaque :Your time would be better spent shopping corrupt members of your profession than moaning at me.[/quote]

What ridiculous immature answer do you really think I know who the bad apples are.

Using your arguement should I tell my car mechanic it is his job to to sort out all the dodgy mechanics out there. Or the check out girl in tescos it is her fault I was short changed at another store because her spare time wasnt used policing other stores.

In ideal world there would be no bad apples in any of the said "parasitic" professions but in case you didnt know it is not a ideal world.

And are you also sugesting all professions that take a fee for services given are "parasitic" because that would mean you are including doctors, nurses firemen and anyone who takes a wage.

Ridiculous

macaque_2

speedtwin
What ridiculous immature answer do you really think I know who the bad apples are.

Using your arguement should I tell my car mechanic it is his job to to sort out all the dodgy mechanics out there. Or the check out girl in tescos it is her fault I was short changed at another store because her spare time wasnt used policing other stores.

In ideal world there would be no bad apples in any of the said "parasitic" professions but in case you didnt know it is not a ideal world.

And are you also sugesting all professions that take a fee for services given are "parasitic" because that would mean you are including doctors, nurses firemen and anyone who takes a wage.

Ridiculous

The financial services industry in the UK has become byword for dishonesty and self interest. The number of miss selling scandals over the last 25 years speaks for itself. The latest scams involve dodgy self certification (ripping off the lender) and the sale of new build flats at artificially inflated prices (ripping off the borrower). In the latter case, there seems to be evidence of collusion between estate agents, mortgage advisers, valuers and solicitors. The victims are young and naieve buyers. Nasty business!

Most of us have been victims of professional scoundrels at one time or another and very often it takes years for the truth to emerge. In many cases, people never even discover that they were ripped off. The industry desperately needs cleaning up. The government have tried to tackle the problem by creating red tape but this has failed. The only solution is put more of these people behind bars.

I suggested that you have a responsibility to flag up bad or corrupt practice. Although you were very upset, that is how 'true professionals' are supposed to conduct themselves. You only a professional when it comes to calculating your fees. Is that how it works? If you don't start behaving like professionals (and blowing the whistle when needs must) you cannot blame people for tarring you all with the same brush.

happinessfactory

Could we get the thread back on topic please?

The OP has asked for our advice on renting out his home as he is contemplating moving in with his partner. This seems to be a personal decision more than a commercial decision, because the OP has accepted he may make a financial loss if he keeps his property.

Based on my experience, I would suggest you rent out your place for a fixed period of time: see where your relationship is in, say, 12 months, and if things are still great, sell your place and commit to your relationship fully by buying into your partner's property or buying a new one together.

If when the 12 months are up, and you're still not sure of your relationship, either renew the tenancy for another 12 months, or end the relationship and move back into your place.

Don't, however, count on making any money - you might, you might not, but at least if you expect nothing you won't be disappointed. Good commercial decisions are rarely based on personal factors.

I was in this same situation some years ago - I bought a derelict flat (all I could afford) and refurbished it over a six month period of hell. Within a month of it being finished, my OH asked me to move in with him (Cupid rarely has good timing).

I contemplated selling my flat, but because I'd spent so long refurbing it, I couldn't bear to part with it, so I let it out. Also, at that point Mr H and I weren't certain we were going to get married and I wanted some fallback if things went wrong, as moving back in with a parent wasn't an option for me.

As the flat was nearby, I managed it myself so saved the agent fees and therefore just about broke even on all costs every year, though I never actually made a profit. What I did benefit from (all luck and not strategy) was the capital growth over a 7 year period, together with the peace of mind of knowing I had somewhere to live if I found myself single again.

Recently Mr H and I sold our (originally his) flat and moved back in to my (now our) place as a stopgap whilst we look for a house. When we eventually move, we've decided to keep this place as part of our pension plan. (Ironically, just as we now need to live in it ourselves, the local rents have finally increased sufficiently that I'd be able to get a decent 10% yield out of it at last. Life, eh?)

Good luck with whatever you decide.