Should we sell mortgage-free house, or let it out?

Flugelhorn

rundmc-k said:

Hoenir said:

rundmc-k said:

BarelySentientAI said:

Do you want to be a landlord?

I wouldn't say I want to be, but I don't want to completely reject the idea without considering whether it could be overall beneficial

The offset of being financially beneficial is that you might have the misfortune of meeting the tenant from hell (for example). Reward comes with taking risk. Some people are comfortable and others are not. Only you can decide whether it's worthwhile. 

Yes there are definitely risks in taking on a tenant. I suppose I was wondering more if there are any newer or likely future disincentives for landlords related to the likes of taxes etc?

who knows. but seems that things have only been getting more difficult for landlords over time and that is unlikely to change

Stubod

Sell it...you really don't want to become a landlord with just one property....

Bookworm105

rundmc-k said:

Hoenir said:

rundmc-k said:

BarelySentientAI said:

Do you want to be a landlord?

I wouldn't say I want to be, but I don't want to completely reject the idea without considering whether it could be overall beneficial

The offset of being financially beneficial is that you might have the misfortune of meeting the tenant from hell (for example). Reward comes with taking risk. Some people are comfortable and others are not. Only you can decide whether it's worthwhile. 

Yes there are definitely risks in taking on a tenant. I suppose I was wondering more if there are any newer or likely future disincentives for landlords related to the likes of taxes etc?

do you have a crystal ball? Pure speculation at this stage.

rundmc-k

Stubod said:

Sell it...you really don't want to become a landlord with just one property....

I think that's almost a certainty. I'm reassured that nobody has given me any stark reason to definitely let instead of sell 

rundmc-k

Flugelhorn said:

rundmc-k said:

Hoenir said:

rundmc-k said:

BarelySentientAI said:

Do you want to be a landlord?

I wouldn't say I want to be, but I don't want to completely reject the idea without considering whether it could be overall beneficial

The offset of being financially beneficial is that you might have the misfortune of meeting the tenant from hell (for example). Reward comes with taking risk. Some people are comfortable and others are not. Only you can decide whether it's worthwhile. 

Yes there are definitely risks in taking on a tenant. I suppose I was wondering more if there are any newer or likely future disincentives for landlords related to the likes of taxes etc?

who knows. but seems that things have only been getting more difficult for landlords over time and that is unlikely to change

It does seem that way. I definitely want to minimise hassle in life, so selling seems to be the way forward.

Schwarzwald

at this day and age in the UK, i would only go into the letting business if i had a proper business plan behind it and take it seriously as a business.

Bigphil1474

OP, where I live we looked at a a lot of empty houses that were ex rental. Small landlords getting out of the rental business. It seems the days of owning a house, renting it out, and making a bit of money are long gone. Personally, I'd sell, as the hassle doesn't seem worth it.

rundmc-k

Thanks for the responses. We were 95% going with sell, but just wanted to confirm in my mind this was the best idea. This thread has helped confirm that for me

ReadySteadyPop

rundmc-k said:

Hello folks.

Our position is that we are hoping to move to our new house in the next couple of months. We are mortgage free on our current house and are planning to complete purchase before selling.

Our aim was to take on large initial mortgage (actually a family loan that will be paid back with 4.5%ish interest), then sell the old home, pay back a lot of the loan, and reclaim the stamp duty, hopefully leaving us with a much smaller mortgage and some money to do necessary work in the new house.

My query is this... are we foolish not to consider letting out our old home?

I haven't really contemplated it much for the following reasons: hassle or being a landlord/simplicity of sale, 2nd home stamp duty unreclaimable if don't sell within 3 years, potential capital gains tax, having to pay interest on a large mortgage (family loan) instead of small one, and also a vague "understanding" that letting is much less palatable to landlords these days.

But have I got it wrong... should I be considering letting despite the reasons above?

Any help would be much appreciated before we 100% commit to the sell. Many thanks

Don`t make plans based on a potential sale, you don`t know how much it will sell for, how long it will take or even if it will sell. Landlording regularly gets ripped apart on here, I think the golden age for renting out is long gone TBH.