Moving abroad - advice required....

ISNT

Hi all,

Long time visitor to the site, but first time posting, so please be gentle!

Situation is this - I've been offered a move with the company I work for to Canada, however, it's just a job offer, no assistance in terms of relocation, temporary accommodation or anything. We desperately want to take this, as we'd planned to go anyway in a few years, but hadn't expected this to come up so soon..... The offer is that we have to be there by end of September this year.

I bought a semi detached house here 5 years ago for £119K, the mortgage now stands at £117K. It was initially valued at £157K and we went onto the market at £156,950. This resulted in no viewings, so dropped the price to £152,950 and listed with two agents, still no viewings. I've now gone to £148,950 to see if that sparks any interest.

The ad's are here (price hasn't been updated yet) :-

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-17481778.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=buy

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-17734156.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=buy

Whilst trying to sell, I've also had in the back of my mind just renting it out till the market calms down. I'm with HSBC and they said they can give 12 months consent to let on my current mortgage, reviewed when 12 months is up. However, this is a capital repayment mortgage on a variable rate, paying currently £750/pm - rental income is likely to be £600-650/pm, then obviously agents fees etc on top. This leaves a shortfall that I think would be difficult to sustain on a long term. I've asked about changing to interest only, which would make renting more viable, but they require a LTV of 80%, which would need their valuation to come in at £146K - would be tight I think in the current climate.

So, after all this rambling, basically looking for advice, should I pursue the rental route or should I drop the price further? Obviously some return would be nice to help us setup in Canada, however, just getting rid and not be out of pocket has started to appeal now.... If people are offering circa 10% off the purchase price at the moment, I could only drop to about £133K to not be out of pocket after fees etc?

What would you do?

Thanks.

BubbleFrogette

Congratulations on your new job offer! I have lived abroad for the past couple of years in Asia and it was a great experience (I'm back now). So, I would tell you to take the opportunity and live your dream! (although beware of thinking that moving away will transport you to eutopia - bills still need paying wherever you live!).

Regarding the house, it's perhaps not the best time to sell but then nobody knows for sure what the market will do so why hang about in hope? You can at best probably sell and walk away with a bit of cash, or at worst leave and not owe the bank anything. Trying to maintain and sell at house from halfway round the world will be pretty stressful I imagine - I can tell you that just managing my bank accounts etc from abroad was a bit of a pain.

Your house looks like a tidy, respectable modern build and the interior doesn't need any work IMO. You don't have a dining room or a garage. I have been looking at similar-type houses in Nottinghamshire (not too far from you) and this kind of money usually gets you a garage and a dining room. However, I appreciate that different areas are priced differently. I'd drop the price, sell up and set up your new life without any worries!

Best of luck

ISNT

Thanks for the comments.....

The new price will put it under anything comparable in the area, question is, how much lower do I need to go before it's "priced to sell". I'm concerned that going too low will open myself up for people taking the pee and if I was gazundered when I'm ready to leave, I'd be in a tricky situation....

Canucklehead

Good morning: No specific advice for you other than take a look
British Expats, an excellent website with a very active Canada forum...many members have been/are in your situation. Good luck with your relocation....I'm biased but Canada is a great country ...whereabouts are you heading?

HTH

Canucklehead

ISNT

Yea, I'm a regular on Britishexpats - lots of people in the same situation as me

We're heading for somewhere around Windsor, Ontario, possibly somewhere like LaSalle or Lakeshore. The consolation being that the house prices are cheap around there at the moment!

Canucklehead

Ah..we call that part of Ontario the 'Banana Belt'....I'm from Toronto. Property may seem cheap but as you already know from being on BE utility costs and property taxes can be astronomical.Maybe see you on BE sometime;)



Canucklehead

ISNT

Don't think anything is cheap these days, regardless of country!

I'm fortunate in the fact I'll be getting a good wage by Canadian standards, just over a direct conversion from GBP->CDN, which I understand is quite rare, especially for immigrants....

mlz1413

Re selling your house could you do a viewing weekend and then ask for sealed bids to be put in within 7 /10 days, I'm not sure how EA charge for this but at least it would show you what people are willing to pay and what position they are in.

If the results of above are bad (as in no offers or offers too low) then you know renting is you best option.

Personally I'd try and sell unless you think you will be coming back within 1-2 years, then it would be best to keep so you have security.

Good luck.

ISNT

That's not a bad idea - would a EA coordinate this? How would they get interested parties around? They've not managed to get anyone round at all yet, they do practically next to nothing - stick it in the paper, stick it on their website and rightmove and then sit back and wait for someone to enquire :mad:

Francophile

Is there a term on your job contract and are you likely to come back to the UK? We've heard over and over about people who leave the UK and when they want to come back they can't afford to buy a property or certainly nothing like they had before. If it's likely you'll come back, please give some consideration to that.

mlz1413

Really not sure how it works, best to go and have a chat with some EA see if they all give the same info / price and go with who you think can do a good job (not an easy task!)

An open house is bound to attract the professional viewer, but it's safer than going to auction. Although saying that it might be worth finding out the costs of putting your house up for auction with a reserve so you don't have to sell for a silly price.