Rent or Sell, what to do??????

[fossyant]

If you haven't got the time, then get rid. Put the money away.

We have the MIL's house to get rid of at some point - she will need it for the Nursing care costs, but we can't get the other sisters to commit any time into clearing the house., so it's all stop. The house still needs maintaining, and the heating remains on low.

 

[fossyant]

And I'll add, I don't have time to look after someone's house on top of mine and a static caravan.

I will add a mate at work has a couple of rents (inherited) but are in student areas - does OK with it (well quite well). It takes time - if you've got a busy full time job, and a family life, then it's hard. He's just himself, and isn't in quite a mentally demanding job like mine, and I have a family, kids, pets, elderly parents.

If the house needs improvements, might be best sold as is. Max out both your 'ISA' tax free investments and put the rest away, or possibly invest in 'your home' - ie improvements ?

 

[biggs682]

Sell it and invest the money for miss smoo

 

[Cletus Van Damme]

Having just bought a house for cheaper than it would've been this time last year I'd maybe rent it. Where I am in Cumbria there's nowhere near as many houses for sale as this time last year and things don't seem to be selling that fast. It may be different where you live, you can always try ans shift it. I think its slow around here because of those complete idiot politicians with Brexit etc.

I've only been a landlord once and it is really not for me I'm too soft. I only inspected the property once after 3 months and it was immaculate, so I never went back again until 2 years later, when I needed the house as my marriage had failed. The place was a sh1thole. So my advice if you do rent it make regular inspections.

 

[Proto]

Are you absolutely certain on that?

Yes.
I sold my own house a month ago, gone travelling in a camper van. I’ll buy a house on my return, maybe a year, maybe two, when prices have dropped 15-20%*

Brexit and the preamble will trigger deep recession
Immigration will stop, population will fall.
Continuing housebuilding will lead to housing surplus.
Price falls are inevitable

*current new and recent builds will be hit hardest. Interesting houses less so. As always, location is everything but nowhere will be immune

 

[lane]

Had an electrician to do some work this week. He told me he had just been to quote for work at a rented house that had been used as a canabis farm. Tens of thousands of pounds of damage.

My friend has a house he rents which seems to go OK but his wife who rents out another house has had problems with rent not being paid.

Clearly there is the potential for problems and financial loss.

 

[midlife]

Having just bought a house for cheaper than it would've been this time last year I'd maybe rent it. Where I am in Cumbria there's nowhere near as many houses for sale as this time last year and things don't seem to be selling that fast. It may be different where you live, you can always try ans shift it. I think its slow around here because of those complete idiot politicians with Brexit etc.

I've only been a landlord once and it is really not for me I'm too soft. I only inspected the property once after 3 months and it was immaculate, so I never went back again until 2 years later, when I needed the house as my marriage had failed. The place was a sh1thole. So my advice if you do rent it make regular inspections.

Where are you in Cumbria? Genesis homes, Fred Story and the like are throwing up houses like no tomorrow trashing the housing market?

 

[Slick]

Yes.
I sold my own house a month ago, gone travelling in a camper van. I’ll buy a house on my return, maybe a year, maybe two, when prices have dropped 15-20%*

Brexit and the preamble will trigger deep recession
Immigration will stop, population will fall.
Continuing housebuilding will lead to housing surplus.
Price falls are inevitable

*current new and recent builds will be hit hardest. Interesting houses less so. As always, location is everything but nowhere will be immune

Jeezo, armageddon right enough.

There may well be some changes but we need to be realistic about it going either way. The markets for instance have a habit of correcting themselves and whilst we have seen some negative equity in some parts of the country (none more so than in Ireland) any losses will only affect those that want to sell.

 

[midlife]

Jeezo, armageddon right enough.

There may well be some changes but we need to be realistic about it going either way. The markets for instance have a habit of correcting themselves and whilst we have seen some negative equity in some parts of the country (none more so than in Ireland) any losses will only affect those that want to sell.

Yup, losses for those who sell. Bought house 8 years ago and sold it for 25 grand less than I bought it for....so much new house building where I am.

 

[ColinJ]

Blimey all this about bad tenants, I bet there are a lot of members on this forum who rent, are they all bad?

I'm not! My landlady** wanted to recarpet the lounge before I moved in but I asked her not to. (The tatty old carpet doesn't bother me and it means that there is no problem with me keeping 2 potentially grubby bikes in here.)

** PS My sister is my landlady so she has a perfectly reliable undemanding tenant, and I have a friendly responsible landlady who charges me a bit less than the going rate, while still making a profit!

 

[Cletus Van Damme]

Where are you in Cumbria? Genesis homes, Fred Story and the like are throwing up houses like no tomorrow trashing the housing market?

Carlisle, yes I agree with that, there's loads of new builds around here, many very close to the M6. But it was the same last year, and there was loads of older houses for sale. There's a lot less for sale this year, the one I bought was a trade in against a new build Taylor Wimpey house.

I was looking for a house in spring last year as I sold my own, I couldn't find one, so rented for a year. The estate agents have been even more irritating this year hounding me even more than last year. Must be the lack of business.

Renting houses all depends on the tenant. The one I've lived in, I've treated like my own. The landlord is really cool and as such as I've done minor repairs myself without hassling her. Repaired a leak to a tap, replaced toilet fill valve, replaced LED bathroom light, replaced several parts on the multi fuel stove, got the chimney swept etc I've been in a year, and they have never inspected it once. I just respect the house, I'd imagine the majority of people would be on the phone hassling the landlord constantly though..

 

[Slick]

Where are you in Cumbria? Genesis homes, Fred Story and the like are throwing up houses like no tomorrow trashing the housing market?

Yup, losses for those who sell. Bought house 8 years ago and sold it for 25 grand less than I bought it for....so much new house building where I am.

I assume that you are no longer in Cumbria?

I know that it's quite specific to geography but it never stopped round here.

 

[Brains]

To be a Landlord you need to go in with your eyes wide open.
I became an accidental Landlord at the age of 20, and ran a house as a profit making commune.
I learnt a lot of things: How to repair stuff, basic plumbing, basic electrics, DIY, painting and decorating, how houses are built, and where to get help, all for free as we had a budget of close to zero.

It also taught me about who pays and who does not

In 40 years of being a landlord I've only ever had to take a tenant to court once, and I've had maybe three more who have had issues with payments.
There are quite a few deposits I've not returned, or only partially returned due to either damage or cleaning issues.

But overall the vast majority of my tenants have been lovely people, I have one tenant who has been renting the property since 1997 and another couple that stayed a decade and I have quite a few tenants that have come back a few years later, including one that came back three times (each time with a different wife).

The thing that I'm a stickler for in the tenancy check.
It is done by the Agent and costs me about £60 a time
They check background, they check salary, going back months, to ensure you can afford it, they also go through your utilities bills, they check your current landlord and the one before that, they check your employer, they triple check ID, they look for CCJ's not just for the tenant, but also people they may have been in the same address, they check the credit worthiness of the previous places you have lived. I even get a very detailed report of the general income and social mobility of the immediate area around where they live.
In other words, if you appeared at the Agents office and gave a previous address of an estate in Roumania (or the UK) where there was 80% unemployment, it would raise a load of questions.
Doing these sort of check across borders is no longer a problem.
If any prospective tenant obstructs the questions or is not prepared to answer the questions (we have only ever had English people who did that) then it's simple, the Agent wont touch them, and the local Agents all talk to each other.

Most of the tenants we take are Eastern Europeans (we love them, they keep everything so clean ! and repair stuff without calling us out for a leaking tap)

 

[Brains]

Yes.
I sold my own house a month ago, gone travelling in a camper van. I’ll buy a house on my return, maybe a year, maybe two, when prices have dropped 15-20%*

Brexit and the preamble will trigger deep recession
Immigration will stop, population will fall.
Continuing housebuilding will lead to housing surplus.
Price falls are inevitable

*current new and recent builds will be hit hardest. Interesting houses less so. As always, location is everything but nowhere will be immune

Or Brexit gets resolved by either cancellation or kicking into the long grass.
We come out of the recession over the next 3 years
Immigration continues, population rises.
House building fails to keep up with demand.
Price rises are inevitable.

You might be in your camper van longer than you intended ......

 

[flake99please]

Sell the house. If the house is in a rough area, you need to consider the type of tenants looking to rent in that area. Professional people will avoid rougher areas, and having an agent is no guarantee of having the property either occupied or having tenants that will pay the rent owed.