Selling rental property? WWYD?

[pinkroselemonade]

My parents died young and I have a property that is let out. I did live in it briefly myself once.

I now live with DP and we have a baby together.

I am contemplating selling it. It has started to become a lot of hassle and I will be back at work soon.

However it feels a bit like throwing away what my parents left me. Plus there are a family living there at the moment.

What would you do, do you think? Can’t decide!

@pinkroselemonade

Of course it does but that’s the point really.

At the moment it’s the only income I have and it’s drained thousands.

In a few months I’ll be working full time. I don’t want to be worrying about this breaking or that not working or needing to sort gates or fences or order washing machines or freezers or get pest control. Maybe that’s selfish but I just really don’t.

And because of all that there isn’t even much of a profit which makes it pointless and now seems a really good time to sell.

I’m partly playing devils advocate here but it’s just an absolute weight around my neck. I hate it.

selfish? you think?

such a goady thread. Poor OP, with a flat you rent out which you didn't pay a penny for. Pesky tenants eh?

@pinkroselemonade

I did socalled but it’s been a drain lately and now that pot has run dry.

So the expenditure across the year is higher than the rental income? Or leaves you with less profit than interest would be? Those would be the only times I would sell in your position. You are very fortunate and think that you are only seeing ‘hassle’ rather than being a responsible landlord, there by fortune.

Ignore the anti landlord fuckwits and put your business head on. Those repairs are part of the deal, although you were a bit daft to provide a freezer as it is then indeed your responsibility to repair or replace it.

To sell to an owner occupier you need it empty. Realistically you are looking at a year or two to evict the tenants and it is quite likely that the rent will stop if you issue a section 21 - there s no real penalty for that. You could try marketing it as tenanted and selling to another landlord - lots of landlords are doing that now.

Do your sums on what it is really costing you, and build up a list of competent tradesmen rather than using the expensive ones the agents provide.

If you are mortgage free and the property is costing you more than you receive in rent, I do think you have a problem. You say it has drained thousands.. is that over and above rental income? That is concerning..

How much has the value of the property increased since you have owned it? If you sell, you will loose any potential future increase in value.

And yes, I think you were looking for a host of .. yes sell it.. responses.

I don’t think it’s particularly selfish to want my free time to be free.

It isn’t goady. Why would it be goady?

It is simply that my life has changed in the eight years or so since I’ve lived in it. I don’t have as much time and at the moment I don’t have as much money!

murr probably but the freezer is hers now and that’s fine. The washing machine has recently been replaced. So there aren’t really any other white goods. It would be nice to think not much else will go wrong but it inevitably will!

Not consciously I wasn’t chateau, to be honest if everyone had urged me to sell it I’d probably be coming up with reasons that’s not a good idea! I’m just mulling it over, really.

It’s increased a fair bit. I’d probably make a profit of around £20,000.

@KaptainKaveman oh give over! I am sure the OP would rather have her parents here - how nasty are you!

I feel your pain OP.
At first could we supply a new mattress as they didn't like the one already there, then oven, fridge, blinds, blocked drains etc. We had to pay to have the broken items removed , disposal was billed as £75 a trip, it was the tenant who pocketed the fee each time. The council would've taken things for £20 a time. We weren't ever making a profit, just paying the mortgage, so each request sent us deeper into the red.

If the rentals not paying it's way, then the rent needs to be increased. You're not a charity or even a philanthropic billionaire. Have a look around the other properties, see what they are asking for. Even Zoopla will give you a rental estimate.
I think your letting agents also need to do their job, they don't appear to be at all.
Good luck!

Is the house in London? My agency are great and yes, apart from the need to pay for things, I would keep it for the reasons given above.

Ok - if it is tenants freezer then problem solved.

I'm afraid being a landlord is 24/7 on call unless you pay a full agent fee, and even then the buck stops with you. I also can't wait to retire from it but it does make money and I have good tenants. I'll let them decide when they want to go and then sell up. There isn't really a choice.

I think if you came on here to have your gut validated to sell, you have instead been hit with a load of “head over heart” responses which must be frustrating even though what pp say makes sense re keeping it.

IMO if you want to sell that property, you should sell. It sounds like a huge mental yoke that you don’t want which is absolutely fair enough.

How about selling this property and reinvest into a different investment property which you choose yourself on basis of it being an investment/best yield/condition/low maintenance etc and then rent that unfurnished through a new and much better agent.

Depending on how much cash you have from any sale of the existing property, you could buy another one as per above and invest anything left elsewhere/treat yourself to a piece of jewellery or something else special that would essentially be to you from your parents.

I’m very sorry for your loss

@pinkroselemonade

rainbows that’s exactly what it is, a mental cost it you like. I’ll be having a lovely weekend one minute then fretting and worrying about an oven or boiler or fence the next.

OP, go back to work, put the rental income in a separate account and next time something breaks, say “jolly good, you sort it” to the agent. That’s what they’re for and you should still be quids in compared to any other investment.

You need to factor CGT into your planning, as you don't live in the property.

Could you rent it out unfurnished, so the tenants provide their own white foods. So when it goes wrong it's not your problem?

I think the property will feel like less of a burden as your baby gets older and I would be tempted to keep it.

If your tenants leave I would definitely consider letting it again unfurnished with no white goods - one less thing to worry about!

So you like the income but you're annoyed that you have to do work to get the income?
Surely the problem is that you want to have your cake and eat it?

No, the problem is that I don’t want a third job, on top of a baby and my ‘normal’ day job.

As I’ve explained, I just really don’t want to be spending the little bit of free time I have sorting tradesmen, organising boilers, ordering washing machines, calling the letting agents, calling them back ...

Yet there is a long term benefit of course. Just not sure it’s worth it.

I can’t see the tenants leaving and it’s pointless berating me about the white goods - it is done now.

You should have told them to get lost re the matress. If they didnt like it they replace it with their own money. Any complaints ring agent. Who needs only to get in touch with you to authorise repairs or replacements. These tenants sound really annoying. Why dhoukd you sell a good investment. Increase the rent. And dont let tenants arrange their own removals ect. They sound like cfs to me.

At present 3 out of 5 landlords have problems with rent arrears. If you have tenants who are paying the rent and not actually trashing the place you should go down on your knees and thank god.

The cost of replacing the boiler etc with like for like is a tax deductable.

OP, I hear you.

I have just sold a rental property that I bought from an inheritance. I hated every minute of owning it, my heart sunk every time I saw the agent's number come up on my phone. I was endless paying for repairs, most of which were caused by the tenants being careless and misusing the property (constant blinds being pulled down/toilet flush/door handles/window handles "just snapping", countless (paid for by me) visits by an electrician, because the tenant didn't understand how an immersion heater worked, and thought he should have unlimited, instant hot water like a combi boiler - so every time the hot water ran out, he logged a fault with the agent who happily kept sending out their contract or and charging me a call out fee.

It actually drove me to close to a breakdown.

I think the agents/their contractors were on a bit of a scam tbh, and seemed to literally fish to find reasons to send someone out and charge me for the privilege.
And whilst some tenants were great, I had several who very poor and did a lot of damage. The tenant who used the wooden work top as a chopping board and draining board, and didn't think the damage was her fault (despite a wall mounted over sink drainer being provided) - the tenant who left a urine stained, eye wateringly smelly carpet where her child had potty training accidents and she didn't bother cleaning up - the tenant who let her young child pull down every single blind and every single curtain pole in the property, plus swing on the door and cupboard handles and pull them off.

I sold the property and am infinitely happier now.
It just wasn't worth the hassle.

In your shoes, I'd sell.

I am grateful I have a good tenant who pays her rent. I am also a good landlord in response: this works both ways.

It doesn’t change the fact I don’t want to do it. It is like saying you should be grateful for a holiday except you wanted to stay home.

mrsm yes ... I think there is similar here. I don’t think there’s deliberate breakage of things but there’s definitely calling out plumbers and electricians over relatively small things, and maintenance work that to be honest is fairly easy to sort. And yes my heart sinks when they come up on my phone!

Op, l completely get where you are coming from, the 24/7 demands of being a decent landlord is a constant strain.
And the unexpected costs are often killers, many people still think it is a doddle being a LL, that you sit there counting rent rather than dealing with a multitude of crises at most inconvenient times.....
It is easy for people to say keep it, when they have weekends and holidays free from their work....you are ALWAYS on call.

Under the circumstances l would sell but ringfence the money somewhere safe so that it doesn't get frittered and try and build it up in a less stressful way.

Know the feeling, especially with EICR. But the rise in the property value makes it a great investment. You could get British Gas cover. The tenant phoned them when anything needs repairing.

When you are working you could get a BTL mortgage on the property and use the money for your new home.

I am grateful I have a good tenant who pays her rent. I am also a good landlord in response: this works both ways.

You tried to bodge a boiler repair with second hand parts and when a plumber refused to fit it you hired a dodgy plumber who would. You replaced a white good that the tenant pays rent for with a smaller one forcing the tenant to then have to purchase their own whilst still paying you rent for a freezer. You’re not great pet.

That’s your wrong interpretation because you want a fight. If that’s the case clearly she’s better elsewhere, isn’t she? Since I’m so shit?