AIBU to not know whether to sell or rent out? Opinions please!

[readywithwellies]

House been up for sale for a while, currently empty as I have moved in with dp.

Had two viewings, no offers.

House on at a reasonable price but I could afford to reduce it.

Mortgage is about £600 a month. I could rent it out (before costs) for £600.

If I sell it at current price, this would be ideal as I would release the equity.

Given that it isn't selling, I don't know what to do!

If I rent, I will cover most of the costs but I could end up with more problems (non payment, damage etc). If I sold at a much cheaper price, I could end up losing a large chunk of money!

I can't make a decision.

Have you got a rental mortgage then?

No I haven't Loud, another hurdle I haven't looked into yet.

DH and I are in exactly the same situation as you Ready, except we have already dropped the price to rock bottom. We are going to wait until the end of January, and if still nothing, going to rent it out. (our house been on the market since April)

My experience of renting was awful. I am looking into doing it again and I will never use an estate agent's management service. As you say, lack of payment and extensive damage. I would only do it again with friends of friends. I might just pm you the name of my estate agent, so you can avoid them. But then again, they described my house as 16th century, when it is just pre-Victorian. When I sell it, I will market it as mentionned in the Domesday Book. Be very very careful, expect to find a bad state of repair (lots of water came down from the bathroom to below, etc)

(You do need to check with mortgage and insurance.)

What is long term plan? If you never plan to live there again then sell, as in a few years time interest rates will rise and you'll be loosing money each month. That way you avoid certain risks - eg empty/damage/house prices dropping.

Also if you want to rent it out you'll need to get rental mortgage which will probably cost more.

I'd wonder if it's worth it then, tba. I've never done it but have been a tenant many times. Ime people who're not professional landlords tend not to realize how much work it is.

Mum - long term plan is to get married (booked) and live with dp. I cannot live in this house ever again. Was burgled and other bad memories. I feel it is cursed for me.

What worries me is that if dp decides to kick me and dcs out, what then?

DP says, sell house, cover the mortgage, and save the mortgage money so that I have a nest egg (to make me feel more secure)

It's a really tough one isn't it.

My sister moved in with her DP and rented her flat, but she used an agent who takes 12% of the rental income. It does mean that they find and vet tenants and it's their job to sort out any problems with getting the rent on time and any minor problems with the flat. She makes no profit at all but is hoping to sell in a couple of years so her and DP can buy a bigger house.

The other thing you might have to consider is you may have to change your mortgage to a buy to let, which may not be a problem if you have plenty of equity, but there would be associated costs attached to getting a new mortgage. I don't know the legalities of HAVING to do this, but you would be best to check with your mortgage provider. Also, lettting your house may have implications for your insurance, so check with them too.

If you keep your house you will always have it to move back into if things didn't work with your DP, not that I'm suggeting it will, but it might be harder to get back on the property ladder in the future, particularly if you spend your equity.

I would go through a management scheme if I was going to do it at all.

Sorry x posts with loads of people. Am a very slow typer!

There are lots of houses up for sale/rent in these parts (North Yorkshire). No idea of the technical areas with this but surely getting something is better than nothing?

My DH and I are going to rent our house out just after DC1 is born. We can get £800 a month for it (it's in a prime renting location in Cambridge), but our mortgage is £1275 (stupid 100% mortgage on 5 year fix at 6.79%, so it's only a tiny 2 up 2 down). But I work over an hour's drive from home, and get massively subsidised (and excellent) childcare where I work, which will save us £300 a month, plus I spend £250 on petrol just getting to work and back, etc, and we'll need to buy and fund another car if we stay here. The new area is cheaper so we can rent somewhere for about £650 a month. Even if we end up paying rent and mortgage some months (fingers crossed we won't)

I say all this because we have tossed and turned over this decision and done a lot of research. As one of the other posters said, you need to be VERY careful about the estate agent you use. Talk to other local landlords and, if you don't know any, join the Landlord Association or LandlordZone so you can find out who is good and who is not. Read the smallprint very carefully - you should be able to negotiate a fee of 10% of monthly rent for a full management service (and if you go with a decent agent they will chase up rents, set bailiffs on non-payers, sort out minor repairs up to an agreed limit, etc.)

On top of those costs it'll cost quite a bit to get it on the market - you need gas and electric safety certificates, you'll need to fix anything annoying you currently live with (we have a cracked window pane, a broken bathroom door, broken grill etc.), you'll need to pay for inventories and landlord insurance. You'll also need to pay your mortgage lender a fee to change to a rental mortgage - ours is C&G and they do it for £225, but they're very good about renting and other lenders may not give permission. You also need to budget for months when you might have no tenants, and for the inevitable repairs, etc.

So it's not something to undertake lightheartedly. If we could sell, we would, but we're in £30k of negative equity. If you do decide to go for it, get all the facts, get lots of quotations from different letting agents, and budget budget budget.

Hope that helps.

Slightly worrying that you are getting married but worry about your DP kicking you out - and as you say you wouldn't want to go back there anyway because it has bad memories.

For - don't know how to pm?

The stress is another factor. I don't deal well with stress.

Sorry - didn't finish sentence at end of first para. Was just going to say that staying in our current home will cost us £6-700 a month extra to get us both to work and in more expensive (unsubsidised) childcare costs - so even if we move and have months where we're paying both rent and mortgage (£1275+£650) it'll only be the same as EVERY month staying here.

My point is that you need to sit down, get all the information, do all the sums, and balance it up from every angle. It's a real toughie.

Mum - having been married before and well and truly shafted, I am scared what could happen. Who knows what the future holds, if I rent it, I wouldn't move back but I could then sell it at a later date if it went wrong.

Want to sell it now, just not sure whether to cut my loses or not. Not keen on selling for say 30K less (which is what I could sell to a buy it now company)

Thanks takethat, I know there is alot to consider. In general, I am a 'can't be arsed' sort of person. But this is a lot of money every month.

Ready, if you look at the inbox, at the top of the page, and it has a red circle in it, you have a message. You should have one from me naming and shaming the criminal lovely liars that fleecedme-- acted for me.

Whoever said that interest rates will rise is probably right.

Forth - thanks, got it, they don't operate in my neck of the woods. I have learnt something today!

I would be tempted to drop the price of your house a bit first to see if you can generate a sale - I think renting it out could be an expensive and hassle filled venture.

As your DP has said - if you continue to save the money you were spending on the mortgage this would give you a safety blanket (which hopefully you'll never need).

If it's not selling, it's overpriced.

Prices will fall without question over the next few months as higher VAT/petrol etc & cuts kick in. Once interest rates go up, they'll fall a lot more.

See www.houseprices.co.uk/ etc for recent sold prices for your street/area.

Being a alandlord is a big hassle.

If you know you don't want to live there personally, reduce the price and sell now.

I'd question whether you ought to be marrying someone when you feel unsure it's permanent, though - but that's a whole different thread.

Make sure you keep your money separate and in your name only, if you're worried about that. Or use it to buy a cheaper property you actually want to live in.

Granted - I do think it is permanent, I have moved my dcs to a different town and school and wouldn't do that if I wasn't sure. I don't doubt my dp, just worry about the what ifs alot. I do this with everything - not just dp.

Have already looked at house prices, the house is reasonably priced but I am going to reduce it by 10K asap to see if that makes a difference.