Would you sell or rent?

[Azquilith]

Trying to sell my 2 bed flat in SW London, but thinking whether it might be better to keep it and rent it out longer term. Looks like I could get rent and cover mortgage, service charge and letting agent fee to let only (not management) but with nothing left over. Good idea? WWYD?

hmmm. Please recalculate with the following other items that you need:

• cost of the new mortgage/letting fee
• insurances: landlord buildings/contents, malicious damage, legal expenses, rent guarantee
• inventory and tenancy agreement fees
• gas safe/servicing (if there are gas appliances)

also; who does fixes? Can you be on call to sort things out 52 weeks a year? Can you cover void periods when you'll be responsible for council tax as well?

Hmm, will recalculate, perhaps being a bit naive here

forewarned is forearmed !

Have you considered that if you change to a buy to let mortgage, they are often interest only and your monthly payments are a lot lower than for a repayment mortgage? (But obviously you need to have a repayment vehicle in place or enough equity that you can sell it at the end of the mortgage term and pay off the mortgage.)

Don't do it. SELL we are going to see a crash. Chav tenants wreck it , interest rates? Capital gains tax.

We have stepped out into the unknown territory regarding the economy ,

To be cautious is boring but you get to get to the other side intact.

#It's not doom we are buggered don't believe the spin

Rent it for a year and see how you go. If you have an agent it will make it easier, stuff like gas checks are just a yearly £60, landlord insurance can be the same cost as normal house insurance. Yes you may need to replace a boiler or pay for the odd repair but it's just paying for a longer term investment.

And knowone can really predict a crash or boom. It's all depends on your personal circumstances.

Smart people sell at the top and buy at the bottom

Now I know some will say property only goes up, not true it goes down when sentiment changes .

The difficult bit is recognizing top and bottom

I'd rent it with an agent. Our btl mortgage is repayment and the payments went up about 300quid a month due to higher interest rates. We are looking at long term and keeping house for our pension bucket. So far in 6yrs we've had to replace the patio doors (insurance claim), garage door, bathroom floor tiles. Not too bad.

I think if you have property in London it's worth keeping. Long term rides out the ups and downs in market so you will have to decide if you can afford to keep it on

Most of the country and population is on their knees , sell running out of mugs , cant you see that .Government props keeping those plates spinning

Remember there wont be bail outs for banks .
Banks will recall bad loans and the game will begin like 1980s

But with a sting in the tail , banks will go down

The lean mean years are to come IMO
Starting after the election in MAY

Sell, don't rent it, not worth it.
Seen some lovely new builds near to where I live being bought up by landlords and let to very undesirable tenants.
Less than a year old these places have been trashed.
I predict house prices will fall dramatically .

London is cuckoo land sell , they will be standing on the corner selling their cars for peanuts just like 1930 depression . Take the money and run

I had this dilemma back in 2007. I got engaged to dh, and it was a moment of, do I sell, or do I rent?

I got an EA round who priced it for me, and I thought she may have overpriced it. I had 3 offers, and two were for asking price. One had no upper chain, so went for him. It was the best decision for me to sell a s dh had a house too, but bigger, so I moved in, and invested in his, obviously putting my name on the deeds first. We ended up with a small mortgage between us, as I sold my house for more than twice what I paid for it 6 years previously

Do you have much equity in the flat?

I must say, renting out can be so much hassle, and I'm glad I sold in the end.

How much equity do you have on the flat?

Where I live the housing market has changed so much in the last 5 years or so.
It used to be 50/50 rental/ homeowners, the majority of whom kept their houses in a reasonable condition.
I'd say at least 5 % of houses are up for sale and only the larger properties are selling to landlords for letting as multiple occupancy.
House prices have dropped dramatically and a good many " decent" landlords have chosen to leave properties empty as they can no longer afford the repairs needed after serious neglect/vandalism.
There is such a high turnover of tenants, most are not vetted by letting agencies and they often fail to inform the landlords of any repairs that need doing.

People who don't try to eat all the pies do see, and do correctly predict

Thats why so many landlords are getting out

Google Wilsons Kent

Don't have a lot of equity, about 1/3

Still would sell.
n a years time you might even have negative equity.
Forget what the government are telling us, things are going to get worse.
Sell, sit on the money; share a pad with friends or family if you can and ride the storm.
That is what I'm going to do.

Take the money and run ,when the dust settles after the biggie to out biggie the biggest of economic busts you will not have the debt, and you can have the money under your bed and count it ,lick it or spend it. Or just become another statistic when it all goes down toilet
I reckon everyone in London should have to do a compulsory tour of the rest of the country. Stopping off at the odd food band and chats with the homeless. It's nearly time for the correction, take the money and run as fast as you can sell

70 years boom bust but never ever like this

I have no money worries but millions do .

I would dearly love to ask those who doubt this country is going to wreck and ruin, to spend a week living in my town.
About 80% of the shops are empty, pubs have been turned into cheap doss houses and we have lost all sense of community.
This has happened in perhaps the last 10 years.

Are blueBright and roneik the same poster?

Anyhow, the question is why do you want to keep it? If you are looking for a long term investment for retirement, you don't need the equity to fund your next move and the rent can cover all cost then do it. Also, be prepared for the time commitment

If you are thinking short term at all, don't do it!

No, but I do like the cut of his jib.

If it's not selling does that indicate that a price crash is on its way. I thought properties in London were selling like hotcakes. If you think there will be a drop in the market then sell. If you don't then rent it out as long as you can easily cover your costs.

I would say it depends why you want to want it. If it's carefully planned and thought through as part of a portfolio of investments then that's one thing.

But if it's a kneejerk reaction as part of a panic response to a nonsale then this rings alarm bells.

I suppose the questions are do you want to be a landlord? Will you be around to manage the property? Do you have a contingency fund if there's damage or no tenants.

what kerberos says.

and decent landlord insurance costs more than normal insurance, although we aren't talking enough to affect the decision. Remember Direct Line etc don't cover malicious damage which can cost thousands.