They may not manifest themselves but I think the economic risks of property ownership are as high as they've been for at least a generation, particularly in London.
We don't really know how Brexit will pan out and how that will affect the city, world events are fragile and, if Corbyn's Labour get in, then they will bring in measures to ensure property prices reduce dramatically (again, particularly in London).
For me it's a bird in the hand but you may have a greater appetite for the risks.
Slightly different for me as there was no ongoing care fees to think about but when my mum died a couple of years ago I was left with the decision of what to do with her house, a smart three bed semi valued at 220 thousand. My sister wanted to rent it out but she had an ulterior motive and I wanted to sell it. I did give consideration to renting it out but was adamant that I didn’t want the responsibility of being a landlord, of being the one being informed that a pipe had burst or the boiler was knackered and it would have fallen on my toes as my sister lives in Oxford and I was round the corner from the property. Nor did I ever want to go round and discover the house that my mum and stepdad adored had been trashed.
Ultimately I won the argument and we sold the house and personally my share has eased a lot of stress in my life. I paid off my mortgage and am able to do the improvements to it which previously I didn’t have the funds for. Better than that though selling the house has enabled me to reduce my hours at work and to be honest that’s worth more than money.
So different circumstances but similar conundrums and it boils down to two choices: do you take on the stress of being a landlord or do you take the money available to make life comfy for your mil in the here and now?
What are you going to do if it finishes as a draw?
11 rent v 10 sell.
Ah, I've had a thought, if I sell raffle tickets on here for say £100 a pop, the winner gets the house. I'd need to sell about 3,200 tickets. What do you reckon AFKA ?
Ultimately I won the argument and we sold the house and personally my share has eased a lot of stress in my life.
I paid off my mortgage and am able to do the improvements to it which previously I didn’t have the funds for. Better than that though selling the house has enabled me to reduce my hours at work and to be honest that’s worth more than money.
Good points, AUN.
It's not always about the money, is it? Or at least to use that money to the effect of clearing financial commitments and reducing the amount you need to earn.
Surely a stress and fatigue free quality of life is what we are all aiming for?
Slightly different for me as there was no ongoing care fees to think about but when my mum died a couple of years ago I was left with the decision of what to do with her house, a smart three bed semi valued at 220 thousand. My sister wanted to rent it out but she had an ulterior motive and I wanted to sell it. I did give consideration to renting it out but was adamant that I didn’t want the responsibility of being a landlord, of being the one being informed that a pipe had burst or the boiler was knackered and it would have fallen on my toes as my sister lives in Oxford and I was round the corner from the property. Nor did I ever want to go round and discover the house that my mum and stepdad adored had been trashed.
Ultimately I won the argument and we sold the house and personally my share has eased a lot of stress in my life. I paid off my mortgage and am able to do the improvements to it which previously I didn’t have the funds for. Better than that though selling the house has enabled me to reduce my hours at work and to be honest that’s worth more than money.
So different circumstances but similar conundrums and it boils down to two choices: do you take on the stress of being a landlord or do you take the money available to make life comfy for your mil in the here and now?
But the difference her , AUN, is surely that exhorbitant care home fees have to be paid monthly , whether from the sale of the house ( hence reducing the capital) or assisted by the monthly income from renting, using a management agent which means no personal liability for CE.
BTW.It's great to hear that you've been able to reduce your hours etc and ensure that your life is less stressful.Great stuff !
Another vote for selling here. Renting it out either means dealing with the aggro of managing the tenants or managing the letting agent, and you've no way of knowing if there are going to be any further legislation changes that will make it less economically viable to do so.
Could anyone advise me with regards to capital gains tax implications. We're thinking of selling my great aunt's place soon to avoid rental stresses, but obviously don't want to be taxed twice on the property (CGT and inheritance). Am I right in thinking that if it was her main residence before going into the care home it would be exempt from CGT? She's been there since April '17. The property will also have been rented for 9 months, does that makes any difference? Thanks.
I don't think CGT would apply in this case. Assuming she doesn't own any other property then it should still be classed as her main residence. You usually have 3 years from date main residence becomes rental property before any CGT is calculated in any case. (I believe, but I'm no tax expert)
PS......
IHT level now includes an amount for property. Current threshold is £325 + £100k for property....and if she had a husband that pre-deceased her & he didn't use his IHT allowance then she can use his, ie her allowance is now £850k.
I don't think CGT would apply in this case. Assuming she doesn't own any other property then it should still be classed as her main residence. You usually have 3 years from date main residence becomes rental property before any CGT is calculated in any case. (I believe, but I'm no tax expert)
PS......
IHT level now includes an amount for property. Current threshold is £325 + £100k for property....and if she had a husband that pre-deceased her & he didn't use his IHT allowance then she can use his, ie her allowance is now £850k.
issue with renting is people are cnuts, my mum is an estate agent and the way that tenants have left properties that landlords have approached her to sell is disgusting, IF you do go rental would go fully managed, i believe most charge roughly a months rent, but they take the all the hassle away i think there are many about
My experience (but there are significant differences to your case)
I lived in Surbiton, and when i first came to Prague at the beginning of 1993 I was far from sure I would be here more than six months. Good mate of mine was a flatmate and for a while he rented it with another flatmate and I kept my bedroom free. By 1996, my buddy was ready to move out, I was engaged to be married and had a decision to make. I discussed it in the pub with the gang of mates. One, the useless IFA I wrote about, said "sell it, you're not coming back, are you". Another one almost grabbed me by the throat and said "Do Not sell that house!!" At the time it was worth about 160k. Now it is worth about 700k. Boy, does my second mate remind me of his advice...So I appointed an estate agent to rent it out. At first i wanted professional shares but after a few years, the agent persuaded me to let to students from Kingston Uni, since kitchen and bathroom were starting to tire a bit. And despite my misgivings it has been fine and I am now getting £1800/month gross, like clockwork. Quite obviously this is the best single financial decision I made in my life. It has worked because the agent is decent, long established, not flashy, and after a while I hardly noticed the 13% fee they were taking. The students have generally been hardly any trouble, the main one being that invariably they have a wild party early on, and some of the neighbours know how to contact me directly when that happens. But the agent has always got them to settle down.
It does though sound like your house needs more work, mine was my own house which was well equipped in 1993 and has gradually declined in market terms, but the CH is decent and its a modernish build in a terrace. I would therefore definitely seek out some solid estate agents, as others have said, and find out what they believe needs to be done in order to make it rentable.
Comments
"One of my concerns with renting is people trashing the place, not paying, illegally sub letting and or squatters".
If the above is raising doubts for you then I would go by the saying I live by "when in doubt do nowt", and sell the property.
Hopefully the sale of the property would ensure no financial worries for the future and that must be a major consideration.
They may not manifest themselves but I think the economic risks of property ownership are as high as they've been for at least a generation, particularly in London.
We don't really know how Brexit will pan out and how that will affect the city, world events are fragile and, if Corbyn's Labour get in, then they will bring in measures to ensure property prices reduce dramatically (again, particularly in London).
For me it's a bird in the hand but you may have a greater appetite for the risks.
Ultimately I won the argument and we sold the house and personally my share has eased a lot of stress in my life. I paid off my mortgage and am able to do the improvements to it which previously I didn’t have the funds for. Better than that though selling the house has enabled me to reduce my hours at work and to be honest that’s worth more than money.
So different circumstances but similar conundrums and it boils down to two choices: do you take on the stress of being a landlord or do you take the money available to make life comfy for your mil in the here and now?
Ah, I've had a thought, if I sell raffle tickets on here for say £100 a pop, the winner gets the house.
I'd need to sell about 3,200 tickets.
What do you reckon AFKA ?
It's not always about the money, is it? Or at least to use that money to the effect of clearing financial commitments and reducing the amount you need to earn.
Surely a stress and fatigue free quality of life is what we are all aiming for?
BTW.It's great to hear that you've been able to reduce your hours etc and ensure that your life is less stressful.Great stuff !
PS......
IHT level now includes an amount for property. Current threshold is £325 + £100k for property....and if she had a husband that pre-deceased her & he didn't use his IHT allowance then she can use his, ie her allowance is now £850k.
I lived in Surbiton, and when i first came to Prague at the beginning of 1993 I was far from sure I would be here more than six months. Good mate of mine was a flatmate and for a while he rented it with another flatmate and I kept my bedroom free. By 1996, my buddy was ready to move out, I was engaged to be married and had a decision to make. I discussed it in the pub with the gang of mates. One, the useless IFA I wrote about, said "sell it, you're not coming back, are you". Another one almost grabbed me by the throat and said "Do Not sell that house!!" At the time it was worth about 160k. Now it is worth about 700k. Boy, does my second mate remind me of his advice...So I appointed an estate agent to rent it out. At first i wanted professional shares but after a few years, the agent persuaded me to let to students from Kingston Uni, since kitchen and bathroom were starting to tire a bit. And despite my misgivings it has been fine and I am now getting £1800/month gross, like clockwork. Quite obviously this is the best single financial decision I made in my life. It has worked because the agent is decent, long established, not flashy, and after a while I hardly noticed the 13% fee they were taking. The students have generally been hardly any trouble, the main one being that invariably they have a wild party early on, and some of the neighbours know how to contact me directly when that happens. But the agent has always got them to settle down.
It does though sound like your house needs more work, mine was my own house which was well equipped in 1993 and has gradually declined in market terms, but the CH is decent and its a modernish build in a terrace. I would therefore definitely seek out some solid estate agents, as others have said, and find out what they believe needs to be done in order to make it rentable.