Any experts in renting residential property?
Discussion
I'd like a bit of advice if there's anyone out there?
Basically, I intend to move house this year (possibly emigrate, but definitely move). However, rather than selling my existing house I'm thinking of renting it out. Thereby my current house will become part of my investment portfolio. I have experience in renting out industrial premises which I've bought, but no experience in renting residential property.
The nub of my conundrum is this: (1) The house is worth about £400,000 - how difficult is it likely to be to rent out a house of this value? Looking through the paper most houses being advertised for rent seem to be smaller. (2) If it is possible to rent it out, what sort of rent would be the market rate? With my commercial properties I like to charge about 8% per annum of the value. I suspect it will be less for residential. But I don't know. Any feedback would be helpful.
Rents dont go on value they go on size.
So a 5 bed place would realise a larger rent than a £400K flat potentially.
For a property which I am guessing is more towards the 5 bed end of the scale than the flat lots of short term lets will be your best bet.
There are plenty of places near me with PCM rents of well over £20K so size/value shouldnt be an issue.
So a 5 bed place would realise a larger rent than a £400K flat potentially.
For a property which I am guessing is more towards the 5 bed end of the scale than the flat lots of short term lets will be your best bet.
There are plenty of places near me with PCM rents of well over £20K so size/value shouldnt be an issue.
Plotloss said:
Rents dont go on value they go on size.
So a 5 bed place would realise a larger rent than a £400K flat potentially.
For a property which I am guessing is more towards the 5 bed end of the scale than the flat lots of short term lets will be your best bet.
There are plenty of places near me with PCM rents of well over £20K so size/value shouldnt be an issue.
Yeah, that makes sense. It is a five bed place.
Rich25 said:
Probably best to look at switching the mortgage to interest only if it isnt already otherwise you could run into tax complications.
I don't have a mortgage, so I guess that's not an issue?
Call up Hamptons and Knight Frank and ask for the lettings department.
Thats going to give you the best estimate as there is no hard and fast rule like commercial premises as far as I am aware.
All the local rents on my sector of the market have fallen substantially over the last 6 months or so.
Thats going to give you the best estimate as there is no hard and fast rule like commercial premises as far as I am aware.
All the local rents on my sector of the market have fallen substantially over the last 6 months or so.
Would still take tax advice as full rent, e.g. all £20k, will be taxable at your top rate which I believe is higher in Australia than it is in UK (50%), as you would be resident in Oz.
Also if you are thinking of buying a property in Australia then it may be worth releasing the money from your UK property. Interest rates on mortgages are currently 1-1.5% higher in Oz than UK, and there is a favourable £ to $ exchange rate. The mortgage on the UK property would also reduce the taxable income on the rental income it produces.
Also if you are thinking of buying a property in Australia then it may be worth releasing the money from your UK property. Interest rates on mortgages are currently 1-1.5% higher in Oz than UK, and there is a favourable £ to $ exchange rate. The mortgage on the UK property would also reduce the taxable income on the rental income it produces.
Rich25 said:
Would still take tax advice as full rent, e.g. all £20k, will be taxable at your top rate which I believe is higher in Australia than it is in UK (50%), as you would be resident in Oz.
Also if you are thinking of buying a property in Australia then it may be worth releasing the money from your UK property. Interest rates on mortgages are currently 1-1.5% higher in Oz than UK, and there is a favourable £ to $ exchange rate. The mortgage on the UK property would also reduce the taxable income on the rental income it produces.
Where does Australia come into it? If I emigrate it will be to a country with a friendlier Tax regeime, not a worse one. At the moment The Bahamas is the favourite. I'm not overly concerned about Tax advice because I've got a very good Tax advisor, what I'm not sure about is how "rentable" my current property is. I think I'll have a little chat with some local letting agencies.
johnfm said:
Rental value depends alot on where the house is. It isn't too hard to rent a big 5 bed in Harrogate, as there is a military base nearby and they tend to rent houses for their bigwigs.
There would be something very satisfying about that arrangement. In effect, I'd be the Government's landlord! All that Tax I've paid over the years, and now they're paying me. Only problem is, I don't live i
near Harrogate!
Residential letting varies very much from place to place. Unless some on here lives near you the best advice is to go round a few local letting agents. You may also find that there is a landlords association for your area where you can make some good contacts & find out who the best letting agents are.
just be careful with letting agents. i operate at the lower end of the market but have dealt with some really sleazy agents.another thing to consider is repairs. i use a guy who subs for me, all enquiries regarding repairs go to him, he then carries out all or any repairs for me. ok i know this is an unusual situation but if you are thousands of miles away you need to be sure your agent isnt having a laugh by getting a cut from overpriced repairs. maybe i am a little paranoid,but when its your money it pays to be so.
corporate lets sometimes work,but it depends on your location. good luck
corporate lets sometimes work,but it depends on your location. good luck
I would approach the 'best' letting agent in the area or the 'top' estate agent...who can usually also give an idea........
One piece of advice I would offer is to take a very comprehensive set of photographs before you rent.
If you are renting fully furnished...even more so....pictures of everything... showing condition.
If you have a date on the pictures even better.
YP
One piece of advice I would offer is to take a very comprehensive set of photographs before you rent.
If you are renting fully furnished...even more so....pictures of everything... showing condition.
If you have a date on the pictures even better.
YP One of the main reasons for considering renting it rather than selling it, is that if I emigrate and it doesn't work out I've got a property in the UK to return to. Bit of an insurance policy, I guess.
Helpful advice, from everyone I have to say. As suggested, I did have a reputable letting agent round and he seemed to think he could get tennants pretty quickly. Time will tell.
Helpful advice, from everyone I have to say. As suggested, I did have a reputable letting agent round and he seemed to think he could get tennants pretty quickly. Time will tell.
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