bwatt99 Posted April 8, 2013 Report Share Posted April 8, 2013 its looking like im not gonna be able to rent or sell my house before i move to oz,i also have to do a bit of work to house before i can rent or sell,My question is if i dont get it ready or rented before i go can i go to a uk solicitor and there is a word for it cant remember what it is anything legal i can give the rights to my parents to deal with while im away. Its looking like they might need to the finishing work on there own,or get someone in to do it and then i can put on market to sell or rent.By that time i will be living on oz. Has anyone done something like this and give me any advise,info or feedback on how it went. I was thinking i maybe rent out for a while and then say a year down the line put it up for sale,or just sell it right away once its fixed up a bit,what i need to know as im in oz is it possible for me to give some rights for my parents to put it up for rent when i ask them too,and be able to deal with it,or sell it without me being in the uk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portlaunay Posted April 8, 2013 Report Share Posted April 8, 2013 We put ours on the market 2 years ago when we left. I did a load of cosmetic work to it, at a cost of around £5k, and we didn't have single viewing. We reduced the price by £25k and still nothing so we decided to rent. The agent we left it with was local and we had some mutual friends. He was also involved in supporting the local business community and had a good reputation but it still felt odd leaving our home of ten years with a relative stranger. It took 3 months to find tenants and in that time the garden had grown, the new tenants wanted some items removed and a few things addressed before they would take it. We instructed the agent to find someone to do the work at a cost of around £2k and a month or so later the oven died. It was an expensive Smeg one and the tenants wanted it exchanged for like. We told them to take a hike and put a John Lewis one in. The tenants turned out to be a nightmare and, although they signed for a year we chose to enact the 6 month break clause and get them out. The second tenants are great, we just don't hear from them. Why say all this? Well, we didn't expect it to be this way. Our agent has been fantastic and was really good with the first tenants when they started a load of legal nonsense and if we'd rented it out privately it would have been extremely stressful. If we'd sold it at any point up to now we'd probably have gone through any capital in no time but, because we didn't have it, we learned to live and budget for WA. I don't really want to sell it now. The mortgage is being paid and there's extra going into a UK bank to cover the unexpected or act as holiday money when we go for a visit. If I were you I'd find an agent you can really trust, not one that just says what you want to hear. (Ours was very blunt when it came to value and decor whereas all the others told us they'd sell it in a month and it looked fantastic. Tw**ts!) Good luck. It's a pretty stressful business but if you can find the right agent you'll be laughing. I promised my agent that if he got £10k over the asking price I'd pay for a first class return ticket to Perth for him. Even with that incentive it's tough, very little movement in the UK at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraighttothePoint Posted April 8, 2013 Report Share Posted April 8, 2013 (edited) its looking like im not gonna be able to rent or sell my house before i move to oz,i also have to do a bit of work to house before i can rent or sell,My question is if i dont get it ready or rented before i go can i go to a uk solicitor and there is a word for it cant remember what it is anything legal i can give the rights to my parents to deal with while im away.Its looking like they might need to the finishing work on there own,or get someone in to do it and then i can put on market to sell or rent.By that time i will be living on oz. Has anyone done something like this and give me any advise,info or feedback on how it went. I was thinking i maybe rent out for a while and then say a year down the line put it up for sale,or just sell it right away once its fixed up a bit,what i need to know as im in oz is it possible for me to give some rights for my parents to put it up for rent when i ask them too,and be able to deal with it,or sell it without me being in the uk. Hi again. Shame that you cannot resolve this before you leave. We had a few chats / posts previously and you were hoping that your neighbours would be interested in buying the place. Did that fall through? Were they not interested after all? Anyway do you mean Power of Attorney? That is where you give someone else the legal power to make decisions on your behalf. If you do not feel you have the time when you are here to manage the process of selling or renting out, or you want your parents to have a freer reign, then a poa agreement would work but chat it through with your lawyer first before deciding. A poa will cost you a good few hundred quid to set up and put in place. If you mean to put it on market via your parents then that is fairly easy and stress free for them but if you go down the rental route as Porty, and I am sure others will say, it could be risky if they have to get involved with the wrong type of tenants. It maybe worth considering renting out using an agent, or property manager, if you go down that route thus taking any potential pressure off your parents. We discussed that in the other thread and highligted that using an agent would mean giving them a % of the monthly rental as a property management fee. It could be if an agent manges to secure you a good rental fee then paying them their fee to manage the property for you could be fairly cost effective. As ever all up to you and good luck for the run in to your departure. Edited April 9, 2013 by StraighttothePoint Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfie Posted April 9, 2013 Report Share Posted April 9, 2013 We rent 2 houses in the UK one I managed myself when living there. Put the 2 in the hands of an agent on leaving the UK. Make sure you fill in all tax forms prior to leaving and find a good tax accountant who you can correspond via email when away regarding your tax. The cost of management fees vary usually around 10/12 % we were lucky the agent I use is charging us 8% on both properties. We are extremely lucky with both sets of tenants in the properties, no damage rent paid on time, gardens attended to etc both spotlessly clean. One set of tenants I refused pets but the other I allowed, just going on the feel for the people gut instinct and I dont regret my decisions. We have a few minor repairs on both properties in the last year, replacement of a weather board which we knew needed doing prior to leaving a leaking toilet - that could happen any time. So I guess all in all we are lucky. We also have a good builder who the agent contacts for prices and then we pay him direct via internet banking from our UK account. There is an one off agent set up fee, where they inventory the property take pictures etc this again can vary from agent to agent. We do not charge over the odds for our properties as some people do. We felt it was better to keep a realistic price then take the pick of prospective tenants. The agent emails us a monthly statement and all is good. Good luck it can be done from 12,000 miles away thanks to the internet ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skit78 Posted April 9, 2013 Report Share Posted April 9, 2013 Great bit of info. As I have 2 houses I will rent out when I leave and was a bit worried about it . But one is rented out now and fingers crossed no probs so far. Best of luck to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddking2003 Posted April 22, 2013 Report Share Posted April 22, 2013 Elfie, did you fill out the P85 hmrc form? Just found out today that we need to declare the rental before we leave in July... Uh Oh!! I want to keep everything above board as the last thing we need is something to bite us in the bum when we are least expecting it. It just seems that if we are taxed (At Basic Rate - 20%) on our rental, plus the management fee, then we wont stand to gain an awful lot from it. In fact its gonna cost close to £250 a month for the privelage! Doesnt seem like we have much choice though as we want to keep it for a while as a safety net should it go horribly wrong, however at that cost I would want rid of it as soon as possible! How do you find the extra costs?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfie Posted April 22, 2013 Report Share Posted April 22, 2013 Hi Eddie i have pm'd you with some info hope it helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfie Posted April 22, 2013 Report Share Posted April 22, 2013 oh ps its not necessary to declare before you leave its just easier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraighttothePoint Posted April 22, 2013 Report Share Posted April 22, 2013 (edited) Elfie, did you fill out the P85 hmrc form? Just found out today that we need to declare the rental before we leave in July... Uh Oh!! I want to keep everything above board as the last thing we need is something to bite us in the bum when we are least expecting it. It just seems that if we are taxed (At Basic Rate - 20%) on our rental, plus the management fee, then we wont stand to gain an awful lot from it. In fact its gonna cost close to £250 a month for the privelage! Doesnt seem like we have much choice though as we want to keep it for a while as a safety net should it go horribly wrong, however at that cost I would want rid of it as soon as possible! How do you find the extra costs?? The good news is..... If you are filling in a P85 then assume that you will be registering for tax here in Oz? If that the the case the base tax rates may be higher here depending on your income(s). The initial threshold is $18k. http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.aspx?doc=/content/12333.htm&mnu=42583&mfp=001/002 All income regardless of where derived then has to be declared via your Ozzie tax assessment (return). Good news you say? Well possibly Elf has told you this via the PM but bear in mind that when you have a rental tax is only on the gain (the net income not it all), i.e. you can deduct fees for expenses and maintenance from the income you receive thus netting you a lower monthly income figure so not all doom and gloom. Have a look here on the link for more details. It also tells you what happens if you sell it when here and gives you access to the other pages re Oz tax. http://www.ato.gov.au/corporate/content.aspx?doc=/content/00262404.htm&page=14&H14 Edited April 23, 2013 by StraighttothePoint Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfie Posted April 22, 2013 Report Share Posted April 22, 2013 Yes alas your buggered here as well as in the UK if you make a profit on your rental return. Just declare it all simples :cute:soz cant make the meerkat noise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda@no9 Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 (edited) We had/have our house for sale back in uk. Only a couple of views so was suggested we rent. We still wanted to sell so let that simmer, but tenants wanted to increase to a 12 month lease with view to buy. Just had a sniff of a viewing and tenants didnt get back to estate agent to allow the viewing (they are in their last 6 weeks of tenancy) woman viewd and put an offer on another property. just found out from my neighbour, tenants are smoking heavy in the house (we are non smokers and they took the tenancy stating they were non smokers) and they have no intentions of buying as they couldnt afford it. Theyve also made their intentions that they have no intention of allowing their circumstances to change, ie, not going to allow the estate agent access to view. We've decided to not extend their lease and market the house fully for sale. Just hope the tenants havent wrecked our house! Edited April 23, 2013 by linda@no9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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