sell up and rent??

[ilovemarkb]

Is this a bad idea?only got 10 years left to go on our 25yr mortgage! but just live in old terraced house. Theres no way we can get a mortgage for a nicer house, the only option we see is to sell up and pay our credit cards off (£4800). then rent a gorgeous house. We have 3 kids and things are a bit crammed now that the boys are older! Do you abbers think we,d be crazy to sell up and rent!!! interested in opinions! julie

[tamborine]

Depends on rent? I think rentals are really cheap when you break them down to daily rates. Both have to pay for services.

[annie0000]

Depends on loads of things. How old are you? Would you be prepared to extend the term of your mortgage to up the mortgage but keep the payments the same? Do you have any housing developers nearby who do part share purchase where you buy say 70% of the house and rent the remainder? Are you relying on the value of your house to support you in retiral? Could you still afford to rent when you retire? Is there any council housing available? What would you do with the remaining equity from selling your house? Would you be happy paying someone elses mortgage while you have nothing to show for it? Is renting really cheaper than paying a mortgage? What is included in the rental cost e.g. council tax, phone rental, repairs and maintenance? What are the penalties if something gets damaged remembering that you have boys!? Could you rent out your own home to cover the mortgage and rent or buy something else?

Loads to consider...

[Nosha123]

to be honest I think you would be mad to rent - as you are just lining someone elses pocket... If you have a mortgage - you are actually investing in yourself.
Are you good with money? Would that money see you thru retirement?
Rent will go up each year or at the end of each contract.
Be warned... someone I know.. (albeit they are rubbish with money). Sold their house. Made £220k on it 3 years ago. Went on a 3 year spending spree and moved into rented. When they decided to buy a house instead of renting (as the landlord put his prices up) they didnt have enough left for a deposit and are now stuck in rented.. having to downsize and move each time the prices go up. They have continued to spend what little money they had left - and now only have £10k left and NOTHING to show for it.

Be warned.. and be very very careful!!!

[ilovemarkb]

youve all given me excellent advice! majority of friends family and abbers think i.d be mad!! think ill stay put!!!

[phillipa.d]

Hi Ilovemarkb, you say the boys are older? how old are they now? I would love a bigger house but my kids are 16 and 13, and i left home at 19 - so i could move, and in , say, 5 years time there would be just 2 of us in a big house!!

Just an idea, but could you possibly rent out your house, and rent somewhre bigger for a while, but you would still have your own house to go back to if you needed to?

[sherrardk]

I rent and wish I didn't - it can be really rubbish. You can't change anything that you don't like, if things break or don't work it takes ages to get them sorted out (if you manage to get them sorted out). You are always worried that the landlord will want their house back and you will be out on your ear. You have to put up with their style of decoration and you are constantly worried that you have made marks on the walls or scuffed the floor. We are very careful renters but it is really difficult to keep things pristine - to be fair, renting is pants.

[tamborine]

my son is landlord to 3b gfloor maisonette with gardens. 4adults live there at £25.80pd total to him = £800pm. That's landlord income of £6.45pd each 24/7 and they're in arrears! How much cheaper should the rent be?

[ilovemarkb]

thanks again! very interesting debate! my boys are 14 and 11 and my stepson is 14.

[ilovemarkb]

dont laugh but our mortgage is £165 per month and rent is £700 a month

[tamborine]

My sons mortgage is £155pm on the maisonette and the surplus from rent pays towards larger house.

Being a landlord is thankless; tenants ask for gardens then neglect them and abuse rentals with wild parties pulling radiators off walls, smashing cisterns, destroying windows 'cause they've forgotten keys etc., - complete headache! Soonest sold when property prices pick up.

[Richard1966]

why not rent out your house to someone else and use the income you get to rent somewhere bigger for your self. Best of both worlds

[daffy654]

Not all tenants are like that tambo. We rent and are model tenants.The house is actually in better condition now than when we first rented as we have paid out of our own pockets for repairs and renovations.The garden/yard is always kept neat and tidy and we are a quiet respectful family.It sounds like your son has had bad luck with his tenants, please don't tar us all with the same brush.

[tamborine]

daffy654...not tarring anyone - rental breakdown to landlord as shown above makes me wonder Y be a landlord?

ilovemarkb....dont be a landlord, better to be the tenant at £700pm! Sell your house, have a spending-spree & rent; cost would be £23.30pd to landlord, 24/7!

[Whoever]

I think you'd be very foolish to rent, especially at the moment where the housing market is very volatile and uncertain. What happens if you move into a buy-to-let property and for some reason you landlord can no longer afford the mortgage payments. The property would be repossessed and you and your family would be homeless. As a tenant you would have no control over your destiny in this situation. Even if you don't like the house you're living in, as long as you continue paying the mortgage it's yours. And if you're still there when the mortgage is paid off and are hard-up in your retirement, at least you would be able to take some equity out of the property to help fund your retirement. Paying rent to somebody else is a mug's game. You're simplying paying for their future, not your own.