Thinking of renting

[Wozzie]

Mum moved into a care home on Monday
We're thinking of renting out her house (rather than selling it) to help fund her care.
Does anyone have any experience of doing this ?
We've no idea where to start, we do have LPA for finance
Thanks in advance
Anne x

 

[Oh Knickers]

Wozzie,

Well done for getting back on your feet. Tough old week. No fun having to put your mum in care.

In terms of renting there are various things you are going to need to do.

Legally you need Gas and Electric checks done and a certificate to say you have done so. Need to be done ? every year. You also legally need smoke and fire alarms. One downstairs and one upstairs. You also need to get specialist house insurance. Plenty out there.

Check what needs sprucing up. Paintwork, bedding, mattresses etc. A good estate agent should be able to guide you. Get a few round and you will learn from each of them.

In view of what you have on your plate look at an estate agent doing the renting. Just check what they charge for. they should do the tenant checks, take the money and chase should things go pear shaped. The only thing I would advise is arranging repairs yourself. Tends to end up pricey otherwise.

Should anything need updating eBXy is excellent for new items.

Best of luck.

 

[lemonjuice]

Mum moved into a care home on Monday
We're thinking of renting out her house (rather than selling it) to help fund her care.
Does anyone have any experience of doing this ?
We've no idea where to start, we do have LPA for finance
Thanks in advance
Anne x

I've done this for my mother over the past 5 years and this has put off having to sell her house immediately, giving us more opportunity to keep her in a Home of my choice. Her sister was a long time in care with her dementia and therefore I wanted to ensure we could have as much money available as long as possible. Will have to sell once the present tenant's lease runs out but it has give us an extra 6 months money we might not otherwise have had.

We have a letting agency to deal with the tenancy. reduces the rent but is worth it for not having the hassle when things go wrong/ need repairing. We were told it would be better to let unfurnished, as we're not then liable should anything need repairing- just the boiler and oven in the kitchen.

Take note of Wozzie's pointers and you'll need to inform HMRC as tax is liable.

 

[Wozzie]

Oh knickers & Lemonjuice
Thanks for your replies x
Looks like mums neighbour is very interested in her house, rent with a view to buy when we need to sell.
Will look into legalities
Once again, thank you
Anne x

 

[SnowWhite]

Wozzie,

Well done for getting back on your feet. Tough old week. No fun having to put your mum in care.

In terms of renting there are various things you are going to need to do.

Legally you need Gas and Electric checks done and a certificate to say you have done so. Need to be done ? every year. You also legally need smoke and fire alarms. One downstairs and one upstairs. You also need to get specialist house insurance. Plenty out there.

Check what needs sprucing up. Paintwork, bedding, mattresses etc. A good estate agent should be able to guide you. Get a few round and you will learn from each of them.

In view of what you have on your plate look at an estate agent doing the renting. Just check what they charge for. they should do the tenant checks, take the money and chase should things go pear shaped. The only thing I would advise is arranging repairs yourself. Tends to end up pricey otherwise.

Should anything need updating eBXy is excellent for new items.

Best of luck.

You would also need an Energy Performance Certificate for the property and if you don't use an agent, then you will need to do 6 monthly property inspections.

I wondered briefly whether to rent out Mums house but have spoken to several people for whom it didn't work out, either because of the hassle involved or doing so and getting stuck with awful tenants.

Mums house is structurally fine but all the carpets would need replacing as they're old fashioned, we would have to take out the stairlift, decorate every room as they haven't been done for years and obviously empty out all her stuff before all this is done. It's a very large garden with hedges that need a lot of attention and I honestly can't see many tenants doing those so that would be down to us too.

 

[lemonjuice]

. . .

I wondered briefly whether to rent out Mums house but have spoken to several people for whom it didn't work out, either because of the hassle involved or doing so and getting stuck with awful tenants.

Mums house is structurally fine but all the carpets would need replacing as they're old fashioned, we would have to take out the stairlift, decorate every room as they haven't been done for years and obviously empty out all her stuff before all this is done. It's a very large garden with hedges that need a lot of attention and I honestly can't see many tenants doing those so that would be down to us too.

Yes much depends on how good condition the house is in. With my mother it was just painting walls and we redid the lino in the bathroom, re-stuck down the one in the kitchen and then it was fine to go.

If you've got major expensive work it's not worth considering. Plus you need to reckon with certain maintenance costs. For example we've just lost around £300 this month with maintenance and replacement of pump for the boiler.

 

[Wozzie]

Thanks once again for your valuable replies,
We're having the house valued, then make a final decision
You really are a great bunch x

 

[nitram]

"We're having the house valued, then make a final decision "

If it's an estate house have a look at what other properties actually sold for.
http://landregistry.data.gov.uk/app/ppd/
Just enter the full postcode, it insists on a space between the two parts.
It can take up to 3 months between 'price agreed' and entry onto the site.

Let's stir your brain cells a bit!

Assume you could get £x net if you sold the property, if you actually had £x in the bank what would you do, buy a property to rent out or something else?

 

[lemonjuice]

Assume you could get £x net if you sold the property, if you actually had £x in the bank what would you do, buy a property to rent out or something else?

Hope you don't mind me interrupting here, but this is my big problem and one reason why we have rented as long as we have.
When we do sell, there is nowhere which receives anywhere near a reasonable rate of interest for the amount of money she will be investing. Then one has to allow roughly £50 000 per year to be readily accessible, restricting options even further.

 

[nitram]

"Hope you don't mind me interrupting here..."

Not interrupting at all.

My intention was to suggest that the OP think through all options.

The best answer will depend on individual circumstances.

 

[Spamar]

Note that the land registry prices are the asking prices, not the price actually paid - at least it was with mine some years ago

 

[pippop1]

Note that the land registry prices are the asking prices, not the price actually paid - at least it was with mine some years ago

I don't think that's correct Spamar. I think it shows what was actually paid for a property. It takes around 3 months after a sale or transfer of ownership for the information to appear on the Land Registry though.

 

[nitram]

It's the actual price paid.

Screen grab from my previous link http://landregistry.data.gov.uk/app/ppd/

 

[Wozzie]

"We're having the house valued, then make a final decision "

If it's an estate house have a look at what other properties actually sold for.
http://landregistry.data.gov.uk/app/ppd/
Just enter the full postcode, it insists on a space between the two parts.
It can take up to 3 months between 'price agreed' and entry onto the site.

Let's stir your brain cells a bit!

Assume you could get £x net if you sold the property, if you actually had £x in the bank what would you do, buy a property to rent out or something else?

Thanks nitram
You've given me a lot to think about
we have to make the property work for mum, generating funds for her care, I'm thinking renting it out is the best option ......
am I missing something ?

 

[nitram]

Whether to rent or sell is a personal decision, there are TP members who previously have posted their different decisions and the reasons they made them.

You have to think about mandatory inspections and certificates, maintenance of property and garden, insurance, chance of bad tenants who have no regard for decoration and fittings, agent fees unless you take on a lot of the hassle.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[pippop1]

Not many properties will make £50k or more per year in rent. The property would need to be worth way over £1m (at least in my area it would).

However, don't forget that the PWD will also be getting a pension, or possibly pensions, that will pay some of their fees so it maybe that you don't need to generate £50k but somewhat less than that.