To sell or not to sell

[IanNorm]

Re: income

> £230K in Swindon is a lot of money mate.

It might be a lot of money in Penhill or Walcott, but isn't going to get you much elsewhere - maybe a 3/4 bed rabbit hutch in Abbey Meads.

[DimPrawn]

Re: income

Interesting article here about global house prices and renting vs buying.

www.economist.com/finance/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3722894

A sample:

Take a two-bedroom flat in London, which you could buy for £450,000 ($865,000). To rent the same flat would currently cost £1,700 a month. In addition to a 6% mortgage rate, a buyer would face annual maintenance and insurance costs of, say, 1.25%. In the first year, the rent of £20,400 compares with total mortgage interest and maintenance payments of £33,000, a saving of £12,600. Interest payments would be less if a large deposit were paid, but in that case the income lost from not investing that money elsewhere has to be taken into account.

Assume that rents rise by 3% a year, in line with wages, while house prices from now on rise in line with inflation of 2%. At the end of seven years (the average time before the typical homeowner moves), you would be almost £35,000 better off renting, taking account of the capital appreciation and buying and selling costs. In other words, even without a fall in real house prices—which many believe to be likely—buying a house in Britain today seems a poor investment.

The figures look even more striking in the San Francisco Bay Area, where it is possible to rent an $800,000 house for $2,000 a month. Making the same assumptions about rents and house prices, but also deducting tax relief on a fixed-rate mortgage and adding property taxes, a buyer would pay $120,000 more over seven years than if he had rented. House prices in San Francisco would need to rise by at least 4% a year (2% in real terms) for it to prove cheaper to buy a house. Since 1950 American house prices in real terms have risen by an annual average of just over 1%. To expect them to rise faster from their current dizzy heights smacks of irrational exuberance, to say the least.

I think I'm selling up. Sod renting it out.

[SupremeSpod]

I need to generate an income to keep me in beer when I move to Cyprus next yr.

Do I sell my house now in a falling market (may take time) or do I let my house?

Learned panels view please.

How did things work out for you in Cyprus?

[AtW]

How did things work out for you in Cyprus?

You don't know?

[d000hg]

I was really confused by all those Guest markers until I read the dates... did they integrate threads from CUK 1.0?

[DimPrawn]

You don't know?

Obviously not.

[MarillionFan]

I was really confused by all those Guest markers until I read the dates... did they integrate threads from CUK 1.0?

From CUK 2.0.

CUK 1.0 is lost for ever in the ether.

[BrilloPad]

From CUK 2.0.

CUK 1.0 is lost for ever in the ether.

Please don't let CUK 2.0 be lost when CUK 3.0 comes along. I don't want all my drivel to be lost to the ether. Let it stand for all eternity.

[Old Hack]

Strangely enough I asked the estate agent about the market in Reigate on Monday, as we're umming and arghing on selling two properties we have, or keeping them another year.

He reckons for our properties (~£300k), he said the market is more active than it has been for a long time, with people bidding £5-10k less than asking. Houses are starting to shift, and he thinks it will get slightly better in Summer. People are looking at houses and offering for the right ones. He said prices were about the same now, as they were in 2010.

We're going to hold on for one more year, we have long term tenants in them, comfortably paying off the small mortage and rents are fairly high (£1100 for one, £1200 for the other).

[MarillionFan]

Please don't let CUK 2.0 be lost when CUK 3.0 comes along. I don't want all my drivel to be lost to the ether. Let it stand for all eternity.

This is CUK 3.0 you doofus. CUK_2.0_Is_Here