Why Do You Even Drink?

[TexasRanger]

Here's a quick one. If you had a property in the UK that you could rent out and get the rental income from it, would you do this for ever and use it as a steady income booster for living in Thailand or would you sell it and do something else with the money i.e. invest.

I have no idea about investments so I am leaning towards renting it out premanently through an agency as I don't want the hassle of taking care of it.

Any great ideas?

[cardholder]

Depends what else you would do with the capital.

If you have no specific target for the capital then I would suggest leave in the rental property. There is a strong UK demand for rental properties and rents are rising.

Location is, as always, everything. Getting a corporate let can be good and may avoid the need to lose 15% to an agent.

I let my renters through an agency and pay their fee. I collect/receive rents and I have a good friend in the location should something crop up.

No point in going into tax/CGT at this stage as no details have been provided.

Nothing is forever - you will rent on a 6 month Assured Shorthold Tenanacy which effectively rolls on after 6 months. You, or the tenant, can give 1 month's notice to quit.

Note - if this has been your private residence make sure you obtain Landlord's insurance instead. If the property is mortgaged you should seek the permission of the lender - virtually nobody bothers !

[Jingthing]

It surely depends! I had a similar situation and I sold my western property, and so far, I am glad I did.

Why?

Took some of the profit and bought a condo in Thailand for cash. This pays me a "return" of free rent every month. It also provides a substantial hedge against continued baht appreciation.

My Thai property "on paper" is now worth almost double the purchase price in six years (when accounting for both appreciation and currency movement).

My USA property on paper is now worth less than it did when I sold it and rental pricing power has not been strong. If I had rented it, the real estate taxes, maintenance fees, plus management fees would have weakened the cash flow considerably. It would have been a major headache; perhaps worth it if I thought I would move back to that area some day, but I know I never want to do that.

The only negative is that my investments with the remainder of the property profits have been less than stellar.

Just an anecdotal example to show there is no one answer.

Edited November 27, 2010 by Jingthing

[Canada]

It was good while I rented out the property and it was good when I got out at the right time..... for that piece of property. Buying a small piece here will give me owners rights as opposed to tenants rights (very few), and leave me with a substantial amount to invest. It has definitely been less of a headache since selling as I was managing it on my own. The final decision was to turn it over to an agency, but then saw it was a good opportunity to get out. Once i made that decision, I sold everything.....fully furnished 4 bedroom house ( and I'm a collector....) car, personal stuff, or donated it, or threw it away in three weeks. As I like having "stuff", it was a very traumatic experience (slightly less than), but now that it is over and I have changed my life completely, rather than sitting on the fence about it, I am very happy. It did take three and a half years of living here doing my own research to finally make this decision.

While I did have the house and all the stuff in it, it was a great back door. Just go home and pick up where I left off. I had rented rooms out to individual people who had stayed there long term, so I kept a room for myself. Not knowing exactly what I wanted....it was very comforting knowing that in a day....I could change my mind and go home. Thailand is home now, and I am happy with that change in mindset....so far.

Good luck

[CharlieH]

You dont state how long you have been in Thailand full time so assuming its quite recent..........

I was in a similiar position, and I would advise to KEEP the property if you dont really need the capital cash. If you want the income then rent it out. The reason being, it is always good to maintain a UK address, (hospitals ,doctors, banks etc) in the short term, and if the worst comes to the worst you have somewhere to go back to if it all goes wrong or you have a serious accident or illness. If you're happy and settled after 5 years living in Thailand full time, then consider selling it and committing to Thailand.

Some may disagree and they are obviously entitled to their opinion, but this is my opinion,Thailand can and does change its regulations/rules all the time as does the Government change frequently and you never know what or how that will effect your Visa or long term postion in Thailand, play it safe for the first 5 years and until you feel certain before burning your bridges behind you.:jap:

Of course if you have already been here longer than that,then none of this is really relevant. just thought I would add that in as some smart ar*se splitting hairs and trying to be clever is bound to comment, as they always do.

Edited November 28, 2010 by CharlieH

[chainarong]

If you have assets as a back up, keep it , don't burn your bridges, unless you really have to.

[Jingthing]

I have a US address. (A friend.) No need to own property just to have some kind of western address. Also, most tenants would be offended to have to deal with your postal correspondence coming to them. I agree it is very useful, sometimes even vital.

[bushwacker]

Two rules come to mind:

1. Your assets must be diversified.

2. Only invest in what you know and understand.

cheers

:jap:

[TexasRanger]

Some good info as usual.

I have a house in Thailand all bought and paid for, this is my semi retirement home, I have lived in Thailand about 6 years or so. The mortgage on the UK one is minimal now and like previous posters I rent to friends/acquaintances but the place will be empty next year so I think it will be a good time to do it up and get rid of all my old personal stuff, I hate throwing stuff out but can't be sentimental, after all, I haven't needed anything there in the last few year so I reckon it is surplus to requirements.

I guess even with a 15% fee for full management the rent would come in handy, I couldn't retire on that alone but it would certainly top the fund up.

I will do some more calculations but can't really see a viable and more importantly 'safe" option.

[PattayaParent]

^depending on the area your house is in, then don't forget that UK housing prices are at a low at the moment and are not likely to rise in the short term. you may be better to hold on to it and sell when the prices increase again unless you can put the money into something that will make you a lot of money in the short term?

[ExpatJ]

I would keep it- prices are terrible right now (in July average house price fell by 6000 pounds in one month!!!!!) plus you might not even find a buyer. If it was pre-crash i would have said sell when prices were sky high.