[Andy B]

I need some advice from the people that have done it ! ? Made the move down under that is !

I'm getting a lot of advice from family/friends and it's nearly all the same saying "rent the house out you can always come back if it doesn't work out".

Now this maybe sound advice but I feel like I'm not giving it a proper go if I go down that route. Too easy to cut and run when things are bad which I'm sure it will be at times.

There's no way I could buy a house in NZ without selling the one here in the UK first. I could rent of course but there again will I be giving it a proper go by not buying my own home?

Ultimately it's my decision but any advice or stories of how you coped with this dilemma would be great thanks.

[holland]

Hey, I am not in NZ yet, but having read through lots of posts people have said that they seem to struggle to settle when renting, and so buy quicker than expected when they go to NZ. We would like to rent UK house out also, but feel in order to settle in NZ and give it our full comittment, we will need the capital to buy...Im sure you'll get lots of reponses tonight. Good Luck with whatever you decide to do.

j

[Moorf]

You say you can't buy in NZ unless you sell your home in the UK.

Because of that alone I would say sell your UK home, unless the rent you'd receive would cover any UK mortgage and leave a little by to cover expenses etc, and perhaps pay your NZ rent?

I do also agree that there's an element of it being easy to return to the UK if there's a house waiting for you, but if you sell your home in the UK and have the money ready to buy a NZ property it will make your life here easier - many of us who intended to rent for a while found ourselves yearning to get in to our ownn place, and often when you are in your own home with all your bits and bobs around you it makes being here that little bit easier in the early days.

Another thought - would you be able to deal with the stress of selling a home in the UK when in NZ? Would you need to fly home to sell it? How long would it take to sell? What if you found your dream home here and needed the money from home sale but it took months to sell? (can you tell I'm a worrier?!)

Also, you could invest the profit from your UK home sale and the interest could go some way towards rent in NZ.

Ultimately it depends on the sort of person you are - do you jump straight in or are you a dip the toe in first kinda guy? ;)

Moorf

[K&CS]

People do have varying opinions on this. For us, there was no way we were going to make the move without selling the house first. We wanted to have the money with us so that we could buy if we wanted. We also wouldn't want the hassle of having a home in the UK that we had to attend to and pay out for any problems. I always felt that if we were making a clean break and cutting ties, then selling the house was so important.

Good luck whatever you decide.

Kate

[Pip]

Just something else to think about... our tenant dropped out at the last minute - after we had signed our part of the rental agreement and gone to NZ, so we are now paying a UK mortgage and NZ rent on a NZ salary. :(

Well, to be 100% truthful, actually we're not, because there's no way that we could afford to - but luckily we left some money in the UK to cover this eventuality, but if we don't get a tenant within the next few weeks, we'll be putting it on the market, which will be a pain to do remotely. In all honesty, I'm sort of wishing we had sold it before we left...

just something to think about, if your tenant bails or refuses to pay, are you going to be able to manage.. on the flip side, its nice to think if we can hold on to it, that we have a property on each side of the world, so hopefully at least one will increase in price!

now.. that was as clear as mud wasn't it...:laugh

[willsken]

Well, I certainly wasn't going to come over without selling our home first. Again it's the 100% commitment thing. I'm so glad we did, as I didn't take to renting at all. We decided to rent for 6 months before committing to buying somewhere so we could get a feel for things. We lasted 3 weeks. I really think it depends on what you are like as a person. I NEED my own place to be happy and secure and I didn't feel the rest of my life could begin until we had our own place. In the same way there are many out there who rent and are happy. One of the things I didn't like, was not being able to do stuff to the house, I just felt bored. We are also trying to sell a rental property in the UK at the moment and tbh it's a bit of a pain.

One thing to consider though is the exchange rate is not very good at the moment but it could be many months before there is an improvement. Do you want to be held at the mercy of the exchange rate or will you just bring the money across regardless?

There is a lot to consider and only you know how you will feel. If you have made a decision that the move for you is permanent then I would say there are many reasons to sell and get on with the rest of your life in NZ.

[nippa&pippa]

Our house was still in market by the time we left for NZ caused lots of problems afterward when there was few problems with house during we were in NZ that we normally can fix it ourselves but with us stuck other side of the world, we had to fork out to pay someone to fix it...but just remember nz's wage is lower than UK's wage, so cost us fortune to get fences replaced and to fix leaky pipe etc. I am so pleased that house finally sold last months and can't wait to find a house to move in as I couldn't settling in rental house...I just want my own house, that I can do something with it etc without restriction of 'can't put poster/picutres on the wall, can't cut back overgrown bushes etc, can't ... can't.... can't...':mad: (even I explain to landlady that kid likes to have picture on the wall to cheer them up like thomas the tank engine:laugh !)

[Sam B]

Well, we decided to rent out our home in Cornwall and rent in NZ so we had a get out clause. It seemed like a good idea. When we arrived here, I knew very quickly that actually I would never really settle here unless I was living in my own house with my own stuff (which is in storage in the UK). So only 6 weeks after they had moved in, I had to turf out my poor tenants and put my house on the market, so we could buy here. I feel really bad about that. The house has sold v quickly. Now we are buying land here, and knbowing that has made me feel really excited for the first time since being here. So - caution does not always pay. If you like owning your own home, then be prepared to feel very unsettled in a rental.

[willowshouse]

Not that I disagree with any of the above postings but ...

Consider how you would feel if you sold up in the UK .. came over here and bought a house .. lived here for a while .. decided it wasn't for you, after maybe a year .. sold up and went back to the UK and found that the house you left behind has increased in value by 20% whereas the one you bought and sold in NZ increased by only 10% (not to mention the massive selling fees incurred). To top it all off .. you buy another property in the UK and have to pay stamp duty on your purchase.

Like I say .. I don't disagree with any of the previous posts, they are all good reasons for selling up. Just give it some thought and then you can't say you didn't consider the pitfalls.

Regards,
Dawn

[speckythecky]

As you can see there are lots of pros and cons for each idea.

I would love to sell up in uk and take the money with me but we are telling everyone including the boys, that we are only going for a year. It all depends on me getting a decent job, If I can't then we will come back to UK, If I can then we will stay.
One thing to note is that an article in the papers stated that house prices had risen by an average of £8000 last month. That is a great reason to keep a house in UK.
We should get nearly £1000 for rent each month which easily covers mortgage, but the panic is that we don't get a tenant or there are problems with the house

[Sam B]

If you get a good property agent, it should be fairly stress free renting out your home. We had a brilliant one, had no problem getting tenants, the agents managed everything in our absence, including the sale of the house.

[Andy B]

Thanks for all the replies to my question. Well we have thought long and hard about it and we have decided to rent the house out. We will be coming to NZ with an open mind it could turn out to be a working holiday or an permanent move, only time will tell. Anyway the EOI is in with 170 points and a job offer, hopefully it will get selected on Wednesday. We hope to in NZ by September !!? is this realistic ??

[Sam B]

Yep, that's more than realistic. If you have all your paperwork ready at the ITA stage, you could have PR within 6 weeks with a job offer. It doesn't usually take long to rent a house.

Bet you stay!