Moving back to UK, and renting house out in oz

[Kt Pom]

I don't know if this has been covered at all but here goes. We have had our house on the market for 6 months now with not so much as a nibble! We would like to be back in the uk for family reasons ASAP. Has anyone rented out their Australian house whilst living and working in the uk? I was wondering how we would stand with regards to tax in Australia?

Cheers

[Phil & Vikki]

Not too sure how it would go regarding tax, but if we move back to the UK, it is something that we would be considering doing too.

 

However, the one main thing that would make us have second thoughts is our experience of renting our house out in the UK while we are in Australia. Now, (touch wood) it is going smooth and we can sit back and let it look after itself, but it was not always like that. In the second let, a few things needed replacing and the agency were not the most helpful in sorting things out. It got to the point where we said if anyone is not happy; let them know they can leave whenever they want. For one appliance the agency would only deal with their recommended supplier, who was charging about 3 times more, than what the same item could be brought for down the high-street. To cut a long story short, our father went down to curry’s paid for the item out of his own pocket and then we were going to pay him back. That was the only way it could be sorted. Without him doing that, the issue would have gone on for a lot longer and many an hour spent worrying about it.

 

Without someone in the place where you are renting, who has your best interests at heart, you may find it hard to manage when things happen. Agents (in our experience) may not always want the best for you, or so we found out with ours.

[Wellers and Whitehead]

Would it be worth reducing the price? I'm sure you have thought for a quick sale. Good luck!

 

as phil and Vickys have highlighted, would it be best to get it reduced for a quick sale, rather than worry about a property so far away?

[fourcorners]

When you fill out a tax return in the UK you will have to declare your overseas income, i.e. rent. I'm assuming you would also still have to do an Australian tax return as well but you can't be double-taxed. Not sure which country would take tax the Australian income though, best speak to an agent. Maybe when you get your tax done this year ask them about it?

[Kt Pom]

We have reduced the price of the house 4 times, it's ow at the lowest we can possibly go. Unfortunately we have chose the wrong time to sell as there has recently been 6 complete new hosing estates opened up within close proximity to our house. We are expecting an increase in the local population shortly as the local industry is expanding rapidly.

We are off to see a financial adviser soon to see what our options are.

[surfndirt]

We have reduced the price of the house 4 times, it's ow at the lowest we can possibly go. Unfortunately we have chose the wrong time to sell as there has recently been 6 complete new hosing estates opened up within close proximity to our house. We are expecting an increase in the local population shortly as the local industry is expanding rapidly.

We are off to see a financial adviser soon to see what our options are.

 

Don't sell it unless you have too. If you want to make any $$ out of it, it needs to be a long term play. Stamp duty takes care of that.... Remember the whole industry relies on people selling up as a knee jerk reaction - don't give em the pleasure :-)

 

We have;

 

1x 3 bed duplex in London

1x 3 bed ex council in London

1x 4 bedder down the coast in VIC

1x 3 bedder in SA

1x 3 bedder in Houston, TX

 

All managed remotely with not that much of a drama. Workarounds can be done (recently got a new washing machine delivered and fitted outside of the agent quote for 200 quid cheaper - all on line). Constantly buying and selling will leave you skint I'd assume.

 

Just leave the bugger for 10x years and hey presto - a nice little nest egg.

 

Just my 2c - do what you will :-)

[fizzybangs]

I don't know if this has been covered at all but here goes. We have had our house on the market for 6 months now with not so much as a nibble! We would like to be back in the uk for family reasons ASAP. Has anyone rented out their Australian house whilst living and working in the uk? I was wondering how we would stand with regards to tax in Australia?

Cheers

 

You would opt to pay UK tax I would have thought -you have to opt for one country of the other and as you would be working here in UK it would have to be UK. Not sure what state you are in but as long as the agency is in the (for example Qld) REIQ or assocated in other states, you should be okay but it is true that rental agencies can vary enormously and even the same agency if the rental manager changes. Do a google search such as 'Any problems with renting your house out in Perth' or wherever you live and look for blogs - I do it with every company I use and have continued to do so in the UK. Franchises vary enormously too from office to office so you really do have to do some searching.

[fizzybangs]

I don't know if this has been covered at all but here goes. We have had our house on the market for 6 months now with not so much as a nibble! We would like to be back in the uk for family reasons ASAP. Has anyone rented out their Australian house whilst living and working in the uk? I was wondering how we would stand with regards to tax in Australia?

Cheers

 

You would opt to pay UK tax I would have thought -you have to opt for one country of the other and as you would be working here in UK it would have to be UK. Not sure what state you are in but as long as the agency is in the (for example Qld) REIQ or assocated in other states, you should be okay but it is true that rental agencies can vary enormously and even the same agency if the rental manager changes. Do a google search such as 'Any problems with renting your house out in Perth' or wherever you live and look for blogs - I do it with every company I use and have continued to do so in the UK. Franchises vary enormously too from office to office so you really do have to do some searching.

And get a good adviser who can explain the difference between claiming tax back on either capital gains or ongoing costs (in which case get a quantity surveyors report done - should cost about $300 but will save you so much more money than that and it should set out depreciation schedule for next 5 years) and then you can also claim all ongoing agents costs, repair costs, landlords insurance, etc. We claimed our solicitors costs too when we sold too.

[fourcorners]

Depreciation is not taken into account in the UK, so if you want to declare your overseas income and costs on your UK tax return you can't include depreciation. That's an Australian thing. You can only claim 10% depreciation (effectively wear and tear) on furniture and appliances if your rental is furnished.

[wolvesaussie]

cant u just auction it? most houses around here seem to sell that way

[Sydney]

I don't know if this has been covered at all but here goes. We have had our house on the market for 6 months now with not so much as a nibble! We would like to be back in the uk for family reasons ASAP. Has anyone rented out their Australian house whilst living and working in the uk? I was wondering how we would stand with regards to tax in Australia?

Cheers

We have a couple of properties rented out in Sydney and I think the trick is to make them bomb proof and give them to an agent. You'll be fully taxed on your rental income though. So far we have received a tax bill for $11k, and an advanced tax bill based on projected income for next year which is $17k. We put as much as we can into Australian based super to minimise tax but they sure know how to sting you.. Good luck... Syd.