Sell House in Retirement and Rent

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roker

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I am 66 yrs of age, on a pension, I live in a semi, my wife is now having trouble climbing the stairs; we need a house on one level and possibly move to a different area of Cork.
We were thinking of selling our house and renting because;
a/ We cannot afford the stamp duty for another house, and it will possible be more expensive
b/ This will give funds for the rest of our days, eg. a decent car, private health treatment etc.

From my sums, (I purchase for €300,000) if I sell for €230,000 I do not think there is capital gains tax, this would give us a decent rent for over 20years, of course the amount will be diminishing, but the interest at first will pay a decent rent of about €150 a week. I am DIRT exempt as a pensioner.
Possibly we will have a better standard, Do you think this a good idea? any snags?
 
Check to see if there is any stamp duty exemption for people buying houses which are adapted for disabled people.

There is no CGT as it's your principal private residence.

Possibly wait a year or two to see if stamp duty is discontinued. Of course, you can rent in the meantime.

Financially, it may be a reasonable thing to rent, but there are other considerations.

If you need to adapt the house, then you will have difficulty adapting a rented house.

As you get older, you may become more attached to your home. Having to move because the landlord is tired of you could be disruptive.

In general, rent vs. buy is a difficult decision.

If you buy a new house, you won't have cash for the things you want.
If you rent, you run the risk that rent might rise and you won't be able to afford to stay in your house.

Could you do any sort of deal with a friend or relative? They would buy a house which you could rent from them? You could even lend them the cash to buy the house. This would give you more security of tenure.

You could also do a deal with a relative. You will leave them your estate, in return for them financing you if you run out of money. Difficult to enforce, but worth talking about now while you have money.
 
Another thing you could do would be to rent your own house, and use that rent to rent a more suitable property?
 
In the current climate, I think the maths adds up to your decision being a sound one.

However, would second Brendan's comments about the suitability of rented accomodation as would be worried about you moving from house/apartment every few years. But then again the flexibility of this might appeal to you. However, what do you do if rents increase to an unaffordable level at least now you own your home!

If you thought you could rent out your house easily enough perhaps renting it out for the initial stages would be a better balance and hopefully the house prices will improve too.
 
You can also negotiate a long term lease with a landlord who would be willing to do modifications for you. If I was guaranteed a good long term tenant for 5 to 10 years I would be probably be willing to do such modifications. Or let the tenant do it on the proviso that it would be returned back to a normal house.
 
The main downside of renting is dealing with disrputable landlords who just won't fix things. ( The main downside of being a landlord is dealing with disreputable tenants)

Getting into a long term lease would be a terrible mess unless it was someone you would really be comfortable with as your landlord. That is why I suggest asking a friend or relative to be the investor.
 
IF you are on a non contributory pension ,you would lose this if you sell your home , as the cash on the sale means you wouldn`t satisfy the means test.
 
HI, Your main problem is your wife's ability to climb stairs and for that reason I think you should not sell the only good asset you have.

If ,for instance, you were to pass away before her,would she be able to cope with landlords and over a 20year period, you could have many different landlords.

Also, the rent will increase and if for some greedy gain the landlord wanted you and or your wife out, things could be stressful. If something goes wrong in your own house ,you can get it fixed without the need to badger anyone.
I would suggest that you consider sleeping downstairs or apply for a stair lift.

As far as having extra funds for comfortable living, you might approach a few banks who ,I think, still provide funds for Asset Release. The bank gives you a reasonable amount of money in relation to the value of your property and you both live out your lives in your own home until both pass on . At that stage ,the bank gains possession of your house.

There are wiser people than me out there but I would not let go of my main asset and I think you should hold on to your home
 
Thanks all. Possibly if we could rent with a comany instead of a private landlord, this would solve one problem, I think these are mainly for apartments though. As far as security, we will be the same as a lot of other people that cannot afford a house.
 
sunrock said:
IF you are on a non contributory pension ,you would lose this if you sell your home , as the cash on the sale means you wouldn`t satisfy the means test.
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I would second that - if its non contribuory forget the whole idea
 
Can`t she live downstairs.Admittedly might need to install a new toilet.
 
Don't underestimate the stress of renting. If your heating suddenly breaks down you can't just call a plumber yourself. You have to try and get hold of the landlord, or the agency etc. The house may be sold etc, meaning you pack up your belongings and start again elsewhere.
Are there retirement villages in the area?
I believe these can be rented on a long term basis and could give you some sort of security at least.
Even if you rent with a agency you can still be kicked out of the house if the landlord wants to sell, or wants a relative to live in the house.
Aren't there equity release schemes for older people still available? Would something like that mean you could make modifications to your existing house.
 
I am on contributory pension so that is not a problem. There is less stress if something goes wrong and its someone else’s problem, I even worry now if there are gales having large areas of tiles off a previous house.
I cannot convert a semi in to a single story house and we need a new location. Retirement villages look a good idea but there's not a lot around Cork, I have just been browsing. The only decent one seems to be Kinsale
 
Would a stairlift or a lift be any help to you?
There was a thread on here about putting a lift into a private house.
I had elderly relatives in the UK, who lived in a 3 bed semi-detached house. One of them was in a wheelchair for 15 years, but they managed to stay in their own home and sleep upstairs because they installed a lift.
It took up half of their dining room, and half a bedroom upstairs. The lift went back up in the morning, so they had the whole of the dining room during the day.
They considered it the best thing they ever bought.
It was easy to install, and easy to remove.
I'm sorry I can't tell you anything about cost, but if it means staying in your own home, it might be worth it.
 
Following on from the last poster who mentioned about installing a lift, there are local authority grants available to help with the cost of installing such equipment and adapting houses for disabled residents. They're likely to be under pressure at the moment with the current state of the economy but it's worth enquiring from your local housing department about Disabled Person's Grants.
 
In relation to contributory and non-contributory pensions - you should check out what would happen if you went before your wife. Would she be entitled to a contributory pension in her own right. A lump sum then would be taken into account.
 
Good point thrifty, I have the contributions, my wife is a dependent. I will look in to this
 
roker said:
There is less stress if something goes wrong and its someone else’s problem
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Unfortunately, in practice, it can often turn out to be your problem too (and present even more stress) if the landlord is not great at getting people in to fix things.
 
If you google Windmill Retirement Village, you will find details of what seems to be a newly built retirement village in the North Cork village of Churchtown near Mallow. I've no connection with these but looks nice.
 
Remember with the retirement villages that you have no guarantees of future costs. Some of the management companies of these have gone bust, leaving their guaranteed contracts flittering in the wind.
 
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