Can't sell house in Eire, now living in Oz, advice please?

Hi all, and thanks in advance for any advise.

Partner and I moved to Oz early in the year. We put the house in Tipp on interest only payments hoping to sell quickly. The minute we took off the market decided to crash.

Cant afford to pay rent and live here, and pay full mortgage at home. So Irish house must stay on interest only payments.

House is valued at 280k, remaining mortgage is 220k.

What would anyone advise would be the best way forward?

Try another estate agent? Reduce the price of house drastically?

In my eyes, the interest we are paying now is dead money, along with the house reducing in value all the time.

Confused and stressed out....

HELP!!!

Re: Cant sell house in Eire, now living in Oz, advice please?

you should get your estate agent to put the house up for rent perhaps at least your mortgage will be paid and you can hold on to your investment. i believe as long as you have owned the house over two years you are entitled to rent it out without losing any ftb benefits you may have gotten when you purchased the house ie. tax breaks et.

Re: Cant sell house in Eire, now living in Oz, advice please?

If you're stressed, why not reduce the house to 220k for a (hopefully) quick sale?

Re: Cant sell house in Eire, now living in Oz, advice please?

irishinoz said:

House is valued at 280k, remaining mortgage is 220k.

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Did you get any viewings recently?

To be honest, I would be inclined to put the property for sale at €220k. That way, you'll be able to blow the competition out of the water, drum up some interest and hopefully get a better sale price.

Re: Cant sell house in Eire, now living in Oz, advice please?

HI,

Things are tough now. I might be in the same situation very soon. Would you not try to improve the interior design before reducing the price? I would also recommend professional photographer for taking pics of your house. You should make sure that everything is perfect in your house and that people who enter the house would be able to see themselves living there. Remove all personal belongings, photographs etc. If still no success try to rent it out. Good luck!

Re: Cant sell house in Eire, now living in Oz, advice please?

spending money on changing the interior design my be just throwing good money after bad...most buyers change it to suit their own taste anyway.

Re: Cant sell house in Eire, now living in Oz, advice please?

Is the house in Ireland rented out?

Even with the house rented out, you will probably do well to nett €7500 p.a. in rent, versus perhaps €11,500 in interest payments. So if you keep it, it will continue to be a drain on your cashflow for a while no matter what. The best case scenario for keeping the house is that:

A. if it is rented and only costing you a net 3k-5k per annum, then it is perhaps not so bad if (and to be blunt it is a very big if) you believe that the €280k is as low as the value is going to go.

B. If the capital value holds up, and if rents increase in line with inflation (also a fairly big if), then in a few years ordinary inflation might be adequate to bring the rent to a point where it is self sustaining, and where you have not sustained (further) capital losses in the interim. At that point, you are on your way to having a reasonable investment property.

The best case is not that great, and requires a fairly optimistic outlook.

All in all, based on the limited info given, and especially if there is no extra factor (for example if for whatever personal reason you want to have the 'security' of owning a house in Ireland) it is hard to see why it would be a good investment to hold on to this house.

So, it seems that - unless you are both optimistic and want to retain this particular link to Ireland - the logical next step is to grasp the nettle and sell for whatever you can get over €220k;

Re: Cant sell house in Eire, now living in Oz, advice please?

Hi,

I wouldn't reduce price to E220,000 if that's your outstanding mortage - as a potential buyer nowadays won't offer you that - they'll offer E180,000 - if you want to sell drop price to E240,000 to perhaps get E220,000. With regards to interior so long as it is decluttered, clean, bright and airy - I wouldn't go spending vast sums of money on interiors - declutter, bright walls, clean and airy. Best of luck.

Re: Cant sell house in Eire, now living in Oz, advice please?

You will sell if your price is low enough. Where are you getting the 280 valuation from? Have you checked daft.ie for similar properties in your area to get an idea of asking prices? Mob's post gives you all the options that you should be thinking about but you should also think if I don't sell now and hold out for another year and what if the property goes below the 220 value.

Just reduce the price to what someone will pay. This could be above or below €220k. What ever it's worth now, it will be worth less in 6 months so don't waste your time.

If you are in Oz on a temp Visa you may be entitled to LAFHA payments

Living Away From Home Allowance

see here [broken link removed]

this means that your employer could pay your rent and food costs tax free in australia thereby increasing you take home pay substantially

The fact that you still own a house in Ireland will prove that you are Living away from Home

Where in Oz are you, heading over myself soon and will be in same scenario

Mr DT said:

Just reduce the price to what someone will pay. This could be above or below €220k. What ever it's worth now, it will be worth less in 6 months so don't waste your time.

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good advice, your risk of loss goes up with each week that this property remains unsold so get cutting! (your price that is )

further details on LAFHA

Re: Cant sell house in Eire, now living in Oz, advice please?

starlite68 said:

spending money on changing the interior design my be just throwing good money after bad...most buyers change it to suit their own taste anyway.

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Yes, you are right, however to some degree only. It wont cost that much and some things could be rented out. When I view some houses for sale they are just horrible and it would put you off straight away. For me it is enough to open the door and I know straight away that I do not like the house (smell, mess etc). First impression counts. If the interior will be nicely designed and NEUTRAL! there is more chance that the house will be sold. Anyway it would be still cheaper than selling it for 220 if the house was valued at 280. Worth to try. Something must be wrong with the house if it is on the market for long time. Now you have to give something extra. There are plenty of houses out there.

Re: Cant sell house in Eire, now living in Oz, advice please?

detail said:

Anyway it would be still cheaper than selling it for 220 if the house was valued at 280.

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thats probably true...but because its valued 280..means noting in this present climate.....at the end of the day its only worth what someone is willing to pay for it!

Thanks for all the replies, food for thought.

IIO

Living away from home allowance, great idea, see below


Tax back
You should be entitled to an income tax/prsi return from ireland and not completed a tax year.

Re: Cant sell house in Eire, now living in Oz, advice please?

starlite68 said:

spending money on changing the interior design my be just throwing good money after bad...most buyers change it to suit their own taste anyway.

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x 2.

Sorry, but there's been a property crash. All that Liz O'Kane b*ll*cks won't help a bit.

P.

I was in a very similar position to you until 2 months ago. Last year, I put my apartment on the market because I was moving to Austria and it took me 14 months to sell it. My only regret now is not slashing the price of it earlier. I eventually sold it, didn't make a loss but doubt if it would sell for the same price I got for it in July even now. Hindsight is wonderful. My advice is to slash the price to the absolute lowest you can go, sell it and forget about it. You will hear so much nonsense from people telling you to 'hang onto your investment', and agents telling you to ride it out until the next big upturn. It isn't coming any time soon. Renting is a serious pain unless you have a real long term plan, I mean a real one where the sums stack up even with serious downside scenarios built in. If like me, it's like a stone around your neck and a not very nice connection to a life you were probably really sad to say goodbye to, then just let it go and forget it.
Best of luck in Oz!!