hypnorm

How do you find renting? we are constantly struggling financially and we are thinking of selling the house and clearing the mortgage and some of the debts, and then renting for a while.
OH's BIL has been renting and has found some lovely property.
I've just been looking and there are some really nice houses out there.
Never rented before so no idea how it works at all!
do you have to pay all the bills on top of the rent?

I hate the thought of having to move every couple of years though especially with Ewan starting school next year. So we really need to sort things before then.

Stephie 25

We rent a property, and have done since we got married. Although ours is through the council, so may be slightly different. We have the property basically for as long as we want, t is a long trem tennancy. We pay a set ammount to the council, then pay all out bills on top, council tax, water, gas etc. I guess it is like a mortgage in that respect.

You can get some places where rent includes water and council tax, just ask them what the rent covers when you hav a look round.

We have to get our own contents insurance, but they cover the building insurance.

Wobbles

Pay your rent & bills as you would if you owned your house hun!

Isn't what you'd pay on rent the same as you'd pay on a mortgage? I you have a high mortgage poss consider another house - My Aunt for example had a house worth £250,000 in London she moved to a house at £130,000 North West Wales!

Renting and moving is a hard one to know ...You always start on a 6month tenancy that just gives you and the owners time to decide if you want to be there they want you there but you should always ask if its long-term and a continuious (sp?) tenancy however they have the right to sell up give you 28 days notice to end tenancy like you have the right to gives 28 days warning that your handing in your tenancy - some are more but most are standard 28 days.

Rent is always a month in advance & a deposit equal to the rent is also payable - returned to you when you leave the house.

polo_princess

I live in rented at the moment and its so much easier ... i actually think overall its a teeny bit more expensive than buying but youve got not real ties to it if your renting.

All landlords so different things, some do an all in price for rent & bills, some cover rent and council tax, some cover rent only. Its best to have a look around and see what you can get.

You often get better deals on all in prices if you go privately rather than through an agent. I rented a one bed flat privatley for £350 a month rent, bills the lot, wherea now through an agent i pay £600 a month and all my bills and whatnot on top.

Emmea12uk

renting is not a cheaper option. You are only throwing your money away to pay off someone else's mortgage - but you are free to relax from financial worries, expecially as interest rates climb. Your rent can only be increased every 12 months, and the percentage is small.

However, rents are normally higher than mortgages - so you arent saving anything. if you are struggling to pay your mortgage or worried about the affordability in the future, you might put your mind at rest by remortgaging to a better and more secure rate, one that can't go up, or buy selling and buying a smaller property.

renting really isnt a good option, because owning property is an investment, and renting is a loss. If the market is looking bad at the moment, provided you can make it through the down times, it will pick up and some again within a few years. if you sell now, you may find yourself not able to buy again for a very long time.

I sold my house due to divorce last year, and it felt so good to be mortgage free, but now I am starting to get annoyed by renting already. It isnt my house, and I cant do this, and i cant do that, but the amount i would pay in a mortgage to own it is much less than my rent.

If you need any advice on remortgaging - just ask. I am happy to give you some for free!

Mynxie

Renting and owning aren't that much different tbh. Renting someone else sorts out stuff if there's repairs need doing, buying you do it yourself. Moving when you rent can be done very fast though, whereas when you buy it takes ages!

Arcanegirl

Our income is low so it suits us to rent. Were in a housing association flat so the rent is low and theres not as many restrictions on our flat as there would be going private (decorating, pets etc)

We dont get to save a massive amount of money on our income so it puts my mind at rest knowing that if theres a problem with the flat that need repair we can call the housing and they will sort it without it coming out of our pocket.

Elli21

We've rented 3 different property and all landlords are different.
Some landlords want you long term, some short term, some will let you put shelves up and decorate and others wont. Etc etc.

Id recommend it...

But the only advice i can give is go through an estate agent, the privately rented property we rented was a nightmare....and ive heard this alot with my friends too. If you go thru an estate agents they charge, (wh brown are strupid amounts..the theives) but if something goes wrong you ring them and they sort it out. Saves u alot of hassle.

LMP_Jaxon

We've looked into doing the same thing as we need to move pretty soon to accomodate little one properly. The plan was to sell up, clear debt and rent for a whilet whilst saving a deposit and waiting for the market to settle down.

Thing is, to rent a somwhere in Greater London with two bedrooms was ridicoulsy higher than our mortgage (especially when you take into account that we have a dog and so ideally wanted a garden). I didn't like the restrictions that came with renting either although what is going with the market at the minute is as frightening as it comes I think it's more beneficial financially in the long run just to ride out - comprimises to the dozen I think.

hypnorm

I have been looking at some of the rentings locally and they are cheaper than our mortage! although they are not in as nicer area. our problem is we have the mortage for the house and also a 2nd mortgage on top of that for something else. so if we sold we could clear both mortages, but then we loose all the equity that we had, and may not be living in such a mice area especially as i know alot of the mums now and the area.
I think our best bet is to stick here as long as we can and hope that my husbands company builds up a bit more and starts gaining rather than being equal or out of profit. Just so difficult to know what to do, we moved in to a bigger house 5 yrs ago and i think in hind sight we would have been better staying where we were... bu there you go.. live and learn... credit cards have a lot to answer for too- hate the damn things!