Sell Or Rent It Out?

From our experience, this is always a popular question. Either of these options for your home depends on a lot of different factors and they should be carefully considered! We recommend speaking with your local real estate agent about the following aspects.

Timing

Depending on the time of year, it may not be the best time to sell or rent it out. The beginning and end of the year are the most common peaks of the sales market. They're also the busiest times for rentals because everyone wants to get settled before the Christmas period and then again before school holidays finish. People are also more reluctant to move in the colder months.

Your Needs

Timing can also depend on your situation as the home owner. Selling can take weeks but results in a lump sum of money to either save, put towards your next deposit or invest.

Renting out your home as an investment property means you're going to receive a residual income over the course of 6 - 12 months, or however long you continue to rent it out. This might suit you better if you don't want to sell yet and want that constant income.

Fees

Selling and renting out your property equally have certain fees involved.

If you're thinking of selling, you'll need to consider these fees:

- Agent commission fees (Average is around 2%)

- Real Estate marketing

- Solicitor or conveyancers fees

- Removalist fees

- Building & pest inspection

Renting out your property could possibly involve these expenses at some stage:

- Initial cleaning fee

- Smoke alarm compliancy

- A regular gardener if you're worried about the gardens

- Rates if you're not charging tenants for water or electricity

- Any maintenance costs required by the tenants

- Ongoing management fees to the Agency

- Re-let fees to find a new tenant

- Marketing fees

- Tribunal costs if any case goes to court

- Repairs and damages if the tenant doesn't take care of the property

- Investment property insurance (highly recommended!)

Once again, it all depends on what you're wanting out of each scenario. Simply put: Don't want to let it go just yet? Rent it out. Need a lump of cash to move onwards and upwards? Sell.