Buying vs renting?

Has anyone had experience with selling a home in the UK after returning to the US? I'm considering buying - I sold my house in California and can miraculously afford to pay cash for a place here in the Northeast! BUT I'll likely only be in the UK until July 2025, when my Graduate Visa expires. (I want to stay, just being realistic about my options.)

Is it worth it? The rental market is awful here right now (nothing available, and even places in poor condition are going in a heartbeat). How difficult would it be to sell a property in the UK if I had to move back to the US?

Also, am I right in understanding that there's no property tax for homeowners beyond standard council tax? If so, then it seems financially it would make the most sense to buy, if I can pay cash, as I'd be paying council tax regardless...?

Stamp duty is the killer on the UK side. It’s essentially a lump sum tax payment at the time of purchase.  Have a look and see what the cost would be in your price bracket (they’ve changed so much frequently I haven’t kept up). 

Normally it’s recommended to plan to be somewhere 5-7 years to justify buying, but it’s definitely dependant on individual circumstances. 

Thanks, I am looking at homes in the 200k range, though, and I thought stamp duty was £0 for properties under 250k?

You are correct: you will not pay stamp duty because the threshold is £250,000.

I assume that by "Northeast" you mean NE England -- not Scotland. I have bought and sold four properties in England over the past 35 years and it can be very stressful indeed. A contract is only finalised at the 11th hour and, until then,  the buyer or vendor can pull out, change price or delay. Sadly, I have found that people are not always telling the truth.  For example, vendors may claim to be "chain free" but, after a few weeks, you  learn that they really haven't committed to a new property.  Or the person they were buying from also has decided to find a different place. The chain can grow and grow.

To get a good idea of prices, look at everything in your area/price range on Rightmove and Zoopla and see how quickly they've gone under offer, or if they've been reduced.  Check the sold prices. I've noticed that lately the Land Registry  (https://www.gov.uk/search-house-prices) has more recent sales data than Rightmove. Visit local estate agents and explain that you're a cash buyer who can proceed quickly.  Often an agent will know about a property that's stuck in a chain or is about to come on the market. When you've found a property, be sure that you get a structural survey and a good solicitor.  Be aware of issues that a mortgage company might question and raise these yourself.

In your situation, I see SELLING as a bigger problem because it can take months to complete. If buyers know that you're about to return to the States, they could ask for a reduction at any point..  As long as you own the property,  you must pay Council Tax, utilities and homeowners insurance. And, remember that FX rates may go against you when you want to change the proceeds back to USD.

Good luck.





 

Has anyone had experience with selling a home in the UK after returning to the US? I'm considering buying - I sold my house in California and can miraculously afford to pay cash for a place here in the Northeast! BUT I'll likely only be in the UK until July 2025, when my Graduate Visa expires. (I want to stay, just being realistic about my options.)

Is it worth it? The rental market is awful here right now (nothing available, and even places in poor condition are going in a heartbeat). How difficult would it be to sell a property in the UK if I had to move back to the US?

Also, am I right in understanding that there's no property tax for homeowners beyond standard council tax? If so, then it seems financially it would make the most sense to buy, if I can pay cash, as I'd be paying council tax regardless...?

Our daughter has just moved from LA to the NE of England and just bought a house close by us with 11 rooms, 4 bathrooms and 3 gardens (it is a corner plot) for under £400k and is probably going to buy another house with the money she has left over to rent out, so I can certainly see why you like the idea of buying and then selling in a couple of years. A long time ago when we moved to the USA we kept our UK house and rented it out for 6 years before selling it, doing it all from the USA and the agent we employed to handle the rental and eventual sale did a great job.

However, as mentioned above it can be really good or bad and you have no idea which experience you will have. Our daughter was lucky when she bought because the owners were moving to Australia and she was paying cash  so there was no chain of buyers and sellers involved. When we have sold houses here, done so 4 times now we have been lucky each time and it has taken from as little as 6 weeks to as long as 3 months. It took 3 months to buy our current house from acceptance of offer in 2016, and again we considered ourselves to be very lucky.

For such a short stay I would not risk buying a house for the length of period you are looking at living in it.