Rent or Sell

if you were to rent out your current house, provided you don't buy another classified as a principal place of residence, then you have 6 years grace before you would have to pay some capital gains tax on the sale of it.
I would be inclined to keep it, particularly if you are only heading away for a year.

Gday,
I'm going to rent mine for a while.
Too many of my mates have sold up and left, gone to the city, found out they don't like it and come back. They usually regret selling.
As for renting...I'm going to do it privately.
I also know people who have done it through agents and have had all sorts of trouble. If you have trouble with a tenant and ask the agent to remove them it can take months and cost you a fortune.
If its private you just fly home, throw them out and tell them to take you to court. Its a lot cheaper and quicker.

Here are two true scenarios.
A mate had a house in Coffs Harbour (rented through an agent)and lives in Alice. house (even digging out plants from the garden and selling them!) It took the agent months to evict them and was up to him to pay court costs to try and recoup his money. He lost out!!!

A mate had a unit he rented out in Alice (private tenant).The tenant stopped paying rent and was trashing the unit He would not answer the door or return phone calls.
We went around with a truck, kicked his door in, emptied his unit, left him a note , took it back to the workshop and locked it in a container.
Surprisingly enough he contacted my mate. When asked to pay his rent and repair the damage in return for his belongings or take him to court he decided it was all too hard and left town.
My mate took his gear to the auctions and come out about even.

I know which way I prefer!
Cheers

There really are some questions on these forums that really don't belong....

How on earth can anyone on a forum know your personal financial circumstances and give sound advice.

Seek the help of a financial advisor. By that I mean someone with formal qualifications.

This may help you make or loose 1000s of $$$$.

Hi Jeanette,
Yeah, Its a good question, I would not sell nor would I rent our house to strangers (or anyone else for that matter).
We have been travelling for years wtih no probs re house.
Get a gardner to come once a month to mow lawns, check the retic etc.
Next door neighbours collect mail and we contact them every 2/3 weeks with a forwarding post office.
Easy.

Regards...............BIGDOG

Hi Jeanette,

Another option is to get a House-sitter.
This their website: www.aussiehousesitters.com.au
I have no affiliation with them at all but I have heard about
them from other people. All good reports too!
Just another option for you to think about.

Regards Mike

Think about how much you'll pay in Stamp Duty, Solicitors Fees and Estate Agents Fees if you were to sell and buy another house of the same value.

It makes replacing the carpet and repainting look cheap.

Just remember that “invest money somewhere else” is usually risky if you aim to gain more then bank interest. You can win and you can loose. As direct answer to your question I would say it depends – if you own house fully, then I would rather keep it and rent it, if you own less then half, then I would rather sell it and get investment property instead with aim to negative gearing and converting to your residential property later. But as some suggest – talk to trustable accountant.

Cheers
Serg

If you are not all that concerned about the legal side of things, just burn the place down, claim insurance, invest the insurance money while away, and build a new home when you come back.
The only losers are us honest insurance payers with higher premiums, but at least you won't have to deal with the typical parasite magistrates, who only follow the pollies in keeping as many desperado criminals out of jail to save the stinking state governments from paying to lock the bastards up.
Phew, I feel vented.
Cheers
Ian

We rented privately and had no trouble. We found the perfect spot was right back at home 12 months later. have a fantastic trip.

Thanks everyone, great tips there to consider, have to buy a laptop now so we can keep coming to this site on our travels.

Cheers
Jeanette