So, you have decided to pack your bags and travel for an extended period, perhaps on a Big Lap. What are your options with your existing residence? Do you currently rent? Do you have a mortgage? Will the property be able to generate an income so you can travel longer?
If you are heading away on an extended trip for the first time, considering the best option for what to do with your house can be somewhat overwhelming. There are four main options to consider — rent, holiday lease, house swap/house sitters or leave vacant. There's even a fifth option which is to sell the property if you find a new home location on your travels. Each option has a level of financial and emotional risk that needs to be carefully assessed and weighted according to your own circumstances.
Renting your property
If you own your property, renting privately is a great source of income to balance out your travel costs and fund further adventures. There is also the potential to generate supplementary rental income as your home may be in a popular city locale where currently rental properties are scarce. You may also have a property that can capture tourists such as coastal properties or with the post-COVID-19 practices allowing people to live remotely, your country property may provide a temporary haven for the executive that can work from home (WFH).
Even if you do not own your current residence there is still the option to sublet your tenancy if your current lease allows. Leasing or subleasing your residence can be managed by you personally or you could engage the services of local real estate agents to be the conduit between you and the new tenants. Obviously engaging an agent to manage the property is a cost, however it is a legitimate expense.
Look locally for reviews of how these agents are currently performing in this role, as often it is fulfilled by the most inexperienced people within the real estate businesses and can be quite demanding when tenants require attention at the properties in relationship to property maintenance.
There is then the decision whether to leave the property empty, furnished or part-furnished. Again, this will depend on your intended travel duration, your appetite to have potential strangers use your furniture and the space you could make secure on the property to store the items that you are not comfortable leaving to be used by the new tenants.
With little cost and effort areas such as walk in robes, spare rooms and garages can have locks attached and you can secure your most important items for safekeeping until your return. Remember to adjust your house and contents insurance policies to reflect these items being stored on the property — a good idea might be to photograph and list the items stored in this way should anything happen while you are away such as fire, theft or flood.
If you want to remove your furniture from the property you can hire quite inexpensive off-site storage unit in most locations, but this will create another task on your, no doubt growing, TO DO list as you count down to your travel dates. This task also gives you the great opportunity to declutter and potentially leave your property in a state that will allow for future change overs of tenants or even putting the property on the market without necessarily needing to stop mid-trip to come back and prepare the property for sale or release.
You will also need to make sure that your property is up to the current standard health, building and safety regulations especially with pool fencing, balustrades, roofing, power and hot and cold-water supply, fencing, air conditioners, heaters and so on.
Maintaining and making relevant your current insurance policies for building and contents insurances is a critical task that will need management. Potential things to consider include:
- If the house is unoccupied for a certain number of consecutive days (this varies between different insurers and states) and then something happens, such as the house burns down, the claim may not be covered
- Check with your insurance broker to ensure that you do not have to change your policy to tenants insurance
- Also check with your mortgage holder as some mortgage companies will not allow lease/sublet or you could invalidate your agreement with them
- Documenting the arrangements for leasing and subleasing is also important.
- Make sure that the lease you sign with your tenant is airtight in terms of which utilities and expenses are going to be paid for by home owner and which are going to be at the expense of the tenant
- Document who is responsible for repairs, and what to do in the case of emergencies
- Arrange for automatic deposits of rent payments into your bank account. You do not want to ruin your travel by having to micro-manage incoming rents and expenses whilst you are travelling
Benefits of subleasing/private rentals:
- You can potentially leave items in stored areas of the property
- You can determine the length and duration of the lease
- You have the option to come back to the property
Holiday rental
If you are fortunate to live in a location that others would like to visit then this may be a very lucrative option. Since COVID–19 and the Working from Home phenomenon, remote workforce participants are seeking regional Australian, non-coastal locations. This will involve more effort as you again need to decide how you feel about having multiple people using your property, what personal items are you prepared to let visiting travellers use and whether you can store onsite or off-site items that are precious to you.
Service businesses that specifically provide the advertising, booking, even cleaning services that support this type of property leasing include major providers such as Airbnb, VRBO, Stayz, Australian Home Away and Airbnb Channel Management.
If you are tech savvy and are prepared to make arrangements yourself, you could quite feasibly manage the property and not spend the service fees to have one of the major booking agencies do this on your behalf.
Research will need to be undertaken to arrange this outsourcing of a potential holiday rentals:
- Find cleaner, gardener and someone who can fix small property issues
- Buy linen and other items to make guests comfortable
- Organise for an external linen and cleaning service to pick up and refresh linens, towels during longer stays — again if you are declaring this income services such as this are legitimate business deductions
Benefits of holiday renting
- Gives much more flexibility as you can block out when you want to come back and use the property yourself
- Increased rental revenue for holiday seasons
- You can be more selective about who is going to occupy your home
- You can potentially leave items in stored areas of the property
House swap/house-sitters
This option can be an attractive alternative when there are pets, plants, gardens and so on to be maintained. There are a myriad of online agencies that specifically service this market. It is often a paid subscription service that will screen applicants for the homeowners and potential house sitters.
This option does not always generate an income as some house-sitters exchange their time and presence at your property in exchange for living at and maintaining your property. If this is a scenario you would consider make sure you agree in advance about what the house sitters will be expected to do and pay for while they are there including utilities, internet, water use and potentially what your property cannot be used for such as holiday rentals and parties. And leave detailed instructions so that they can refer back to the agreement if needed. Benefits of house swapping or organising a house sitter:
- Gives much more flexibility as you can block out when you want to come back
- Again, you can potentially leave items in stored areas of the property
Leave the property vacant
If you cannot bear the thought of sharing your home and possessions with strangers, you can just secure the property and travel knowing that your home/residence is ready for your return at any point of time.
There are some really good activities that you may like to consider even if renting/holiday letting/house swapping/house sitting or leaving the property vacant:
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Tidy up — This will reap rewards when you return from your trip, as you will not have to keep thinking about having to do these chores once you get home
- Dust surfaces
- Vacuum carpets
- Clean up corners and dispose the garbage
- Flush sinks with a solution of vinegar and water, and pour some chlorine in toilet bowls to avoid bacteria build-up
- Clear guttering
- Put the mail and newspaper on hold — A pile of newspapers and junk mail lying outside the doorstep is a clear indicator of a vacant house. A primary concern when leaving a property vacant is to not draw attention to the fact that it's an empty house, so look at suspending mail and newspaper services
- Target the refrigerator — This is one household appliance that consumes a lot of energy, so turn it off if you are going away for a month or more. Unplug the refrigerator and clean the inside with some baking soda mixed in water. Leave an open packet of baking soda inside the fridge to absorb odours and deter the growth of mould and mildew
- Save Electricity — Unplug all appliances in your house; do not forget kitchen appliances such as your coffee maker. Turn off air conditioners
- Turn off the main water supply — Sinks, washing machine and dishwasher do not need water while you are away, remember to turn off the main water supply before you leave for your vacation
- Schedule lights — Turning off all the lights might seem to be the ideal solution when you are going away on a long vacation. However, by doing so, you will only make the job easier for burglars. Invest in timers and set them such that the lights in your house turn on and off at various times. The least you can do is to install outdoor lights with motion sensors
- Take safety measures — Apart from scheduling lights and making sure you lock up all doors and windows properly, lock up valuables in a safe deposit box and ensure smoke and burglar alarms are working and set properly. Consider installing a wireless video security system. If you have a garage, park your car inside and lock it up. Let your neighbours know you are going to be away and give them your phone number so they can reach you, if necessary
Benefits of leaving your property vacant:
- You can return to the property, and it will be in the state as you left it, this alone may be worthwhile in terms of peace of mind
Food for thought
There are also combinations of these options that may work for your situation and property that could be considered. You need to be comfortable financially and emotionally in the arrangements you choose as travelling and living away from home for a long time can create anxiety and ruin potentially why you are setting off travelling. The following list of general activities may be helpful to consider regardless of your chosen property arrangements:
- Arrange for a local representative, friend, neighbour or relative to manage problems should they arise
- Divert your mail to a PO Box/mail forwarding service or friend or family member
- Request a disconnect of your landline phone and a hold on your number so that you can use the same number on your return
- Talk to your neighbours — give them the contact numbers for your local representative to phone call if they see something amiss
- Take photos or, preferably, video of every detail of your home — keep a copy and give copies to the tenant and your local representative
- Make copies of the keys for yourself and two local representatives
- Give your representatives multiple ways to contact you in case of an emergency
- Introduce your new tenant to a neighbour or two
The best way to make a decision is to do your own further research on how others have made this decision, access travel blogs, chat forums from other extended travellers.
Whether you're exploring the nomadic lifestyle or simply heading away for a couple of weeks, it's important to carefully consider what you'll do with your home while you're away and which option works best for you.
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What to do with your house during an extended trip