Beppe

I second this post.

You are far better selling your house yourself than letting the bank do it for you and then chasing you for the difference between the debt and the sale price.

Unfortunately, it isn't a simple case of handing back the keys and the matter is closed.

Investigate whether or not your local housing authority is willing to buy your house from you.

Good luck. The quicker and more decisively you act the better.

Wol

Yes, pedantic - guilty as charged.

But I stand by the comment: we *have* to have houses, and they cost far more than the cash most of us have as well as lasting many decades during which they are paid off.

Cars and TVs are discretionary items, cost far less and a loan is not virtually mandatory.

A large part of the current credit crisis is due to people not appreciating this difference.

philnorris

Some one said earlier that "At least if the bank get it they MUST sell it at market value" I am pretty sure this is not true.

I bought my first house as a reposession, the bank had took it from the previous owner and advertised it in the local estate agents. Houses in the are where going for around £32k at the time however I got this from the bank at £14750 as they wanted rid of it ASAP.

Flutterby

I don't think that they have to sell it at market value, they want to recover what they have lent and the costs they will have incurred. This might be less than the property's full value.

leese2504

Not sure where you are at with this, but could you not consider asking your mortgage lender for interest only until you sell your house? or maybe spreading your payments over a longer period?

Beppe

Seem to recall that there is an agreed code of conduct that they must take reasonable steps to achieve the best price possible. However, “reasonable” is open to interpretation and can be as simple as advertising in an auction catalogue. They will sell it at whatever price someone is willing to pay for it on the day.

RenShen

To the op, is there any chance you could convert your mortgage to interest only and rent the house out until the market picks up? I agree with the other posters who suggest anything is better than reposession.

Mikeyc

It won’t affect your credit in Australia or being able to get a house in Australia.

But DONT DO IT, it will cause so many problems than it’s worth, what if it doesn’t work out in Oz and you have to go back? It will be full of so many problems for you.

Why not try rent it out while you are gone?

Mikey

Sonny & Lynne

IT IS TRUE.
In laymans terms The mortgage conduct of business rules which came into effect in 2003/4 basically prohibits lenders from selling repossessions below the fair market value merley to recoup any capital loss and loss of interest.

On the one hand (when the market is depressed) this makes the lender more reluctant to repossess. On the other it increases the potential liabilities of the borrower because the borrower remains liable for the loan repayments until a 3rd party sale is agreed at afair market value.

The lender will try to exploit this. and who could blame them, they are in business to make money. However the raft of legislation and guidance that dictates what lenders should do in repossession cases in vast and genrally tries to protect the borrower in so far as is reasonably practicable.

Belive it or not lenders do not like to repossess (particularly when the market is depressed) If,,,,and its a big If,,,, the law and guidance is applied and adhered to properly its not that proffitable for them to repossess peoples homes.

Good legal advice on the matter will save a repossessee a good deal of unfair charges and penalties which the lender will try to collect. And if advice is sought early enough will often buy the potentail repossessee a considerable ammount of time to resolve the matter.

If a lender is forced down the repossession route they will attempt to levy as many charges and penalties as they can because repossesions cost them time and money. most of these charges and penalties are unfair and unenforcable in the eyes of the courts. Lenders rely on the fact that most people when in an untennable situation will belive everything that the lender tells them because most borroweres do not know how to get proper independent legal advice. Dont belive the lender. Get independant Legal Advice from a suitablly qualifed advisor.

To the OP i would say get qualified legal advice from as many sources as you possibly can, avoiding repossession is not that difficult if you act quickly with qualified assistance. And, Qualified assistance will save you a lot of money in unfair penalties and charges if the worst comes to the worst.

BethandAndrew

Could you validate your visas and then you will have another 4 years to enter Australia? (If on a PR visa).

Also see if you can change your mortgage to an 'interest only' mortgage.......may reduce your new payment in Jan to what you are paying now again. Usually free of charge and a simple form to fill in or done over the phone. Only downside is you will owe the full amount that is on your mortgage balance when you sell as you are not slowly decreasing it every month.

We are in a very similar position to yourselves........and are still waiting to sell after 15 months on the market

Beth x x

rjt3

My wife is an Australian with a large family in Oz and both our child are Australian Citizens by decent so they are all just waiting 4 me
and the thought of not seein my wife & kids each day is killin me

our mortgage is intrest only already and jumps to just under £1k a month :curse:

at this point we should be looking forward to the future , but with this hangin over our heads its becomin very stressful, and making myself snappy towards my family , but this isnt their fault

Decisions Decisions

BethandAndrew

pm'd you

rjt3

ok cheers

Rachel...

Pm'in you

tasmas

We're in the same boat. Mortgage is already on interest only because we're trying to sell. I've been ill so am now on half pay. Mortgage company said they can let us pay half for 2 months but then we'd have to catch up the 2 months after that. What help is that?
Things are tight, we're on agreements with credit cards etc but if i lose my job then i think we'll just be posting the keys to mortgage company. Which is the last thing we want to do. But there's no buyers and we can only keep reducing the price in the hope that the right person comes along.