pic08

hi all

we are hopefully off to oz in aug on a 457 and want to apply for permanent residency asap. we had our house valued today and due to the slump is valued at £5-10k less than what we owe.

We really want to go in aug, cannot rent it out as we will get no where near our martgage payments each month in rent.

could we hand our keys back to the bank and let them take it auction? we also have a 2nd charge....phew what a mess. If we ended up owing money could we pay it from oz, and would we have a prob getting our permanent residency?

Any ideas and advice will be greatfully received.

ittakesages

I don't suppose you could switch the mortgage to interest only giving you much lower monthly repayments and then rent it out could you? You obviously won't be paying anything off the mortgage but it could maybe give you a couple of years then hopefully things will have settled in the housing market. There's quite a few people on here doing it.

nevsy

Hi
If at all possible do not hand keys back to the bank,if you do this and they make a loss they will come after you for the outstanding amount,even in oz

seek professional advice

best of luck

nevsy

seang

Cant find it right now but there was a post similar to this one before. There was some very good reasons not to do it (hand keys back) maybe you can have a search and find it, might help you decide

Centurion

No you cant simply hand back keys. At auction your property will get next to nothing and the shortfall you will hounded for.

Instead put your property on the market for your mortgage amount plus say 2k, just so you can drop 2k off the price upon negotiation. Just because one real estate agent has undervalued it at 5k your mortgage does not mean to say he/she is right and that margin of error seems very very small to me. You never know and it will cost nothing.

In the meantime why not make sure that you do the property up and turn it into a show home standard. May be impossible to live in for the next couple of months and a pain in the ass, but if it makes your dream reality it may be worth it.

Just practical ideas for you.

Rosscarbery

You local CAB should be able to help you sort this out, but it's not a good strategy to just hand back the keys.

Margaret3

do not do this at any cost, its not worth it in the long term, at one point we almost had our house repossessed (had a business that went bankrupt about 9 years ago, and the financial history of it still follows us in the u.k). We are not at all sure about staying in oz long term, and if we go back to the u.k we probably wont get a mortgage because of above.

See a lawyer before you do anything, i think i would have ended up in the looney bin at that time if it hadnt been for our lawyer.

rocket01

If the house went to auction, you will be doing well to get 85% of the value of the house.

Amazulu

If you sell for 10k less than you owe, that's not very good, but it is preferable to getting the property repossessed. You will end up owing the bank a lot more, and they will chase you for it.

chris and farideh

What if you come here on your 457 visa, & you hated it so much, what are you going to do then, always have a solid plan, where ever you choose to live.
go and talk to your mortgage lender see if there is anything you can do to reduce the monthly payment, then rent it out until you can sell it without losing too much money.
That way your name wont be black listed if you ever decided to move back, if you think bank lend you money, & doesnt want back, than you need to wake up, they alway get what is owe to them, one way or another with loads more interest
Just dont hand the key back to them, that could be the biggest mistake you could make.

turkey12903

we had 4 agents give us a value, 225000, 230000, 235000, 249000.. we sold full asking price 270000

so agree, but your house on the market for what you want..
the right person will come..

Bosola

Just to reiterate what Centurion is saying -

From experience in the 'big crash' of the 90's when my flat was repossessed (I was young and stupid and let things get out of hand instead of dealing with them) -

The bank will not waste time holding on to your property trying to realise the best value for it. Your house will go straight into auction and be sold off - at a usually knockdown price - to whoever bids on it. You are then responsible for the banks losses and you WILL be pursued for it. If it proves difficult for the bank to find you or you are not in a position to pay for some time, the banks will often sell on your debt to another company for a proportion of the total amount and write the rest of as a loss. However the companies they sell debt on to specialise in pursuing the debtors for the debts they now own, and the difference between what they paid the bank for your debt and how much they can get out of you is where their profit lies so they can and will be very active in pursuing you.



The best option imho would be either to rent or to hold out for a buyer who will cover the balance of your mortgage, at the end of the day something is worth what someone will pay for it. Also, 5k isn't a massive amount in the grand scheme of things even you were forced to sell at a loss and I have no doubt the bank would be happy to come to an arrangement with you. I ended up owing over 40K !! All thankfully sorted out now...

deb31deb

Hi what did you do in the end with your house I am also in negative equity by the time estate agent fees early redemption charges 11000 .I just want to hand back the keys.

Australia_bound?

Would say they will come after you is wrong.
As they would not be resident in UK so how would they seek to get them back here to face the music?

Ozzy dog

If you leave the UK with debt and this turns into a CCJ then whilst they might not send a private jet with CID officers to get you, to think that this debt will not catch up with you is naive. There have been many threads on here about debt and the fact that banks / financial institutions share information. You also have to disclose any judgements etc. Just not worth it.

Really wishing you good luck and hope that you get as much as possible.

T