Geordie Lass

This is the kind of thing I was talking about when I asked if there was anything we could do.

We have about 50% equity in the house and have been overpaying our mortgage for years - just wanting to get the mortgage down. Then the whole follow your dream happens and we want to move to Canada. See we have invested wisely in the past, got lucky (bought years and years ago when prices were low and sold when high) so we have plenty money - it's just stuck in the house

Christmasoompa I see what you are saying re TWP but even if we came back to the UK we wouldn't want to be in this house anymore.

I have no problems renting it out (well I don't like the idea but if we can't sell we can't sell and we aren't giving it away) but if we get a buy to let mortgage we can get some of the equity out. Something like 20k would be enough to be a buffer when we get there.

Ideas? sound sensible? any other routes to getting my hands on some of the equity?

Cheers!

cheeky_monkey

Bingo my thoughts exactly..i would keep it and rent it out if you can..until you are settled in Canada and 100% sure you will never return..i left 3 years ago and still have my home in the UK. Im keeping it too because im sure i will return at some point.

rich07

Your best bet is to talk to an independent mortgage broker, who should be able to advise you on the easiest way to sort it. I am guessing from your monika that you are from Newcastle, I'm original from Newcastle and may be able to point you in the direction of a mortgage broker if you need it.

Geordie Lass

Yup going to talk to someone in the know - just wanted a rough idea of what was available before we did.

I am originally from Newcastle but am now in Yorkshire - Yorkshire Lass was taken as a username so I used Geordie Lass!

Siouxie

There are a couple of websites that give ideas as to who has the best deals for buy to let mortgages, the pitfalls etc.

http://moneyfacts.co.uk/compare/mortgages/buy-to-let/

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/m...mortgages.html



and some more info: http://moneyfacts.co.uk/guides/mortg...ages-27-01-11/ http://moneyfacts.co.uk/tips/mortgag...t-risks010311/

Geordie Lass

Thanks - very helpful!!

canadian_critic

No idea on the house sale agents. I'm sure they are making a lot of money out of people in your position, so it's not going to work in your favour so much.

Realtors here are pretty focused on what you need to do to make a sale, and a lot of what they say is true. However, one has to always bear in mind that they won't always give you advice which is 100% good for you. If they can talk you into under-pricing your home, it will probably sell quickly with minimal effort on their part, they get paid quickly, and the seller cannot help feeling somewhat satisfied that they have cash in their pocket, even if they still feel they could have done a bit better.

A scenario to avoid, is pricing a little over what the market will stand in a declining market. Nobody would do that intentionally, but the market response is the only indicator. The time it takes to come to terms with a price reduction, will probably mean the market will stand even less now. The reduction may still put it above what the market will stand at this point, but would have resulted in some interest if this was the original asking price.

If you're buying and selling in the same market, then your perceived loss as a seller is offset by your gain as a buyer. But selling in a depressed market and buying in a much more active one, may not be so good. The currency exchange is not so great and has not been so for a long time now.

You should consider renting out your UK place and renting in Canada, which avoids you burning bridges, and you won't then potentially have 2 mortgages to worry about. Whatever you do, don't bank on currency or house prices moving in your favour. They probably won't move much at all, and it's a gamble as to whether, should they start moving, it will be to your benefit.

helcat12

We are also in the same boat.
We have had viewings and no-one has said they think it is over-priced. My estate agent now is good and he would certainly tell any interested party that we are prepared to move on the price if that was raised as an issue.

Viewers negatives so far have been
that they don't like the shared access driveway (nothing I can do about that!)
and they want more parking (ditto)
Two said that the garden isn't big enough (ditto)

I have told them all that there is a house down the road which is very similar in size and layout to mine but with a bigger garden and a private driveway and more parking, but that is £30K more than mine and it is in need of complete renovation (and I mean COMPLETE) which will cost another £30K at least.

So, they can have mine and put up with the smaller garden and just enjoy the fabulous, unobstructed views across the fields and hills from just over the back sheep fencing and park their two cars at the house but tell guests to park a few metres away on the road (where there is loads of parking)
OR find another £60K in their budget.

People looking at my house do not seem to have looked at much else to see that what they really want, they cannot afford
Welcome to the real world!!

They are looking at mine because they CAN afford it, but of course that comes with the need to compromise a bit on their expectations, especially about the amount of land with a property (for which you pay a big premium in a village like this.)

We are also in good equity and would certainly drop the price, but no-one has even tried to make an offer yet.

Geordie Lass

I feel your pain. Dead annoying isn't it? I got a comment last week about "beautiful house but too close to neighbours" oh that's right love because on new estates you get tons of room don't you? NOT! Ours is only 3 years old and everyone knows that new estates are more squished in.

I just rang a company that offers private buyers for cash... ha ha ha - yeah they took nearly 60k off! Do one mate! Rather rent than give it away!

Hang in there!

cheeky_monkey

i really dont understand when buyers dont want to buy your house people take it personally and get all aggresive like this..so if your buying in Canada you wont be a little bit picky about where your going to invest your money and live for potentially a long while??..some people will be polite about your house and say its a little close to the neighbours rather than say the truth that it smells of wee or your choice of decor lives in the 1980s...
you should really be selling its good points rather than focusing on perceived negative points and trying to defend them.

Geordie Lass

Give over! I was being sarcastic not aggressive! I don't take it personally... I know my house is utterly gorgeous and don't need to defend it to anyone. Fair play to them - they don't have to buy it!

P.S. It's not stuck in the 80s as it's only 3 years old nor does it smell of wee....

helcat12

Well, I am going to be with my husband in three weeks, so the clock is ticking

I am in two minds.
Half of me thinks - hey, just cut and run, drop the price by £20K and get a developer or something to buy it. They could knock it down and build a house (or maybe even two, as the plot is large because we have a bungalow and so a big footprint) that they would get £450K for in this village and location. One just sold up the road like that.

The other half thinks - we have invested a lot in this house and spent a lot of money on it. It is our only asset and it would be foolish to throw all that hard earned money away.

I have no idea which is the right thing, only that my husband and I have been apart for over a year trying to make good, safe choices.
Prudence has a price but it is emotional rather than financial in our case and we are just not prepared to pay that price any more.

I can see that it is just going to have to be a 'cross my fingers and hope for a buyer soon or at least before Christmas' so that I do not have to consider renting it out and all the attendant fuss and bother.

I know there are lots of other people in the same position and I feel sorry for all of them, especially the ones with much less equity than us for whom a price drop is very difficult to bear.

Geordie Lass

I understand completely.... And hat off to you for being apart from hubby for so long - that must have been so hard.

You know I am more leaning towards renting mine... is that an option for you?

Like you we have a lot of equity, it's already on for 25k less than we paid 3 years ago but it's a beautiful house and we have worked hard for it and I am not prepared to give it away.

If you go to a buy to let mortgage you can get some of your equity out. Enough of a buffer for us to not feel so stressed when we first land.

I am leaning towards seeing it as a retirement plan now... afterall if you get decent renters in then they are paying for an in investment for you. I am not going in with eyes closed tho - I know it might be stressful and we may have months without renters. Was talking to a friend who rents a property out with an agent and they look after everything for you and it's in their interests to get renters in asap. They even take photos of walls so any marks made by tenants have to be put right before they leave. I will insist on at least a months rent for a bond and seriously keep my fingers and toes crossed.... I am not a risky person generally but I don't see any other way at the mo....

helcat12

No-one here is taking it personally at all.

Anyone who has ever tried to sell a house knows that you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find a prince!
You get some nice people, some time-waster, some nosey people, some chancers and somewhere in there you just hope that there is a buyer.

In my situation, I moved on from my house emotionally a long time ago when my husband found us our new place in B.C and I sent my belongings and my cats.
There is no longer any thought in my mid that this is my home, so I have no emotional attachment to it and I would not be offended by anything anyone said about it.
I accept all opinions and if it isn't right for someone then that's fair enough.

Feedback needs to be honest, though, because if there was something I could change to make buyers more interested, I would.

In the end you are buying the land and the bricks and mortar and that is what I am selling, not my decor or taste in furniture.
Comments that have been made on my house have been absolutely fair (as in my garden isn't huge and I only have parking for two cars) but they are not about things I can actually change, so I just move on.

It will be right for someone, just as it was right for us.

helcat12

Thanks for the thought! It has been hard, as anyone who has followed any of my older posts will know. I have had my share of bad times through this an it is time to put a stop to it.

I am a little confused about you saying that you have a lot of equity but you are selling for £25K less than you paid for it 3 years ago or have I read you incorrectly?.

We bought this house eleven years ago with a good sized deposit and we have overpaid our mortgage quite a bit through the good times, so we have only a smallish mortgage debt now despite also extending and upgrading it a lot in that time.

My OH and I have managed to pay two lots of living expenses for the last year (one here and one in B.C) and also pay for flights to visit, buy a car, buy some beds and lamps and electricals, put down all the deposits for Utilities in B.C (which can be huge - $1000 for Hydro) etc and still save some, so we do not need to release equity from our home here to e comfortable in Canada.
We are not going to buy there until we are sure where we want to settle and I can't see that being for a couple of years at least.

But I don't really want to have the hassle of renting the house out and I certainly wouldn't want to come back to it if we decided to return.
We have loved living here but I am not a believer in going back.

I see all this a luck trade off.
When we sold our first house we gained a lot in the housing market. Now we will not do so well, but that is fine because we will still have a good pot of money to set us on our way in Canada.

We are not greedy or in a negative or borderline equity situation, so the only thing that really matters to us is to be back together again and soon.

If I had an offer on this house anywhere near the asking price,(which is very reasonable compared to recent sales in the village) I would take it, so there is a bargain to be had and a tidy profit to be made by someone with the capital to invest and maybe 3 - 5 years of patience.

Renting it for that period would cover the mortgage, so that is that sorted.

My village is a very sought after area and when confidence grows and the market picks up prices will shoot up again here more bankably than almost anywhere.
That's what happened here last time the market swung down and then up again.

I wonder how I find someone in that position - an investor rather than a personal buyer looking for a home?
Estate agents don't really target or attract that kind of person.