Geordie Lass

Hey everyone

So lets say your dream of getting to Canada is becoming a reality.

But you have a house in the UK that you have a lot of equity in but you can't sell it.

Any ideas how to get the equity out? is it even possible? buy to let? would that pay off your existing mortgage and leave you with the cash even tho you would be taking on a whole new mortgage?

Anyone used the house sale agencies? or do they completely take the mick with the money they will give you?

Any other ideas?

msocmac

Please don't take this the wrong way but are you competitively priced in the market? Working in estate agency I know that there are still a LOT of people out there who are not being realistic in the face of the current property slump and the forecasts are not set to improve for a while. If you have a great deal of equity is it worth reducing your price a tad to ensure you get the viewers and offers coming in? - it may mean a couple of thousand less equity but if you have a lot then it may be worth it in the end. We sold our house in the height of the slump and it took 3 months from the day it went on the market until day of completion and we still ended up with a hefty lump of equity but as we priced it at the right level it went quickly. Hopefully you will get an offer soon and you can get on with your dream move

Geordie Lass

Not taking any advice the wrong way - thanks for replying.

It is now on for £24k less than we paid for it 3.5 years ago and have knocked 10k off it 2 weeks ago... it was on for 14k less than we paid for it.

any other ideas? had 2 viewers both said house is beautiful but 1) parking was an issue - it's a new estate and 2) houses too close together

Nothing I can do about those is there?

Jingsamichty

Please don't take this the wrong way either, but if I had a house I couldn't sell in one continent, I would think twice before 'borrowing' money from it just to buy another house on another continent that may also be difficult to sell one day...

Just wait. Show a bit of patience. Rent it out, and rent in Canada.

Geordie Lass

Thanks. We are intending to rent in Canada.... but it would be a lot easier to move over with the equity in our pockets - relieves all the stress if you have no financial worries iyswim....

We live in a village where rents are in high demand so I know we wouldn't have a problem renting it out - its just life would be a lot easier if we had a huge wad of money with us.... a lot less pressure...

Aviator

Not everything works out how we would hope. We sold in a depressed market and had to wait it out for quite a few months here before it went. Just the way it goes. We rented for a while and then ended up with two mortgages. So long as you have managed debt, you may well be OK, but be careful about increasing your leverage, this can be a slippery slope.

msocmac

Oh dear seems like you are doing all you can. Unfortunately buyers can afford to be picky and are very rude with their offers sometimes (one looking at ours didn't like the fact it only had one entrance!!??) things like parking are beyond your control be patient though as someone will come along - it all probably seems so much worse as you are eager to get shot of it and get on with moving. I have worked in lettings for about 8 years and we let our house out when we moved to France - never again! We knew we would never live in it again so should have sold it when the market was good in 2007 but hindsight and all that. Just make sure realise that if you do rent you may have to shell out a bit of money when you do decide to sell to get it back up to scratch (if you are in Canada that won't be easy). Not all tenants are a nightmare by any stretch of the imagination but they don't always look after a house as you would. Maybe just do a 6 months let and then advertise it for sale in the last 3 months of the tenancy so you can keep any wear and tear to a minimum

rich07

If memory serves me right, you need between 25-40% equity for a buy to let mortgage. Certainly to get a halfway decent interest rate. You should be able to withdraw the rest of the equity if there is any left. Switching the mortgage to interest only will reduce the monthly costs especially if there is a period when it is not rented. You will have tax consequences of renting the house out, any profit over the interest paid on mortgage and the rent coming in. This tax would be payable in Canada. You may also have a capital gains tax liability when you eventually sell.

London Mike

Good advice from Jingsamitchy. Seriously, I'd consider waiting. Why make a loss on your house? Here's plan B - remortgage your house for an extra £30k on the current payback timeframe and with interest rates so low you may well (don't know circumstances) easily cover payments and your mortgage in what you get in monthly rent. Then, you have equity, then you still have your house if everything goes tits up for you in Canada.

You'd be MAD to use your own equity to waste on rent here.

JAJ

Your house is worth what someone will pay for it. So reduce the price, and it will sell.

rich07

Can't argue with the statement, BUT house prices won't be depressed for ever, nor will the exchange rate. We decided to rent out our place after 12 months on the Market, with little interest in it. To be fair our house was at the top end of the Market for where it is and the recession was in full force. We rented it out on the first day of showings and it has now been rented out for 12 months, to the same people who have said they want it for the next 3-4 years. We switched our mortgage to interest only and are making about £650 per month profit on the rent. I know this will drop when interest rates rise. Hopefully by sitting out the recession we will see not only an increase in the value of the house but also the exchange rate. We have not told our lender that we have rented the house, we can afford the mortgage if it is empty as we didn't want the extra costs and they are safe with 50% equity.

Aviator

Quite likely, so long as you can afford to hang on, it could be a few years for the recovery.

No way to tell if it will ever change much, this could be the new GBP CAD$ level.

Alan2005

This only holds if you have infinite time. How long are you prepared to wait? 2 years? 5? 10?

christmasoompa

I'm just going to play 'devils advocate' for a mo - iirc, you are moving over on a TWP? So what if your OH gets made redundant on it and you have to return to the UK, and have sold your house? Would it maybe be worth thinking about renting it to give you a place to return to if the worst happened?

Being on a TWP gives you no security whatsoever, and until you've got PR, I'd maybe hang on to a base in the UK.

JMO though!

kirstybowles

we are in the same situation as the OP.
We have also dropped the price 3 times! we have had 4 viewings since february changed estate agents because the first lot were rubbish! and had new pictures taken to bump us up the list. we have fully redecorated everywhere put a new floor in the living room and new neutral carpet on the stairs and in all the bedrooms.
I can't see anything else we can do but wait. It has been holiday time so the estate agents reckon that it will pick up again this month. good luck to you though it will happen, just bloody frustrating waiting though isen't it lol x