Mr and Mrs B.

As the title says We are due to fly out to start our new life in Toronto in the 2nd week of August (Mr B is on an inter-company transfer and due to start his (permanent) job on 1st September on a TWP), our UK house is on the market, we are in the process of selling my (much beloved!!) car, the cats are going to my parents and we have no children (yet )....

So....I hear you ask, why the nerves? Well......our UK house has been on since 22 Feb of this year and we've only had three viewings and we need the money from our house to make a proper start in Canada (although we will be renting for the first year anyway).

We felt that it wouldn't take too long to sell our house (very good catchment area, family house, in a desirable area, completely renovated top to bottom in the last three years), which meant we would have the finances to live life to the max in Toronto....Now, however, we face bills for our empty house in the UK (it seems we still have to pay council tax, even though we won't even be in the country) and we will have to leave the money in the UK account when we leave....needless to say, we don't have the extra 3 grand it will cost us! argh!!!! We are lucky in the sense that we have arranged a " payment holiday" with our mortgage lender, which means we won't have to make any mortgage payments for a year but we are counting on the fact that the house will sell in our absence! If it doesn't, we are toast!

I am giving up a good job in the UK (I'm a lecturer at college) for an uncertain future in Toronto (I'm not dead set on being a teacher there, I'm quite happy to go for a career change) and we have never, ever, taken this big a gamble in our lives! (i.e expecting to sell the house in our absence)....

We are still *so* excited and eager to live and work in Toronto but....it is scary....

anyone else had last minute wobbles?


Mrs B.

Rhodeys

Hi Mrs B

Yep, we are in exactly the same boat! Except we fly out to Alberta in around 8 weeks time and our house has been on the market since October and still nothing! We have found somewhere nice to rent, I have a good job but at present hubby doesn't have a job yet and leaving a really good one in the UK...excited? Yes....Scared? Yes! Would we lose the chance we have? No way! Good luck with your house sale and good luck in Toronto...I sent a similiar post last week and do you know what we keep telling ourselves?...Remember the dream!

Stay excited! One foot in Red Deer...

Best wishes
Julie

Mr and Mrs B.

LOL Oh my goodness! that sounds exactly the same!!! In a really bizar way, that makes me feel an awful lot better My husband's Canadian employer was kind enough to issue a contract *without* a start date in the beginning of Feb and it was *us* who said, "Heck no, we'll start in September!"
(Although, in our defense, we did say that we would have to sell the UK house first before we could move....we have re-assessed our situation based on the fact that the housing market seems to have slowed down considerably in the UK and we felt we didn't want to miss out on the fabulous opportunity of a permanent job in Canada on a very decent salary by making his employer wait...)

So, yes, we too did not want to give up on the dream but it is scary....there are *so* many what ifs!! We wish you *all* the best!! No doubt 8 weeks will just *fly* by!! I'm sending house selling dancers your way and have my fingers *and* toes crossed for you!

Rhodeys

I just noticed you are in South Yorkshire..my family are all from S Yorks, we live around Junction 28 of the M1..well for a few more weeks anyway The shipping company are coming for our furniture the second week in April and I cant help thinking 1...how will we manage with no furniture..and 2 how do you sell a house with deck chairs in the lounge But you know what Mrs B? The house will sell..eventually (yours and ours) We have dropped ours by almost 15K now less than market value...we seem to drop the price bi-weekly . My start date date is 1st June ...some days I take it my stride...some days I panic....some days I think oh lord what are we doing....But Bill and I have a silly saying!

The Rhodeys are going to Red Deer

Mr and Mrs B.

LOL, it's a small world after all, isn't it! and..wow!!! the 1st June?!?! You must be *so* excited!!! For all my nerves, I just wish it was time for us to pack up and go..... I have a feeling I will forget about the abismal state of the housing market once we're in Canada and, Good Luck Rhodeys!!!!

We were thinking the same thing about our house (how to sell an empty one) but we have decided to leave all our furniture behind and just take our clothes (This is also because we simply haven't got the money to pay for a container without selling the house). We are hoping to rent furnished in Toronto and we'll just make do

We haven't dropped our price yet, as the estate agent keeps telling us that even people who have dropped their price are not getting any interest... *sigh* at the moment, we can afford to drop it by about 10K but we'd like to keep that as a bargaining tool....once we advertise at a lower price, people will still expect to pay under the asking price and we can't afford that....
Oh, the tangled webs we weave....

I do believe the UK economy is still strong and there is no real risk of a recession but the media is scaremongering...this way, it's just becoming a self fulfilling prophecy that the housing market will collapse!!

Rhodeys

The press are definately making things worse in the UK! ...but thats what the British press are good at! My Stepsister lives 45 mins from Toronto she advised us to take a 20 ft container as it works out so expensive to replace things in Canada, hence our furniture is shortly on the move.

Again, our best wishes and lots of luck...and those dancing house selling people right back at you

purple80

Hi,
We are in the same boat as well my husband flew to Toronto on Tuesday our house has been on the market for a month, and we have only had one viewing.

Our house is three bedroom detached, good schools, nice area, large garden, etc,etc.....

Chris starts his new job on monday, the children and I plan to follow at the beginning of August. I am worried about exactly the same things as you guys, want to start our new life in Canada, but extremely cautious about the commitments we may have to maintain here.

I hold the media entirely to blame if they would stop all the doom and gloom it would really help. At the end of the day all of our houses will sell, we might just have to drop our prices..............

Not yet though.

Wishing you both well, house selling dancers ordered for all of us!

Charlie

EViS

I do agree with you there, shouldn't see anything as dramatic as the crash in 1988, but the media isn't exactly helping potential buyers, isn't that always the case though!

I don't suppose either of you have considered letting the house out for now? You could ofcourse use a management company to take care of the letting and management side of things whilst you're over in Toronto. This will substantially cut into any (small) profits you would be making, but could be a good option to avoid council tax/bills/etc.

I can't see much changing over the next 6months/1year at least, only then will we hopefully begin to see a better picture of which direction the market is heading. With luck on your side, this may improve buyers' confidence and give you a better chance of selling for a good value whilst not incurring any bills... Although the picture could ofcourse point the opposite way in a year and you may be back at square 1... Just a thought...

I do wish you the best though!

Mr and Mrs B.

I cannot agree more!! It must be hard having shipped hubbie off to Canada... If Mr B's (Matthew) employer hadn't been so kind as to wait for him, we would have been in the same position, and we weren't looking forward to that at all! The British media is just awful! I have lived in several countries but have never come across the likes.... It is all *very* disheartening...
But you are right, our houses *will* sell, I'm sure....maybe we'll have to drop the asking price but I've got to keep the faith!!!

On a happier note, isn't Toronto just the most amazing place??!! I have got to know quite a few people through this forum who reside in Toronto and it makes me feel all squishy inside All the best with your house sale! House selling dancers on their way to you now!!

Mr and Mrs B.

Thank you We have considered renting it out *but* we have just finished an extensive refurbishment of our house and it will never look as good as it does now. Having tenants in would mean they could really ruin the look. We feel we stand the best chance of getting a good price for it now.... If, in a year from now, the house *still* hasn't sold (God forbid!!), we will probably consider renting it out.....At that point, we will have a shortfall of about £350 + whatever the letting agent is charging us.....not the best case scenario but it does give us a year in Toronto to maybe save up a little *and* for me to be gainfully employed (which would improve our situation no end!!)

Fingers crossed for that elusive buyer!!

Mr and Mrs B.

lol, thank you, I am making tea for the dancers right now! Let's hope that inspires them!

G586

er, drop the price as time goes on....if it is empty for a year, it certainly won't be getting more attractive to buyers. If I'm buying, I use the time on market as one of my factors in determining an offer level.

Mind you, it's still early in the selling season......

purple80

Exactly we just have to keep our fingers crossed and those dancers plied with tea!

Mrs B,
Yes we both loved Toronto, and the children and I can't wait to join Chris, it is hard, but I just keep trying to remember what we are doing this for!

Chris's new employer wanted him in January, waited patiently until now, our eldest wants to finish primary school and do the whole leaving year 6 thing. Seeing as we did not struggle to pursuade either of the three it seemed only fair to do that....

Charlie

G586

very early, you only need one!

Mr and Mrs B.

It is early, you are right and also, our house has only been on the market for 5 weeks, so we're still hoping ...Our agent is hoping for a bit of a lift in April, but you are right, if we haven't had an offer before we go, we will drop the price... but we can't lower it indefinitely...at some point it would make more sense to rent it out and take it off the market rather than leaving it on.

what a situation to be in!!!