Margaret Parkinson

Wrong nationality? Can't believe that everyones welcome here.

garryhg

can't you rent the house out until the market picks up,surely thats a better option for you...jacky

PRACTITIONER31

WELL ITS TRUE TO BE A NURSE IN THE UK SHE HAS TO DO COURSES AND JUMP THROUGH LOTS OF HOOPS AND IMMIGRATION IS VERY HARD FOR THE US IN THE UK. YET ANY OTHER NATIONALITY IE PHILIPINES, KOSOVO, INDIAN ETC DONT HAVE ALL THAT TO CONTEND WITH AS THE UK WE ARE A FREE FOR ALL THAT HAVE NOTHING TO OFFER THE UK APART FROM DRAINING OUR ECONOMY BUT PEOPLE THAT CAN ADD TO OUR ECONOMY FIND IT HARDER TO GET IN WHY IS THAT?

PRACTITIONER31

GARRY I CAN GET ENOUGH RENT MONEY TO COVER THE MORTGAGE AND THE BANK HAVE SAID THAT I WILL HAVE TO GO ON A BUY TO RENT MORTGAGE AND THAT ADDS ANOTHER 200 POUNDS ON TOP OF THE MONEY I WONT GET

Here comes the sun

Depending on which bank you are with you can apply for a consent to lease which allows you to rent out the house for up to 3 years without changing your mortgage. Unfortunately we were with the halifax and they dont offer this anymore and we didnt have enough equity for a buy to let mortgage. We are renting the house to my sister in law so we took my name off the mortgage and put her on the mortgage so she can live there and we get the rent!!

Kippers

By renting out, you are treating your house as though it was an investment property.
Can you possibly think that property is a good investment in the current market?
The property boom is over and it may take years for houses to regain their current prices.
Like any investment, some you win, some you loose.

Plenty of people have lost money with shares (especially bank shares), pension funds are loosing money, banks are going broke, house prices are falling.

I'd cash up before things get worse and you sink even further down the financial plug-hole.

Better to be 25 grand down now than 50 or 100 later.

So will you arrive in NZ with no money, or do you have some savings?
It will be a big struggle to survive here with nothing behind you.

Kip

TeamEmbo

Things may have changed but I always understood that if you handed your house back to the mortgage lender, a voluntary repossession, you were not only liable for any shortfall should they not sell the house for as much as you owe them, but you would also not be eligible to obtain a mortgage for 10 years after that.

You could hand the house back to the bank and hope for the best at auction. If you do not intend to go back to the UK for at least 10 years then losing the ability to get another mortgage until that time will not affect you. However, I am not sure where you stand with paying any prospective shortfall. You will certainly not be able to do that on such a low NZ wage.

Further, you will not obtain PR with a salary of $37k. I think the threshold is now a minimum of $50k. Whether that is just for the 'skilled' category or not I don't know.

I think maybe the best you can do is go back to your bank and get a clear position from them about your options.
1. Can you take a payment holiday for 6 months? (and hope the house sells
in the meantime)
2. If you hand the house back, what are your ongoing liabilities? Would you be expected to make up any shortfall? Pay any auction / admin fees? How would the bank expect you to pay this?

The only other thing I can think of is a house swop. I can't remember the name of the website but basically people around the world advertise their house and its location and you state the country/region you want to swap with and for how long. Someone somewhere in the world might be looking to work in London and might want to swap with you for 6 months/a year, if indeed it is commutable from your cottage, from where you want to be in NZ.

Archangel

I am not very good at this, but wouldn't it be worth trying to rent the rooms out or even appointing a family member to manage the house until you can sort something out? I am just thinking that if you give the house back to the bank they will sell it for next to nothing and you would still owe them a lot of money.
What about housing associations, you could try them, I mean with so many people needing homes maybe if you approached them they maybe interested in renting the house or even buying it off you!.
Have you tried selling it on the internet?
I feel it for you mat, I really do. If all else fails then maybe you'll have to give it up to the bank. If that happens it may affect you getting PR but then again if you can show that your paying something back to the bank even if it's only peanuts then you may come out of it ok..besides once your here NZ are not likely to throw you out. [Me thinks!!!] Good luck