Urgent Mortgage Question Please - Help?

Annie_Johno

Hi peeps wonder if somebody can help me?
I have posted on BR forum before but this is more mortgage/debt related.

We have a joint mortgage.
We are moving abroad on the 19th Aug - not coming back, if all works out.
Our house is up for sale/for rent, not much interest at all. Market dead by us.
Neither of us are working at present.
Havebeen living off savings for last 3 months, struggling now to pay mortgage, can probably make 1 more payment before we go but dont really want to, need the money to go abroad with.

We are considering voluntary repossession and have the forms at home.

The estate agents said they would act on our behalf when we leave and liaise with the building society whilst house is being marketed. She said they might be able to sell our house within 3 to 6 months and could probably keep the BuildingSociety at bay for at most 6 months. We have said that if not sold within 6 months we will instruct the E/A to hand back the keys.

but for now, i have spoken and wrote to the building society asking for a payment holiday, they refused point blank.

Does anybody know if I write to them again in stronger terms, informing them house for sale etc. is there some sort of standard letter I can use which is more forceful on our part to get a 6 month break, or reduced payments of a very small sum of money whilst house is up for sale?

Thanks

Annie_Johno

Just bumping this one back up ! HELP PLEASE

CCCS_Matthew

Hi there,

So are you attempting to try and sell the property as opposed to handing the keys back?

If the lender are not prepared to give you a payment holiday, and you cannot afford the repayments there are a couple things you could try and do. If the mortgage is on repayment, you could ask them to drop it onto interest only until the property is sold, which would mean any contribution you make towards the mortgage would help minimise the chance of the lender going down repossession route as it would take you longer to fall into 3 months worth of arrears.

Do the mortgage lenders know the property is up for sale? If not I would definitely ring them up and explain the situation if you haven't already done so. I think it's unlikely that they will give you a 6 month payment holiday, but If they know what the situation is and that you are trying to sell the property, they maybe less concerned if you do start falling into arrears with the mortgage.

Is there any equity in your property at all, and do you have any other credit debts outstanding?

Regards, CCCS

Karmacat

Hi Annie

Partly another bump, partly some feedback.

How much is the mortgage? What's the Loan to Value (the mortgage as a % of the house value?) A mortgage company needs specific reasons to reduce your payments, and I'm not sure you're covered there.

The only thing I know is that, in almost every case, its better to sell your house yourself rather than have the building society sell it underneath you. But I suppose if you were one of the ones that took out a 125% mortgage within the last 18 months or so, that might not be true.

Would it help to rent your house out?

Sorry, I know you're asking about stronger letters to the mortgage company, but I think, I *think*, thats a dead end. And I'm pretty sure that there's no standard letters on the site of the sort you're asking for.

In these circumstances, I think you need to be really careful what you tell the mortgage company.

Is August 19 the definite date you're going? Why might it not be permanent? Why might you come back? I'm not necessarily saying to answer those questions, just that the answers have a bearing on what you need to do to safeguard your financial future.

Best of luck.

CLAPTON

You haven't posted your full circumstances so maybe you have posted answers elsewhere but dificult to advise on the existing information .. so

how much equity is in the house?

if you rented it out would it cover the mortgage

when you go abroad will you earn enough to cover the mortgage

why don't you go abroad now and start earning so you can cover the mortgage

or why not earn money here while wating to go abroad

I don't have a template for a request for a mortgage break but a clear letter setting out why you need a break might help.... merely wanting one would probably be less successful

Karmacat

Oh, okay, Matthew just answered - he's mentioned about arrears being *easier* to cope with if you tell the mortgage co what's happening. Told you I wasn't an expert!

Another mini-bump.

Annie_Johno

CLAPTON wrote: »

You haven't posted your full circumstances so maybe you have posted answers elsewhere but dificult to advise on the existing information .. so

how much equity is in the house?
Maybe £2k / £3k if lucky after all costs paid to E/A, solicitor etc if we get near to asking price, otherwise that reduces.

if you rented it out would it cover the mortgage
No shortfall of about £100 per month + E/A charges, house is up for sale, E/A thinks it will sell but could take 3 to 6 months. If we could rent it, we need to install a new boiler and cooker, things we cannot afford to do, hence reason to sell ASAP. Boiler works fine, no probs, but we have been told by gas expert cannot get parts for it should it go wrong, therefore best to install a new one for rental purposes, hence why we have not really gone down the rental route. We have advertised to rent it out privately and via an E/A over last 3 months, had 2 responses both of which cut us right down from the monthly rental price!

when you go abroad will you earn enough to cover the mortgage - no earning less money over there, renting an apartment. Standard of living is better on less money but no will not be able to cover the mortgage here as well. Will simply be able to live a more simplistic life without too much stress. WE HOPE

why don't you go abroad now and start earning so you can cover the mortgage - We were due to start new jobs 1st Aug but the company put us back to 1st Sept due to their own commitments.

or why not earn money here while wating to go abroad - I temp as and when company phone me, husband recovering from a bad back through a lifting job, should be well on the mend by time we move/start work abroad. The company I worked for went broke in May and could not pay me. Was going to go BR before we went abroad, but couldnt cuz we had savings (which we have used to live on since May and have now nearly gone) and a budget to relocate with (ie flights, 3 months rent/deposit etc) so we couldnt even go bankrupt even though in reality we are!!!!!

I don't have a template for a request for a mortgage break but a clear letter setting out why you need a break might help.... merely wanting one would probably be less successful

Hope this helps. We wanted to rent house out, but realised we could not in reality afford to do that.
Therefore decided to sell. But market really slow as everybody knows.
Problem now is all our savings have gone, no money left to cover mortgage payments, Building Society having none of it regarding payment holiday,reduced payments. E/A said she would take over dealing with them but could only hold them off for 6 months. If house not sold, voluntary repossession may be our only answer. Thanks everybody

Annie_Johno

CLAPTON wrote: »

You haven't posted your full circumstances so maybe you have posted answers elsewhere but dificult to advise on the existing information .. so

how much equity is in the house?
Maybe £2k / £3k if lucky after all costs paid to E/A, solicitor etc if we get near to asking price, otherwise that reduces.

if you rented it out would it cover the mortgage
No shortfall of about £100 per month + E/A charges, house is up for sale, E/A thinks it will sell but could take 3 to 6 months. If we could rent it, we need to install a new boiler and cooker, things we cannot afford to do, hence reason to sell ASAP. Boiler works fine, no probs, but we have been told by gas expert cannot get parts for it should it go wrong, therefore best to install a new one for rental purposes, hence why we have not really gone down the rental route. We have advertised to rent it out privately and via an E/A over last 3 months, had 2 responses both of which cut us right down from the monthly rental price!

when you go abroad will you earn enough to cover the mortgage - no earning less money over there, renting an apartment. Standard of living is better on less money but no will not be able to cover the mortgage here as well. Will simply be able to live a more simplistic life without too much stress. WE HOPE

why don't you go abroad now and start earning so you can cover the mortgage - We were due to start new jobs 1st Aug but the company put us back to 1st Sept due to their own commitments.

or why not earn money here while wating to go abroad - I temp as and when company phone me, husband recovering from a bad back through a lifting job, should be well on the mend by time we move/start work abroad. The company I worked for went broke in May and could not pay me. Was going to go BR before we went abroad, but couldnt cuz we had savings (which we have used to live on since May and have now nearly gone) and a budget to relocate with (ie flights, 3 months rent/deposit etc) so we couldnt even go bankrupt even though in reality we are!!!!!

I don't have a template for a request for a mortgage break but a clear letter setting out why you need a break might help.... merely wanting one would probably be less successful

Hope this helps. We wanted to rent house out, but realised we could not in reality afford to do that.
Therefore decided to sell. But market really slow as everybody knows.
Problem now is all our savings have gone, no money left to cover mortgage payments, Building Society having none of it regarding payment holiday,reduced payments. E/A said she would take over dealing with them but could only hold them off for 6 months. If house not sold, voluntary repossession may be our only answer. Thanks everybody

Annie_Johno

Hi Karma Cat, please see my reply above. I seem to have submitted reply twice. I think my brain is dead ! with all this worry

Karmacat

Don't worry Annie, its a stressful time for you. Take care of yourself, especially now - its easy to get sick when you're this stressed. Glad you've got a job offer to go to.

Annie_Johno

So are you attempting to try and sell the property as opposed to handing the keys back? House has been advertised for sale both with an E/A and us doing it privately for last 2.5 months. No interest thus far.Just instructed a new agent.

If the lender are not prepared to give you a payment holiday (no,not interested, absolutely said no no no our problem not theres) no, and you cannot afford the repayments there are a couple things you could try and do. If the mortgage is on repayment, you could ask them to drop it onto interest only until the property is sold, which would mean any contribution you make towards the mortgage would help minimise the chance of the lender going down repossession route as it would take you longer to fall into 3 months worth of arrears. Switched to interest only in Sep 08 to ease the pain then !!!!
Do the mortgage lenders know the property is up for sale? No, not yet.

If not I would definitely ring them up and explain the situation if you haven't already done so. I think it's unlikely that they will give you a 6 month payment holiday, but If they know what the situation is and that you are trying to sell the property, they maybe less concerned if you do start falling into arrears with the mortgage. Ok, see what you are saying, if I stop paying mortgage this month, and leave in hands of E/A, and it doesnt sell for say a year, will they wait that long or will they repossess and what type of costs might we expect, do they add the monthly payment on (in our case £650) per month. Will that just keep accruing until sold??

Is there any equity in your property at all, and do you have any other credit debts outstanding? If sold now, at asking price maybe £2000/£3000 if lucky.


THANKS FOR YOUR HELP