Mizmir's "Determined to be debt free by Christmas 2009" diary

hypno06

Miz, your light is on.........

determinedtodothis

Wow! £2k already towards your challenge!! you are doing fab! knocks spots of my £369.17!! (don't forget the 17p!!):rotfl:

Keep going!

mizmir

oops hypno - must have forgotten to log out..... :rolleyes::o

determinedtodothis - most of that is repaid expenses so not new money off the actual debt sad to say! But better cleared than not anyway.

taxi73

Have you done your work now?
Hope it went ok and was very productive.

mizmir

Not very productive I'm afraid. Have done one of the three reports - just having a coffee break then will do the next one. Have a work list but only done one thing off it! Going to try and do a bit more before I stop.

mizmir

Ok folks - am going to run some stuff by you - not looking for an answer - just wanting to think/talk it through. It is about the current housing market and our possible move. I know I could go to the Mortgages or House buying boards but I have lurked over there and frankly I don't want to be savaged! :eek:

Ok situation is as follows. Three years ago we bought our dream house - or potential dream house - for £285K (housing expensive in this area anyway but this is on a much larger plot than average around here and in a great secluded but convenient location). It needed modernising so we spent 6 months gutting and rebuilding it using the money had left over from our previous house sale (had been renting in between). Unfortunately that ran overbudget by quite a long way - mainly due to having to rip out pipe work and wiring and install a completely new water system - because the old was all condemned (we hadn't thought it was so bad!). Anyway we ended up shifting to a long term fixed rate mortgage in June 07 - the work had increased the value and we increased our mortgage to cover the cost of the extra work. Based on a neighbour's sale in September - and zoopla's estimate - we now owe £300K on a house worth around £350K - not great but at least is not negative - yet!

OH has a new job. For various reasons she's not starting till next autumn but it is the perfect job for her and it has a 10% increase in salary. Add to which she is still trying to get resolution for the bullying she is dealing with in the current job - and her taking it is really a no brainer. But it is a nearly 2 hour commute away. Our thinking was to stay put for the time being, she can commute (staying over a few days a week - employer has said will help with accommodation) while we clear our other debts (aiming for Xmas 2009) and then look to move perhaps mid-2010 (at which point I would do full time dog training). Housing is cheaper over there so we could reduce our costs quite a lot.

BUT - am really worried now that house prices are going go way down and by then we'll be in negative equity. We really can't afford to move now. We need to pay our CC debts and save some to top up a deposit. If we leave it later than the end of 2010 we will miss out on the relocation help which would cost us several K more.
However we'll have a substantial penalty to pay if we move before 2012 unless we transfer the mortgage - which we can do - though I am not sure what happens if we reduce the mortgage at that point.

So - what to do? Options seem to be:

1. Try to sell now when we are at least still have equity (even with the penalty). Rent for a while (here and then there probably) and clear debts and build up better deposit. Downside - dogs (finding somewhere to rent with them), moving more times, disruption at a time we really don't need it. Upside - become effectively FTB again and will be able to buy probably at lower prices.
2. Try to sell now and buy immediately over there - downside - we both have to commute for a while - can't really do this with the dogs.
3. Stay put for the foreseeable future. Concentrate on paying all the other debts and building up savings. Pay off more capital on the mortgage. Aim to sell in 18 months or so. Upside: less disruptive now. Chance to position ourselves properly adn clear all our debt before we do anything. Downside: how low is it all going to go - is this a really big risk?
4. Don't move at all. Not really practical long term but could leave it till after 2012 I suppose.

Sorry this is so long - just trying to work through it all. Any thoughts? (if anyone is still reading! :rotfl::rotfl:)

boredofbeingathome

Just giving it a quick once over, i would be opting for 3( sounder financially at the moment as everyone is in a similar position) or 4..
There is another option which would be to rent out your house if you move so you could sort of batten down a bit on that score and cover your outgoings whilst the market improves.
I have had friends in similar positions..already in their house but job security poor..the hubby rented a small room whilst at work..leaving on a thursday as he did flexi time. Not ideal, but far cheaper than the petrol he would have forked out.

Would there be options for a similar job more local to where you are now?

mizmir

boredofbeingathome wrote: »

Just giving it a quick once over, i would be opting for 3( sounder financially at the moment as everyone is in a similar position) or 4..
There is another option which would be to rent out your house if you move so you could sort of batten down a bit on that score and cover your outgoings whilst the market improves.
I have had friends in similar positions..already in their house but job security poor..the hubby rented a small room whilst at work..leaving on a thursday as he did flexi time. Not ideal, but far cheaper than the petrol he would have forked out.

Would there be options for a similar job more local to where you are now?

Thanks bob. Yes - renting ours out is an option - though I'd be worried someone would trash it! I don't suppose that happens often but would be just our luck!

No chance of a similar job locally unfortunately - she works in higher ed. in a specialised area - current job is the only option here - new one is a huge improvement. Plus side both of us have reasonable job security even in current climate - at least until I go self employed (which I wouldn't unless we moved).

boredofbeingathome

mizmir wrote: »

Thanks bob. Yes - renting ours out is an option - though I'd be worried someone would trash it! I don't suppose that happens often but would be just our luck!

No chance of a similar job locally unfortunately - she works in higher ed. in a specialised area - current job is the only option here - new one is a huge improvement. Plus side both of us have reasonable job security even in current climate - at least until I go self employed (which I wouldn't unless we moved).

Ah, hmm..i see exactly what you mean about trashing of property:o It seems such a shame to sell when you have both put so much effort in to it as well. Thinking ahead is it definately what she wants? Also you do have a few months before decisions have to be made, so further opportunities for seeing if market begins to climb out of its recession.

mizmir

boredofbeingathome wrote: »

Ah, hmm..i see exactly what you mean about trashing of property:o It seems such a shame to sell when you have both put so much effort in to it as well. Thinking ahead is it definately what she wants? Also you do have a few months before decisions have to be made, so further opportunities for seeing if market begins to climb out of its recession.

No - job already accepted - have been through the decision making and we're both convinced it is the right thing - also will eventually allow me to do what I want to re. the dog training too. She's prepared to do the 3 days there 4 days here thing if needed for as long as needed - and that was certainly what we had originally planned - I just got panicked about all the talk of 50% drops in value and stuff! Maybe should just hold tight and see what happens!