Which way do i jump

wilt_2

My husband and I bought a house 18 months ago for 210K and have a mortgage of 197K. We have now split up and were advised recently to market the house for 175K if we wish to sell. We have 3 small children so I dont think I can be forced to do this. I would like to movde to Devon and as I am a former teacher I would hopefully get work. My dilemma is this; I only earn a part time salary at the moment and am managing to pay the mortgage with a mix of wages, benefit and maintenance. Would the lender be likely to let me take over the mortgage, bearing in mind that even if I got a full time job, it would be 8 times my salary. I am able to afford the 550 a month repayments but it is interest only at the moment. The other alternative is to move. My husband has offered to take on this mortgage on his own but can only give me 4k to help me rent. My plan would be to rent and then try and buy under shared ownership in a couple of years. Would I be mad to let him have this house, bearing in mind that prices will go up again or would I be very unlikely to obtain mortgage. He is willing to let me do either option but I dont know what would be best financially. Please help!!!

getmore4less

Its unlikely you would get a mortgage, if you did you realy can't afford it.

If he can, then that get you off being liable for the debt.

If he is offering to take it on and still give you something, look like a deal to me if there is £22k negative equity you should be giving him £11k(subject to adjustment with all the other things that go with seperation)

The future value is irrelivent(all houses could go up but you can't buy them all).

If you want to move why keep the house. it could be years before it is worth more than the mortgage again, till then you are trapped.

wilt_2

Any more advice please?

Trying_to_be_good

You may not like what getmore4less has said, but s/he is right.

Getting out of the negative equity will be a good move.

Renting will give you more flexibility for where to live and work than buying, plus you are unlikely to be able to buy in the near future until you have saved a deposit.

Maintenance (for the children) can be worked out separately by the CSA or the solicitors dealing with the divorce - 25% of your husband's net income for three children.

Maintenance for yourself will possibly be affected by him releasing you from the negative equity.

Breaking up is horribly difficult emotionally, but in the current financial climate becomes even more difficult.

Good luck.

wilt_2

Yes but at least i know where i am here. I dont know.

silvercar

Seems there are two options, move to Devon and give hime the house or stay here and possibly stay in the house. On paper you can't afford the mortgage on your own, so it would mean continueing to have his name on the house and mortgage. You would need to make the payments out of your income. If you couldn't keep up with the payments, you risk being made homeless.

With a mortgage worth more than the house, getting out without paying off any negative equity is a big bonus.

Bertram1

Why should you struggle as your husband has been able to have promotion whilst you have stayed at home to look after the children, get your solicitor to apply for a bigger share of the profits. Have you considered putting your name on the shared ownership list and using your portion of the profits to house you and the children. Also Applying for maintenace to support your children. Get a good solicitor who specialises in childrens cases or preferably on the womens aid board.

wilt wrote: »

My husband and I bought a house 18 months ago for 210K and have a mortgage of 197K. We have now split up and were advised recently to market the house for 175K if we wish to sell. We have 3 small children so I dont think I can be forced to do this. I would like to movde to Devon and as I am a former teacher I would hopefully get work. My dilemma is this; I only earn a part time salary at the moment and am managing to pay the mortgage with a mix of wages, benefit and maintenance. Would the lender be likely to let me take over the mortgage, bearing in mind that even if I got a full time job, it would be 8 times my salary. I am able to afford the 550 a month repayments but it is interest only at the moment. The other alternative is to move. My husband has offered to take on this mortgage on his own but can only give me 4k to help me rent. My plan would be to rent and then try and buy under shared ownership in a couple of years. Would I be mad to let him have this house, bearing in mind that prices will go up again or would I be very unlikely to obtain mortgage. He is willing to let me do either option but I dont know what would be best financially. Please help!!!

Time2Go_25

Bertram1 wrote: »

Why should you struggle as your husband has been able to have promotion whilst you have stayed at home to look after the children, get your solicitor to apply for a bigger share of the profits. Have you considered putting your name on the shared ownership list and using your portion of the profits to house you and the children. Also Applying for maintenace to support your children. Get a good solicitor who specialises in childrens cases or preferably on the womens aid board.

There are no profits, only negative equity.

I think you need to decide where you would be happiest, if you would like to move to Devon then this would seem like a good opportunity. Let him have the house and the negative equity and rent until you settle into Devon and get a new job.

wilt_2

Yes I think ive just got to make a decision. My solicitor says I have nothing to lose but friends think to give up the security of a house to go into rented would be a very bad move. I certainly am worried about having to move frequently if in rented so would want to get a shared ownership deal asap. However I have heard lots of negative reports about this recently and worry that I may never be able to staircase up to the whole amount. Ant advive on this please.

getmore4less

wilt wrote: »

Yes I think ive just got to make a decision. My solicitor says I have nothing to lose but friends think to give up the security of a house to go into rented would be a very bad move. I certainly am worried about having to move frequently if in rented so would want to get a shared ownership deal asap. However I have heard lots of negative reports about this recently and worry that I may never be able to staircase up to the whole amount. Ant advive on this please.

what security? get them to explain this, or give them the full details so they can make an informed comment

I think you need to explain to your friend that there is no secuity if you take on the house, it is in negative equity and current finances mean you cannot afford it, if interest rates go up what happens then and that because it is in negative equity you will not be able to move for a long time.

Unless you increase your income and the place increases in value this will be a millstone, if you were so happy there that you could see the rest of your life living here then it might be worth trying to keep, at the moment from the information we have I can see no reason to keep it if you have an offer to releave you of all liability.

Why would you have to move frequently look for a landlord that has a good record of long stay tennents or one that seems keen for a long term tennent
(I moved 13 times as a kid all over the place, kids cope with moves better than a lot of people realise)

I would look for somewhere that makes life easy so near the schools/work or on very good transport links to these main places.

One option if things with hubby have not got nasty, is there a possibility that he could rent the house to you while you find somewhere or make the desition on the move to Devon.

Not sure how this would work on things like benifits but may be an avenue to explore.


Not a fan of shared ownership, needs to be thought through very carefully, think about selling in the future.

wilt_2

Thanks for all the advice but whats the problem with shared ownership. I am thinking of the scheme run by the Coop. It's called Ownhome. They lend you 20 to 40% of the value of the home with no interest for the first 5 years. After 5 years they will charge a fixed rate of 1.75 % interest on your Ownhome loan each year. After a further 5 yaers that would increase to a fixed rate of 3.5%. So if I could get a mortgae of 120k I could buy a house for 200k. If I get a full time job on say £25k I am hoping this would achievable. This scheme is open to key workers and doesnt require a deposit.