Sell to the ex?

jonnyblue

Hi

Im hoping some of you may have been in the same position as me (or not!?) and can offer some advice on the following situation:

Basically myself and my ex-girlfriend split-up amicably a couple of month ago. We were/are decorating (new kitchen / new bathroom as well as new carpets and fittings throughout). Unfortunately, the house will need to be sold in order for us to both move on.

We owe around £80k on the house and i expect it to be worth between 105k-120k (hopefully nearer the top end). At the moment there is still a lot of work to do. The dilemma is that my Ex is worried that she will not be able to get back on the property ladder as there really isnt much affordable property on current wages in this area. So she is asking about the possibility of buying me out.

Im not entirely happy about this as im not sure i can detach myself from the property. Blood, sweat and tears has gone into redecorating the house, as FTB's family have played a large part helping us do everything. I would like to be able to pass the house to my Ex knowing that she loves the place but after all the hard work (and there is still a LOT to do!) im not sure i could just walk away knowing that when she meets someone else that they will be staying at the home i put so much effort into. I know this is selfish and it would be easier to just look at it financially but as it was "our" home i cant really

The other thing is, if i did look at this differently and sell to her then how does it work ? In terms of mortgage etc what would need to be done for me to receive my money? (for examples sake, we owe 80k and say it is valued at 120k, in terms of mortage etc what would she need to do in order for me to walk away with around 20k?)
Also, as there is loads still to do (mainly to fit new bathroom and carpet and finish throughout) i would probably be reluctant to spend all my time finishing the place, would this be wise ? in other words, if my half was going to be decided through EA valuations then am i best off doing the work then getting valuations or just asking for realistic valuations if the bathroom/fittings etc were all done and then leave the donkey work to my Ex?

Hope that makes sense and i havent waffled too much ! Any advice is appreciated. Thankyou

silvercar

Get an EA (or three) in and ask them to value it as it is now and what they think it would be worth with the work complete.

Then you and your ex can make a decision with the figures in front of you.

canny_yorkshireman_2

the other thing to consider is can she afford to buy you out and carry on with the extra burden that this will have on her finances if not best you sell to the highest bidder (hopefully) and both walk away with no regrets

Bossyboots

She would have to re-mortgage or it is unlikely that the mortgage company release you from your liability, thus you remain liable for the payments if she gets into difficulty or stops paying.

jonnyblue

Thankyou for the fast responses

Stupid question time but how much would she need to mortgage for ? if for examples sake, the house is worth 120k and we owe the 80k, would she need to find a 120k mortgage or a mortgage which would be based on the current 80k and 1/2 the potential profit (i.e. the 20k i would make?), in other words would she need to find a 100k mortgage with 20k released to me?

This is the 1st house either of us have bought and we have not needed to remortgage or anything yet so not entirely convinced how it works and what fees are involved? i think at the moment she may be thinking that the mortgage provider would be more likely to lend on a remortgage though they wouldnt lend her anywhere near that on a new purchase

again, i hope ive explained that clearly as im not sure it makes sense to me !

thankyou

worrieddad_4

how much would she need to mortgage for ?

Assuming you are joint tenants, there was no deposit to quibble over and the price you agree upon is £120k then effectively you both have £40k equity in the house. Therefore if you split that 50-50 then you each have £20k.

So I would say that she needs to be able to borrow £100k and give you £20k out of that. Now I suppose the question is will anyone lend her £100k?

A few years ago, I sold my house to my ex but I let her have it at a very cheap price because I wanted my kids to continue to stay in their home. From what I remember, I just signed some forms. Of course your ex-GF's mortgage company will insist upon the legals but she may be able to find a deal with free legals.

jonnyblue

Worrieddad, thankyou, that clears things up anyway. To be honest im not sure shel be able to find the 100k, i think she may be assuming that it is easier and more likely the mortgage provider will help as were the exisiting owners etc,

Out of interest do estate agents tend to give accurate estimates of how much the house would be worth once the work is done (even though its a building site at the moment?!) or is it worth me finishing the house off and then get it valued?

Thanks for everyones help

jockettuk

this is my story. hope it helps. my ex husband and i bought the house im living in. we divorced and i stayed with my daughter as it meant she didnt have to leave the school etc. now 6 yrs later im ready to move on and we have to sell the house. my ex wanted to buy me out so this is out it was going to be done. got 2 estate agents in who gave us similar prices as it is now but also advised that if we decorated and finished off all the little jobs could get more. so for a £2grand spend would only get abt another £10grand on the house. ex said he would buy the house as it was and do it up himself. fair enough. he couldnt get a morgage with the existing morgage lenders and had to find another company, there was a lot of moaning from him as he had to sort it out. basically how it was going to work was the price of the house take off the morgage already owed and half the profit, i would have made more money this way than selling it through estate agents etc.

his g/f then decided she didnt want to buy the house after all and it all went flat and ive sold it since.

All the hard work your doing on the house isnt for your benefit so why dont you get it valued and even if you only walk away with a few thousand let her get on with it. your not going to make thousands out of a refurbishment . If i was going to spend all that time on doing the house up and ive been there done that. only for her to have all the benefits of it i would bill her for your time. if she wants the house let her have it now and buy you out as it is..