Help needed!!!

danni1983

Hello anyone who can help me,im new to all this to please bare with me!!.

My mum and i recently lost my Grandmother 12 months ago. Her home has been left to my mother in the will. The house is not in great condition to be honest. Its has been on the market now for 6 months at £84,950 and we are struggling to sell and are thinking of lowering the price. My mum has recently been made unemployed and is in receipt of JSA. I suggested to my mum that she rents it out to make an income off the home,but as earlier stated the condition of the house is not good so we would need to refurbish it before we did. I may be asking a really simple question here but i haven't got a clue how any of this works. Could my mum take money out of the house to pay for the refurbishments and then rent it out even though she is not working?

If anybody could help me i would be gratefull,or least push me in the right direction on what to do or any options available,but make sure it is in ENGLISH as im completely lost on any mortgage jargon!! ha ha.:j Thanks x

Mrs_Bumble

Has the house been registered in your mum's name at the land registry office?

Unfortunately if your mum is not working and is only in receipt of JSA then she can't look to borrow money from the house in the form of a mortgage as any mortgage will be based on income.

Has the estate agent come up with any useful tips in order to sell the property? Is there anything in particular that is putting people off that could be solved relatively easily and cheapily, sometimes it can be the dafted things that put people off.

The house I live in currently the gloss paint work was a sort of lime green colour all the way through the house and the carpet all the way through was a pychadelic floral number it really had to be seen! We knocked a lot of money off the house because of these two factors and the house had been on the market for a year.

Have you checked the value of the houses that are similar in the area to see if the estate agent is pitching the price a bit high? You can use sites like www.zoopla.co.uk

Letting out a property is not always as easy as it sounds as more often than not it is much more hassle than it is worth, particuarly for people that aren't really operating as a business. Do you think your mum would really be up to being a landlord and all the responsibilitites and pitfalls that can be associated? The easiest path for your mum I am sure would be to get the property sold and invest the money.

danni1983

Hi there thanks for replying. Yes her name has been registered at the land registry office.

I thought that because she wanted to rent the property out that was classed as income? There are a few people that are already interested in renting it.
We have redecorated right through the house and both gardens front and rear are of a decent size. Although it hasnt got central heating and the back kitchen windows are not double glazed. So they are the main factors that i can think of that are making it hard to sell.

Thanks again x

Mrs_Bumble

The key is that she isn't already a landlord, she isn't actually in receipt of the monies yet and hasn't submitted any accounts to the inland revenue to prove receipt of income etc. Most Buy to Let lenders now also require there to be a minimum income in the background as well, to cover periods of time when there isn't a tenant or when a tenant isn't paying the rent etc, lending in this area is very much more restricted now than they once were and definitely isn't a step to be taken lightly.

There are a lot of responsibilities to being a landlord is your mum really ready for that? You should post on the buying, renting etc board for advice on the implications of becoming a landlord etc. I think it would be better to investigate all of these before your mum got herself in that position. It would take a long time to recoup the same income from renting as actually selling the property.

If you are getting viewing and not getting offers then the estate agent should be actively asking people what is putting them off.

Have you checked values of similar properties? https://www.zoopla.co.uk

danni1983

So other than waiting and holding out for a sale,there is no way any money can be released from the property for improvements (unless my mum is working again)??

CLAPTON

danni1983 wrote: »

So other than waiting and holding out for a sale,there is no way any money can be released from the property for improvements (unless my mum is working again)??

As you asked for people to speak in English... then one doesn't 'release' money from a house, one borrows money either via a mortgage secured on the house or a unsecured personal loan.

Without income that just isn't going to happen.

danni1983

Ok thanks for your help

Mrs_Bumble

As above:)

Pin the estate agent down to do their job and find out why offers aren't forth coming.