Buy new house but hold on to old one for a few months

wallacewilliams

Hello,

My partner and I have a mortgage on a flat. We've paid about a third of it off. We are thinking of moving house, but need to redecorate our old flat before selling it.

If we could prove that we have enough savings to pay both mortgages for a few months, could we: buy a new house, move all our stuff out of the old flat, redecorate the old flat and then put it on the market once we've done it up?

Redecorating a flat while you're still living in it, and trying time everything so that you're moving out at exactly the same time as you're moving into your new house seems like a logistical nightmare.

Any thoughts gratefully received!

Wallace

Gorgeous_George

Assuming the flat is worth £100K and a loan would cost a modest 6%, you would need to add £1,500 to the selling price to cover the mortgage interest for three months. Add on insurance costs and 6 months to sell the place, I think you would lose money.

I think you cannot afford the risks involved.

Get rid of any furniture that you will not need. Stick some in storage (friends garages and spare rooms if possible) to really minimise the amount of stuff that you need to work around and decorate one room at a time. With less stuff to move, it will be much less daunting.

GG