Raising cash on our house?

suki49

First time of posting, so hope this is in the right section. We have a house worth £390.000 and a mortgage for £55.000. We have been looking at ways to raise some cash to help daughter through Uni and also subsidise our son,who has learning difficulties and is doing a course in a residential college. He has no income of his own apart from usual benefits which he pays back to County Council. We are both 55 and working. We have looked at Equity Release and don't think this is the way to go. So are now looking at remortgaging. Any help and advise welcome. Oh and am new to internet and forums!

margaretclare

You are too young for equity release.

We did equity release in 2003 just to pay off our existing mortgage, but one of us had to be 68 before we could do it.

chesky369

How much are you hoping to raise?

suki49

About 50k to 75k need some work done on house as well as the other things

monkeyspanner

You have probably looked at it already but your daughter can take out a student loan whilst at university which are currently charged at 0% interest and she will not have to pay back anything until she is earning I believe £15000 per year.

Max. Loan £3225 for 2009/10, £3290 for 2010/11 not a lot but might help.

Savvy_Sue

Welcome suki

monkeyspanner wrote: »

You have probably looked at it already but your daughter can take out a student loan whilst at university which are currently charged at 0% interest and she will not have to pay back anything until she is earning I believe £15000 per year.

Remember that interest rate can go up! And that if interest is being charged, it is charged from day 1, not the date you finish your studies.

monkeyspanner wrote: »

Max. Loan £3225 for 2009/10, £3290 for 2010/11 not a lot but might help.

It is worth asking yourself if she actually NEEDS help: I've had one son go through university and another there at the moment, neither of whom has had any help from us beyond free accommodation when they're at home and generally a lift with all their stuff at the beginning and end of term (we won't mention confusion about the date term ended once!) 3rd son is planning to go in 2011 after a gap year and I'm not expecting to help him either.

Yes, they have student loan debt, but I don't see that as a problem.

Another option might be to downsize? I don't suggest that lightly, I never wanted to move house again, but I can see that once it's just DH and I living in a house we bought 10 years ago for 6 to live in, it won't be the most moneysaving ways to live!

suki49

Hi, many thanks for your input. Yes my daughter has student loans etc, we pay for her accommodation. She is very good at managing her money and doesn't ask for extra to help finanacially. We don't know how long our son (who has learning difficulties) will be living with us. Once he finishes college, in two years, he'll be back home until we find suitable sheltered accommodation for him. He is at college for 39 weeks and is home for the other weeks so downsizing at the moment is we feel not an option at the moment. It would be helpful to raise the cash to enable us to relieve the pressure on us, as we do support him financially.

Thanks

monkeyspanner

For the sum of money you are looking for I believe your main option would be to extend your mortgage or take out a second mortgage. You have plenty of equity in the house to secure the money but obviously you would need to demonstrate ability to repay and satisfactory credit history. You could try a mortgage broker who should be able to give you options of what deals you could get. Hope you manage to get things sorted out.

suki49

Thanks monkeyspanner, that's very helpful. I think we just needed to be pointed in the right direction. We will look into that.

Suki49

[Deleted User]

margaretclare wrote: »

You are too young for equity release.

We did equity release in 2003 just to pay off our existing mortgage, but one of us had to be 68 before we could do it.

EQUITY release is avaliable from the ages of 55-95

Merrywidow

Yes Equity is available from 55 but the younger you are the less you get. A Financial Advisor would be a good idea and possibly provide solutions that you hadn't thought of. I personally think Equity release is your very last resort. Good luck, and welcome to this thread. Most of us can throw some light on your problem thru their own experiences. Just remember that you will need your money for your eventual retirement when life becomes interesting and the opportunity to enjoy yourself will need financing. Dare I say that your children will learn valuable lessons in money management and more importantly the value of budgeting, which is what YOU have done your whole life.