I own a house but otherwise I am broke- do I sell?

lostinrates

jangor wrote: »

Just caught your thread and just wanted to say that years ago I was in a very similar position to you. Unfortunately I was left with two children and a hefty mortgage on a very basic house. As there was absolutely no possibility of being considered for a council property and as I have always been taught that we are given nothing in this life, I eventually took three jobs to make ends meet. This did mean losing time with my children and left me without a social life but as compensation I kept a roof over the childrens' heads, lived in a decent area and managed to pay for all our needs on my income. I am much older now and my children have grown and left but I do sometimes sit and wonder whether the effort was worth it and whether I was foolish to worry so much about paying my way instead of watching my children grow and enjoying life. I don't know what the answer is but all I can say is do what you think is right and if that is spending time with your children and running amok in a field of daisies, go for it. I wish you well whatever you decide to do.

This is a great post, because I think it sums up the position a lot of people face now, and why those who don't have the samce choices (I thnk of Max Headroom's great thread) feel similarly aggreived. Jangor, fwiw, I think you can hold your head very high, but I can also see why you feel the way you feel about things.

surreybased

jangor wrote: »

I am much older now and my children have grown and left but I do sometimes sit and wonder whether the effort was worth it and whether I was foolish to worry so much about paying my way instead of watching my children grow and enjoying life. .

I suspect that you taught your children something in life by doing this, it's a valuable lesson - to learn that you should pay your way in life. You can also look back with pride on your achievements.

Lakelady_2

I`d be tempted to try moving to another country, especially as a nurse and family (parents) who are happy to travel. £100,000 could give you a good start else where.

[Deleted User]

I don`t think anyone finds it easy in the first 10 years or so of owning their own home but by golly it is so worth it later on. You have to see the bigger picture. We juggled every penny for years and had all second hand stuff but baby look at us now. Mortgage free in a house we chose, in an area we chose to live in. Never in a million years would we have done things differently. No pain, no gain and by the way in later years we got to own 4 horses but I wasn`t of the `have it all now` generation

SingleSue

Jenny_ wrote: »

Thanks to those of you who tried to answer my question and give me some usefull advice. Verymuch appreciated.
I think I must have misled you all though.
I'm not starving- we manage- the hours I work I've chosen to do so that I can also be a good mother to my kids, ie home in the evening to cook for them and help with homework etc- this I've done for about a year and my daughter is copping a lot better with school as a result of a more regular routine.
If I needed to work more to survive I would do any kind of work.
I'd like to clarify that I am not a sponge living off governemt handouts. I've not been out of work since my daughter was born, infact I scraped the barrel then paying for a 2month old to be in creche so I could train as a nurse to support her. I've workd ft shift work the majority of my career.
Two years ago I was also running a very succesfull local scout troup and a member of St Johns ambulance.
Neighbours from hell moved in and eventualy (along with another neighbour, not just me being pathetic) I had a break down. I wasn't off work for long though. I've picked myself up and carried on. I don't ask for any handouts and I didn't view the council house as a freebie- I'd obviously have to pay for it. I also didn't seek it out but came accross the information that I was eligable to get one accidentaly.
Also if I apply for one in the area I live I wont be depriving a homeless family of it as it has been empty for about 18 months as people keep declining it because it is too remote- only people with family conections in the village seem to want to live there.
I know there are millions of people in the world who are in horrendous situations and I am thankfull everyday that I am not starving to death having first watched my children die.

I am extreemly fortunate to have this valuble asset in my house- it just seems a little bit ironic that I'm apparently well off but can't actualy make use of it- why are you condeming me for searching out a way to take advantage of my good fortune.
I don't drink, smoke go out anywhere, I have an extreemly limited wardrobe, I value experiences in life rather than "things" I'd like to share experiences with my kids rather than struggle away until they dissapear on their own and then find I have the money.
Oh and the sarcy bit about the horse- short on time- no- just arranging my time in a way that works best for my family. Ive looked after horses before- for friends and neighbours and am well aware of the demands- we don't live in the city we live in the sticks- if it were something i persued then I would make sure it was very close by to where we live.
Short on cash, well yes, hence I don't have a horse- but the whole point of the thread is about freeing up cash, hence I wouldn't be short on cash. Don't you people read?

But actualy the horse is just my ultimate dream, not a part of a spending spree, and obviously theres a lot more involved with it that than is worth putting here.

You guys are all talking as though it's wrong to want things- well do you all live in overcrowded houses sleeping on matresses on the floor? With no nice furniture no phones? no TV? Nothing to make life a bit nicer- like a computer?
Do you all stay in every night of the week never socialising?
I'm expecting one of the comments to read
"In my day we were lucky if we got to live int shoe box int middle of road"
"And we were gratefull for it"

Ever thought for applying for a part in the grumpy old men/women programs.

I have no idea why i posted here first- if as you say you are hidden-I didn't seek you out espescialy to anoy you and the site didn't have a warning.

In fact I only came to this site because I found a thread about selling a house to have a round the world trip. The advice on there was all good- I mean some negative, some positive but all usefull- not an oppinionated biased comment in site


I was expecting a few bits of healthy advice from people with different life experiences- thanks to the few that chose to be unbiased. The rest of you- well it seems you just saw the word "single mum" and saw red- you didn't bother to even consider that you may be stereotyping me.

Yes this was my first post, on any forum ever, I may not have worded it well, the info I gave was trying to explain why I might want to do something bizare like sell my house without giving you my life story. It may even have seemed a bit tactless to some of you. If you thought I was tactless you could easily have said why without being horrible.
I wasn't looking for sympathy either, as I said, I make ends meet, I have enough left over to generaly cover extra expenses. I was just looking for advice- if you don't want to help don't bother but there is really no need to be nasty to people.
I'm really sorry that the council thinks I have a right to be re-homed- perhaps the whole system is !!!!ed-or perhaps I should just stay in an overcrowded 2 bed with horrendous neighbours who have made me nervous about going outside. And leave a 3 bed house that I could really use empty because it offends you small minded p***s.
Oh and heres a piece of advice someone in a chat room gave me- there are apparently scheems available where a council or other body will help you buy a house- say paying for a proportion of it- that bit remains theres so if you were to sell then they get their share of the costs etc or you can eventualy buy it off them.
I don't know all the details but maybe if anyone else in a similar situation is unfortunate enough to make the mistake of asking your forum for advice, now you've got some.

I'm actualy very dissapointed in the demonstration of humanity you have shown- If I heared of someone with good fortune I would be happy for them.
Don't bother to write a reply to this- I wont be checking back again
I was very tempted to write up a reply saying I was pregnant and thinking of quiting work altogether. But I am too honest. And as a nurse I don't want to be causeing problems with your BP- it must run constantly high when you imagine all the people who are so unfairly helped out when they are in dificult situations by the government.

I am a single mum and to make matters worse, a single mum on benefits! The people on this board have been absolutely wonderful, understanding and accepting of me.....as a indication of how accepting (and wonderful, wonderful) people they are, they are helping myself and my children this summer, something I am very grateful for.

I think the problem with your question was the expectation that with £100k in the bank, you would be expecting to receive a council place. That sort of money is not small fry (it is an amount I could only dream of) and by selling up, even if it is due to being overcrowded, would be deemed as making yourself intentionally homeless plus they would expect you to sort out your housing needs with the proceeds from the sale.

Believe me, you would not want to be a council or housing association tenant if you are concerned about small mindedness, you need to have the skin of a rhino, as it is automatically assumed that you are a ne'er do well...plus rents are not particularly cheap in some areas and is certainly more than you are currently paying for your mortgage, so I fail to see how that would improve your finances.

We all aspire to dreams, it's what keeps me going to be honest (mine is to be able to go into the supermarket and just put any item in the trolley without getting stressed about the cost), so keep hold of yours.

For information....I don't go out socially (if I am lucky, it is once or twice a year), I don't have extra left over for treats, we are overcrowded due to disabilities and equipment, my furniture is all very old.

Do I have a good life? Well, it may be stressful at times, I may get very down at times but I have the love of my children and the boost I get from seeing them overcoming adversity due to their problems.

Edit - Are you sure you are receiving all that you should? Working/child tax credit etc? Is there any way you could shave off any excess spending anywhere?

In what way do you think council housing will help? My HA rent is four times what you pay in mortgage and whilst earning, you may receive some LHA/Housing benefit once you have brought your savings under £16k but certainly not all of it (..it could actually put you in a worse situation.

If you do give up work, remember that your £100k (in fact any savings over £16k) in the bank would exclude you from claiming IS, housing benefit, council tax benefit etc although I believe you can still get Child tax credit no matter what savings you have.

I personally think you would be worse off, yes you may have a larger home (although I don't think you would have a cat in hells chance of getting one) but financially, you wouldn't....you would need to use the proceeds from the house sale to live plus have the unending boredom/frustration, lack of self worth that comes with not working.

Do you have a room you could convert into a bedroom (not ideal I know), have one of the children in with you (also not ideal), any way you can convert the loft? (Needs money).

lemonjelly

One other thing has occurred to me - many local authorities have imposed capital limits when looking to allocate housing. In example, one LA near me will not consider single people with more than £35k, or couples with £45k as they would be deemed to have sufficient funds to house themselves.

Different LA's have different rules, so you'd need to check with the LA themselves.

teddy_ruckspin

Jenny_ wrote: »

I am extreemly fortunate to have this valuble asset in my house

Your house should not be viewed as an asset until it's owned outright. It's a liability until the mortgage is paid off.

phil_b_2

teddy_ruckspin wrote: »

Your house should not be viewed as an asset until it's owned outright. It's a liability until the mortgage is paid off.

Not quite... once you hit at least 50% equity it becomes somewhat of an asset IMO.

Your tone feels remarkably familiar. hmm.

actionman_3

Jenny a few people do use these boards to wind people up.dont a few posts ruin your day..

Actually as you have an older female and male sharing the same room-the council would class you as overcrowded. I do know someone who was in that position and they have their own council house now even though they own their own home.Theres a long wait though for a council house and they are very poky in this area.

Also there is someone on benefits who lives in their own home since her husband left and she said she couldnt afford the bills now. She is entitled to have housing benefit paid on another property because of this. I was surprised but its true.

with the shared ownership schemes and new build I think you have to be a first time buyer

I would ring the council or contact the CAB to find out more info

Generali

If you sell up and move out you will have made yourself intentionally homeless so will not be eligible for council help. If you rent privately you won't get anything for £40/week that you would want to live in.

The second part of the equation is salary. Could you earn some money on the side teaching nursing students for example? Alternatively by increasing your skill levels would an employer pay you more?

The third is spending. You work 1920 hours a week (24*48) and according to these guys:

http://www.nursing-pay.com/

even a newly qualified nurse is on £8/hour You should be on a minimum of £16,000 a year as a result which is £1,080 a month. On top of that you should be getting a little over £420 a month in tax credits. So your net income should be about £1500 a month. If you pay £160/month in mortgage costs you are left with £1340 which should be enough for a pretty decent lifestyle*. I suggest you start having a poke around this site and look at getting your costs down, there are some great ideas and don't be put off by the cynics on this board.

I suggest that a good place to start would be to look at your biggest expenditures (probably car, insurance, utilities and shopping) and work from there. Maybe you could devote a week to trying to slash costs in each of those areas and see how much you can improve your income as a result.





*The average London renter would have to be earning about £35,000 a year to acheive this sort of post-tax, post housing income.