Advice needed - Any ideas

julybride

Here goes....

Me and hubby relocated in January after living apart for a year. All our plans included clearing debt and no children... so we bought a really lovely 1 bed... that would suit us for years...

Then this weekend found out i am pregnant.. this is great news but our dilema is now....

We are tied into a mortgage for another 18months and will get about £3000 of fees for breaking the deal.

But our house has gone up in value 13000 in less than 6 months (this is due to getting a very very good price). That if we do any work we will not see any price rise from where it sits now apart form inflation. (i.e. if we do the kitchen it won't add value).

But to make it baby safe we would have to!!!!! re-do the kitchen (estimate £1500). and we will be forking out for the roof in the next year (estimate £1500). Ifeel that we would be better going rather than investing anymore in a property that in 18months we will need to leave anyway.

Does anyone have any suggestions on area I should look into for remortgaging? calculators to use. Any one had expereince of getin gout of mortgages any loop holes that might exist 9I know I'm probably clutching at straws)

Me and hubby are able to clear our debt by the time baby arrives... but this is the sticky problem right now.

Any ideas greatfully recieved.

Bernard_Coleslaw

First of all, congratulations! :j

Not too sure what it is you're looking to do, so bear with me.

If you want to move, why not go back to your current lender - many of them will 'port' your current deal onto a new mortgage if you're moving house, meaning that you avoid having to pay redemption penalties.

If you're not moving, but want to raise funds to carry out home improvements, why don't you talk to your current lender about a further advance? Again, your mortgage stays with them, and no penalty to pay.

Hope this helps.

BC

cattie

If you consider the kitchen isn't baby safe then couldn't you just fix a safety gate across the door when the time comes for baby to be of walking age.

You'll not have to face this stage untill baby is between 9 months & 1 year, maybe even a little longer if baby is a bit lazy, so you'd only have to have this in place for a relatively short time before your redemption period is up & you can look to move.

You mention you wouldn't add value to your place by putting in a new kitchen, but with house selling it isn't just about adding value, but making your home more appealing to potential purchasers. A flat with a new kitchen & roof will likely be much more attractive a purchase than a similarly priced/size flat. This is the route I would chose rather than just literally waste money paying unecessary redemption penalties for such a short time scale.

maryjane01

Why don't you move in 18 months?

I don't know how far a long the pregnancy is, but lets say you have 6 months till you are due, then the baby won't walk for nearly a year, then you can move house!

julybride

Thank you everyone, we have looke into porting our mortgage adn we will: be charged £2500 Higher Lending charge (which doesn't make sence since a yearago they were offering us substantially more and we had a huge deposit)

Good idea about the gates etc for the Kitchen.

But it was the Estate Agent who said the Flat is soo appealing on location it will reach top wack without all the work being done £140,000 (it is sea view and stunning) most 1 bed properties are aorund £118,000 in this area. I definately feel it is a false ecnomy to do the roof work and other jobs.

The other reason for moving sooner than later is... I am the main wage earner and we don't really want me to go back to work full time; we can affoard a larger morgage on hubbys salary but will need to do it now while they will take into account my wages full time.

homer_j_3

As far as getting out of mortgages with loopholes, if there were any, they would be closed down fairly sharpishly due to the fact that I would say 9/10 mortgages I write have one and that would be a lot of lost revenue for the lenders.

You need to prioritise what is important to you and forget what the estate agent says because of course its prime location and of course its the best time to sell as they will get money for selling it.

The way I see your situation is this:

You are in a property that you feel is not right for you and your family now that you have a welcomed addition on the way - congratulations by the way...

You estimate that you are going to need to spend 3k on kitchen and roof in next 12 months if you stay there

You have to pay 3k to exit your mortgage.

If you think that you are realistic with those estimates for the kitchen and roof then it makes sense to me to move in to a property that is going to last you for at least the next 2-5 years as you are going to be 3k worse off anyway.

You also have to consider that when this work will be required, you will have lost an income or have it at a seriously reduced amount due to having a new born baby. Are you really going to like all this work going on aswell as trying to recover from giving birth and look after your child?

I would just accept the fact that you may find it easier to get into a property that is right before the event rather than after the event.

This website is all about savig money but sometimes you just have to accept life doesnt always allow you the timing to do this.

Theres my wisdom for the week lol..