To sell now or wait ???? Opinions pls

Mizz_Pink

Hi,

This week we have found out that the land behind our house is up for sale. Its basically a square piece of land over looked by houses on all sides, its used as access at the moment by people walking to the main road.
Hubby is worried that the land will be built on and we will be overlooked and lose a lot of natural daylight. What if gypsies buy it ??????????

Hubby has just remortgaged to 75k from 40k. Our house is worth £135-£140k. We are having our garage converted into a livable room and also our utility improved with new floor and walls etc. We hope this work may add another 15-20k to the value of the property. next doors is up for £170k.

We have been wed 3 months and whilst i'm not contributing to the mortgage at the moment I will if we buy a house together.

Should we sell now while we have such a big (ish) amount of equity or wait ?
Hubby thinks its all might crash !!

Also we hope to plan for a family next yr and ideally I need to be on the mortgage whilst i'm in full time employment.

Thanks for reading

PoorDave

What would you do with the money if you sell? Rent somewhere? Buy somewhere more expensive/bigger?

Without knowing this, hard to say!

I am hoping my wife and i can move to a "family home" before any crash, which would involve selling our place and moving up the ladder. This would then mean we wouldn't need to move for ages, so a crash would not be so much of an issue.

It tends to be the people who buy somewhere expensive just before a crash that get burnt most, apparently

lynzpower

Could you not speak to the planning department and find out what the plans for the land is?

Mizz_Pink

Sorry I didnt want to write a huge post !

We would need to buy something better than what we have, Ideally 4 bed or 3 bed with conservatory. We think we could afford something about 200k or slightly under, which would be great. Hubby wants to buy something we will live in long term, a family home, instead of a quick fix and a house similar to what we have.

We have a big chunk of equity in the house as it is, do we jump now or hang on ?

I earn about 14k and hubby is self employed.

I am going to phone the council now.

Thanks guys

Mrs_Optimist

How did you get on? Mr O and I are in the same position - not a problem with land behind us or anything but wanting to move to a bigger home and needing to decide whether to wait, sell or let and release some of the equity before buying somewhere else. I should imagine that any Local searches your prospective buyers solicitors undertake will show the land behind you as about to be built on and this may affect your asking price

PosterBoy77

It could be that there are no plans for the land at the moment. I would say it could be better to contact the agent selling the land to find out how much it is on the market for and if it has/stands any chance of planning. Once you contact the council they may well keep records and you may later have to disclose that you have had the discussions when you come to sell.

I bought some BTL properties a few years back but have been off-loading them all over the last couple of years. I cannot see prices staying as they are and there will be significant downward pressure soon in my view. Just take a look at all the current economic indicators and judge for yourself.

The best way of moving is probably to sell, then rent for a while and look for a house with cash in the bank and no chain. You will then stand a much better chance of finding a good deal as you will be chain free and may find someone looking for a quick sale who will be open to a very low offer. You could also rent for a while longer and see if the prices begin to drop before buying again.

Mizz_Pink

Hi Mrs Optimist,

The council dont know anything about the land being up for sale or planning applications being put in. Dad says the buyers might offer us 300k for our house if they need to knock it down !!!!

I think we will stay where we are. I cant contribute to any mortgage until my cc's are paid off anyway.