Help - Can't sell house, can't rent out house and need to move!!!

lollipop_28

Any advice greatly appreciated.

I moved in with my partner 18 months ago. We live in a house which he bought brand new nearly 3 years ago. He lived in a different city to me - 50 miles from my home town but as I was only living in a shared house it made more sense to move in with him. I completed my teacher training by commuting the 50 miles each day but the plan was always to sell up and move back to my home town as soon as I got a full time job after I'd finished uni. House prices are a lot cheaper in his city than mine which is why we decided to wait until I had a job before we moved.
But before I finished my pgce I got pregnant and the baby is due next month. So obviously although I am now a qualified teacher I'm not going to be able to work for quite a while now. We decided to sell the house anyway and rent in my hometown for 6-12 months until I was able to go to work and we could get a mortgage.
The house has been on the market for 2 months and we have had no viewings whatsoever!! If we drop the price we will make a loss. We've looked into renting it out but we have been told that we couldn't get consent to let from our mortgage company. We are on an interest only mortgage but its on SVR of 5% so its quite a high payment each month and if we did rent it out we would only get £575 per month and the mortgage payment is £500 a month. We've been to see a financial advisor but he was amazed my partner was given the amount he was given on the wage he is on, so he doesn't think he'll be able to switch us to another mortgage.
What can we do. I really want to be back in my hometown with my family close by to me, and don't want to bring our baby up in this city.
I feel so trapped!!

Please help!!!

CloudCuckooLand

You do not NEED to move. You WANT to move.

If you could commute every day for training, why can you not commute a couple of times a week to visit the grandparents/family, etc? Its not like you have a job to take your time up.

Your partner/husband, is your only source of income at the moment, so while he has a job and a decent commute, I'd suggest you stick with that.

Another pregnancy could follow the first, after all...

Jowo_2

A property sells for what a buyer is prepared to pay for it, not what the seller feels it is worth or 'needs'. It's a buyers market, sales are about to fall off a cliff as Christmas approaches anyway and every month that you wait for a buyer to pay what you want, you lose £500 (6.5k over the course of the year). Nowhere in your post do you say how your property compares in quality/price with similar properties in the local area on the market and their actual selling price (versus the valuation).

Your choices are to stay put or cut the price in order to tempt a buyer which means selling at a loss. Has anyone reviewed your marketing literature to see how it can be improved or are you merely greatly overpricing it compared with others on the market?

lollipop_28

CloudCuckooLand wrote: »

You do not NEED to move. You WANT to move.

If you could commute every day for training, why can you not commute a couple of times a week to visit the grandparents/family, etc? Its not like you have a job to take your time up.

Your partner/husband, is your only source of income at the moment, so while he has a job and a decent commute, I'd suggest you stick with that.

Another pregnancy could follow the first, after all...

Thanks for your sympathy! Can I just ask are you male or female?!!


For a start, its not a nice area. I have no friends in the area and just want to be close by to family and friends.

I don't mean to sound ungrateful because at least my partner has a job and we have a home. But I am so unhappy here.

Maybe I just need a magic wand!!! or a lottery win!!!

PasturesNew

Jowo wrote: »

A property sells for what a buyer is prepared to pay for it, not what the seller feels it is worth or 'needs'. It's a buyers market, sales are about to fall off a cliff as Christmas approaches anyway and every month that you wait for a buyer to pay what you want, you lose £500 (6.5k over the course of the year). Nowhere in your post do you say how your property compares in quality/price with similar properties in the local area on the market and their actual selling price (versus the valuation).

Your choices are to stay put or cut the price in order to tempt a buyer which means selling at a loss. Has anyone reviewed your marketing literature to see how it can be improved or are you merely greatly overpricing it compared with others on the market?

What HE said.
And I'm a girl.

Ulfar

Did I miss something, you don't want to commute a couple of times a week to see relatives but you want your partner to commute everyday if you move.

If this is the case I feel sorry for your other half. Isn't it better that he has a much shorter commute and therefore gets to spend at least an hour each day with you and the baby.

lollipop_28

Jowo wrote: »

A property sells for what a buyer is prepared to pay for it, not what the seller feels it is worth or 'needs'. It's a buyers market, sales are about to fall off a cliff as Christmas approaches anyway and every month that you wait for a buyer to pay what you want, you lose £500 (6.5k over the course of the year). Nowhere in your post do you say how your property compares in quality/price with similar properties in the local area on the market and their actual selling price (versus the valuation).

Your choices are to stay put or cut the price in order to tempt a buyer which means selling at a loss. Has anyone reviewed your marketing literature to see how it can be improved or are you merely greatly overpricing it compared with others on the market?

The property is on the market for £120k, my partner bought it for £118k 3 years ago. Its a 3 bed 2 bath 3 storey new build. You can buy a house with 3 beds in the area for £70k to £100k but they are just average end terraced 1950s 3 bed 1 bath houses. There are a few houses nearby which are newer like mine which are on at £130k.

The photos the agent has taken aren't great, and the agent hasn't advertised that there is no chain. I have chased them up about this but they haven't done anything about this.

lollipop_28

Ulfar wrote: »

Did I miss something, you don't want to commute a couple of times a week to see relatives but you want your partner to commute everyday if you move.

If this is the case I feel sorry for your other half. Isn't it better that he has a much shorter commute and therefore gets to spend at least an hour each day with you and the baby.

My partner works in between the 2 areas so the commute would be exactly the same, if not less if we moved!!

PasturesNew

House prices have fallen in most areas since the peak of three years ago:

A property located in Yorkshire & Humberside which was valued at £118000 in Q3 of 2007, would be worth approximately £103273 in Q3 of 2010. This is equivalent to a change of -12.48%.

Source: http://www.nationwide.co.uk/hpi/Default.asp?calculate=true

shell_girl

Aside from the fact that the house isn't selling, have you honestly thoght about the logistics of two house moves within the first year of your baby's life?

Even if you get a viewing tomorrow, how long could it take to actually sell, and for you to find somewhere to move into etc. Baby won't care if you're two weeks early or late- s/he'll make an appearance when s/he fancies- not when you have a window between moves.

As you said, the plan was to move when you found a full time job. As that hasn't happened, maybe make a new plan?

You will both be like zombies for the first couple of months anyway- far better for your OH to be a zombie with a short commute (ETA Sorry I thought his commute would be longer if you moved)

Talk to friends and relatives about how you feel- I'm sure they'll offer to come and see you. Find a local parent and baby group- you'll have a close group of instant (and understanding!) friends in no time.

lollipop_28

PasturesNew wrote: »

House prices have fallen in most areas since the peak of three years ago:

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Source: http://www.nationwide.co.uk/hpi/Default.asp?calculate=true

Yes, that's exactly the figures I've got here for Hull too. What would we do if we sold the house at a loss, if our mortgage is for £110k we would still owe the mortgage company 7k if we sold for £103k. Wouldn't they be on our back for the money?