The Anticipated Glee of being Mortgage-Free....NoraBatty's Quest Begins!

norabatty_2

So, I had a discussion with OH (can I call him Mr Cool? I think he's very cool) on Wednesday because I got an email at work saying they are looking for empty properties in our area for new staff who may be relocating here. My colleagues know of my frustrations regarding the flat so they forwarded it on to me, they reckon I should be getting approx 2.5-3 times the amount we are currently getting. Cue another rant on my behalf about how we are p*ssing money up against the wall (excuse my Francaise!) and how come we are the only one paying rates and maintenance costs etc when we no longer live there and only own half the property. He admitted we should only be paying half of this and said he'd discuss it with the other owner (also related).

Anyway, he also agreed that I could advertise the flat through work on the premise that family member who is in the flat would be given 2 weeks notice to get out of there if we find somebody who is willing to pay full rent. He also has to tell family member that we are now advertising the flat because we can't afford to only get their measly rent - this might encourage them to find somebody else to rent with them, although I doubt it.

This then brought me on to my favourite topic - selling the place! He reckons it wouldn't sell in the current market - there are 2 other apartments in the same development that have been on the market for 12+ months. However, the flat is in good condition and I think I finally made him realise that we would be better off selling the place at a loss and as long as the offer was enough to cover the equity we currently have, we would be better off covering the estate agent/solicitor fees ourselves because we would have paid that same amount in interest in a year or two anyway. He has agreed to this before, (other owner also agreed to sell) and then done nothing about it, I suspect the same thing will happen here again so it's just a matter of nagging, nagging and nagging some more, which I HATE doing :mad:

Good news is that I managed to get him to call Sky and get rid of our HD package, which was costing us £10.25 a month, can't say I notice the difference (I'd need to see 2 TVs side by side to see the benefit, which kinda defeats the purpose!)

I was minus internet access last night so I managed to crunch some numbers and realised I can actually increase my OPs from next month and not September as I originally thought as I have more in our savings pot for our holiday that I previously thought.:T

So, OPs will increase from £400 up to £600 per month starting in July. Woo-hoo!!

Here are my targets for the next few months:

Daily Interest <£13 - September 2011
10K off Mortgage - September 2011
Monthly Interest <£400 - October 2011
Have 30% equity (Mortgage Balance £143500) - October 2011
Mortgage Balance <£142000 - end of year target - December 2011
Mortgage Balance <£140000 - February 2012
Daily Interest <£12.50 - March 2012

These will hopefully all be achieved by interest rates staying the same and OPing £600 per month until September 2011, at which stage OPs will increase to just under £750 per month :T:T:T

Lois_E

That sounds like progress, Nora. However, I'd recommend that you pop over to the House buying, renting & selling forum and check whether it's OK for you to give the family member only 2 weeks notice. They may well have a legal right to two months notice even if the tenancy is informal, but the people over there will be able to tell you everything you need to know.

Good luck.

wynnvegas

Hi Nora,

Proper progress. With a bit of luck, the current tenant might step up and pay the going rate but it doesn't sound like they're for realising how good they've got it at the moment.

My initial bribe to Moyra was a dinner out at or trip to a place of her choice for every £10,000 of the mortgage we paid off. She eventually moved it to an annual summer trip to Vegas for life once the mortgage was gone which I won't complain about.

Totally with you on the HD. We don't even have an HD telly and I did look at them side by side at the time we bought our last TV. Great targets as well.

Cheers,

Billy

norabatty_2

Lois_E wrote: »

That sounds like progress, Nora. However, I'd recommend that you pop over to the House buying, renting & selling forum and check whether it's OK for you to give the family member only 2 weeks notice. They may well have a legal right to two months notice even if the tenancy is informal, but the people over there will be able to tell you everything you need to know.

Good luck.

Thanks Lois. We wouldn't see them stuck - we'd probably put them up in our guest room for a week or two until they found a place of their own if needs be, although I'd be charging them proper rent as an incentive to get them out the door asap!!

norabatty_2

wynnvegas wrote: »

Hi Nora,

Proper progress. With a bit of luck, the current tenant might step up and pay the going rate but it doesn't sound like they're for realising how good they've got it at the moment.

Yeah, I'd say it's unlikely!! There is currently no incentive for them to increase their payments or get another tenant in, and I don't really blame them either. It's my OH and other owner who came up with the ridiculous rent in the first place.

Sepa74

I can't believe you're making a loss on a rental in this climate! It sounds incredibly frustrating. Good luck with nagging the OH into action!

Lois_E

norabatty wrote: »

Thanks Lois. We wouldn't see them stuck - we'd probably put them up in our guest room for a week or two until they found a place of their own if needs be, although I'd be charging them proper rent as an incentive to get them out the door asap!!

That sounds generous, but seriously, please take legal advice about this. I know you own the property, but you almost certainly don't have any legal right to get them out at such short notice. If you give them two weeks notice and offer them your spare room, they will probably panic about what to do with all their stuff and start asking around for advice. Then they may find some tenancy law experts who will tell them they don't have to leave unless you have followed due legal process and served a S21 notice on them, and that even then they can just stay put while it takes you months to get an eviction order, and there will be absolutely nothing you can do about it.

Now you may know this family member well enough to feel certain that if you tell them to leave then they will, but really, two weeks isn't long enough for them to find somewhere new, get credit checked, arrange how to move all their stuff etc. I know they have been getting stupidly cheap accommodation for ages because your OH and the other owner have been willing to be taken advantage of, so it's tempting to feel that giving short notice is justifiable, but if it's unlawful, then I'm afraid it's unlawful regardless of the ridiculously low level of the rent.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. It's just because I like you and I don't want to see you end up as one of the steady procession of novice landlords who turn up on the housing board (where I lurk) having got themselves into a messy situation through not understanding tenancy law. They get pilloried by the regulars there who always tell them (sometimes not very politely, I'm afraid) that they should never have got a tenant and accepted rent in the first place if they weren't willing to understand and live up to their legal responsibilities as landlords.

Read this thread and this thread and maybe this page from Shelter and also this one, and you will see what I mean.

Good luck with getting your family member tenant out, anyway.

norabatty_2

Yikes! That's me told! Thanks Lois - I like you too! I've advertised the property through work, saying it's available from the 1st of September. OH has the task of informing family member of the good news, although they were warned when they moved in that we may well sell the place if we got a decent offer - hopefully we'll get a tenant soon and in the meantime, I'm going to see if I can persuade OH to contact some estate agents. We're off on our holidays next week so after a week of relaxation abroad, and another few days back at home but still off work, he'll find it difficult to use the "I'm too busy at work to be worrying about estate agents" excuses I've heard before! Seriously, I'm thinking about making another target - get the apartment up for sale before the end of 2011. In the long term, this is definitely the most substantial way I can get to my MFW targets.

AuntieMabel

Hello norabatty :wave:,

Have been on my hols and just catching up on what's been going on in my absence .

I've only had my diary for just over a month after lurking for years on here too, I'm finding it so inspirational being a 'real' person on here!

Good luck with your mission, I've subscribed to your thread and look forward to celebrating your progress

norabatty_2

Thanks Auntie Mabel,

Yes, it's great when you finally post and real people (whose threads you've read) actually respond! Very exciting!! :T:T

I'm off in search of your thread now!