Are we just being silly?

moments_of_sanity

DH and I have £27k worth of CC debt caused when he had to take unpaid leave from work to look after his terminally ill mum (household of 4, 2 adults and 2 teenagers) - things spiralled out of control and we are now desperately trying to cut costs.

DH inherted a property with his DB last year and it has been on the market, it started at £340,000 and is now down to £275,000. We have had an offer of £250,000 on the house but have said if they can get to £260,000 we will accept it. Are we just being silly in not accepting the £250,000? We are also in a position that the house was due to be rented out at £1000 per month from Wednesday!

Purchasers are in rented accommodation having sold their own property and can be ready to go. They are going to see their financial advisor asap and let us know by Monday lunch time what they can do.

Are we being silly in not acceting the offer of £250,000? Half of this would clear our mortgage and clear the credit cards -sounds like a no brainer even as it write this but opionions very very welcome! :j

theoretica

£250k is the stamp duty threshold for the 3% band which means it would cost your buyers an extra £5k tax to go above this. I would expect them to be most reluctant to do so.

bottleofred

As it is at the threshold for stamp duty at 3%, you could ask them to pay you say £5000 for "contents" of the property in order to achieve the sale. Renting is also a possibility, but you won't clear the debt as quickly.

moments_of_sanity

bottleofred wrote: »

As it is at the threshold for stamp duty at 3%, you could ask them to pay you say £5000 for "contents" of the property in order to achieve the sale. Renting is also a possibility, but you won't clear the debt as quickly.

Unfortunately there is nothing in the house that we could 'sell', it's completely empty. I think the £250k threshold is going to cause some problems but will wait and see what the outcome is, just don't want to lose the sale really :eek:

mmmsnow

moments_of_sanity wrote: »

Unfortunately there is nothing in the house that we could 'sell', it's completely empty. I think the £250k threshold is going to cause some problems but will wait and see what the outcome is, just don't want to lose the sale really :eek:

They can pay for the carpets and blinds. It doesn't really matter! They give you a cheque for £5000 and you reduce the price of the house. I did this when buying my first house - and that was empty too!

Million_Percent

I'd just take the 250K. An extra 5K is neither here nor there really is it? If I had a chance to clear all my debts incl mortgage I'd bite the hand off the potential buyers.

What will you do if they can't go to 260? Decline their offer? With the housing market the way it is, you could be waiting a long time for another buyer with the house potentially losing value in the meantime.

Take the money and run.

hostie

Like the op says take the 250 as soon as you can and get it finalised as soon as you can, why would you gamble it for an extra 5-10k when it could clear your own mortgage?

lila77

you have to be very careful about accepting money for contents and your buyers solicitor will probably advise them against this as he/she will have to fill in the stamp duty tax form to send to the revenue.
I work in the property industry and I would say " a bird in the hand" in the current market I would accept as it sounds like they are in a great position, subject to mortgage - I wish you luck

ossie

250k - 125k (debt)= 125k in the bank and peace of mind......No debt AND no mortgage...Wish I was in your boat !!!!

CH27

Take the £250k

If you don't take it you will have to pay heating bill so the pipes don't freeze in winter, council tax etc.
Depending on how long it takes to sell those bills will all add up very quickly.

onlyroz

You will find most purchasers will be reluctant to go over the stamp duty threshold when purchasing properties in this price range.