How do we avoid losing our house?

crular

Any constructive advice, that doesn't include we should have made a better mortgage choice at the beginning, would be gratefully received

GlamGirlie wrote: »

You have put yourselves in an irresponsible position, I'm afraid.

GlamGirlie wrote:

and in the meantime you wife should redouble her efforts to find gainful employment.

Of course! She's just not trying hard enough! Tsk! You would have thought the prospect of losing the family home would be enough of an intensive, eh?

SouthCoast

Having problems with your mortgage payments?

http://mortgagehelp.direct.gov.uk/default.aspx

Mrs_Z

hmm.... not sure if this would be a goer but would you be able to rent your house out and downsize into a smaller rented property yourself? If only to buy extra time for yourselves?

Lots depends if you'd get a consent from your lender, and landlord responsibilities are not to be taken lightly, but if you have a nice house in a nice area and you could let it for £1500pcm so that it pays for itself, it might be an idea to explore. You could downsize temporarily to somewhere cheaper youselves. If it works out, it'd allow you to keep the house.

Otherwise, is there a scope of renting out a room? Like others have already said, you'll have to find a way of either upping your income or reducing your outgoins, preferably both together!

Hello123_2

Im sorry to hear about your difficulty. My advice would be:

See a mortgage adviser asap
Cut back on all luxuries
Sell things you no longer need on ebay/carboot for extra cash
Consider renting a room out for extra cash (4k is tax free too)
Make sure you are in receipt of benefits you may be entitled to eg working tax credits
Ask for a payment holiday even just 1 or 2 months could ease the burden
Encourage your wife to apply for jobs she may not usually chose (i know it's hard - even part time cleaning/shop work will help)
Do some overtime if possible, even 1 hr a day could be an extra £150+ a month
Seriously consider putting your house on the market & 'get out' whilst you still can & buy a cheaper house
Remember all of this is temporary - not forever.
In the future always remember s**t happens so try not to push yourself too far financially

Good luck

Thrugelmir

Mrs_Z wrote: »

not sure if this would be a goer but would you be able to rent your house out and downsize into a smaller rented property yourself? If only to buy extra time for yourselves?

And if the tenant defaults or there is a void period?

Rental income is not guaranteed income something which too often gets overlooked.

Voyager2002

I endorse the suggestion of letting a spare room -- or two?

A 400K house is obviously rather nice, so you could probably charge near to 400 per month for each room. Think of it as downsizing without having to move!