Should we sell up and rent

Kathy220559

Hi

I am hoping someone out there may be able to help me please. I am registered on a few forums of this kind but only use them to 'lurk' I have never before posted a message, I have been too ashamed, but after reading this forum and the excellent advise given I felt moved to post. Also, being a newbie I wasn't sure which forum to post to so have done this one and the Debt-free one...not sure if thats allowed but was unsure of what to do.

My husband and I had a wonderful life up until 2001. We had just about got on our feet from raising the kids and were able to enjoy a nice, not lavish, but nice lifestyle.

That year 2 things happened. My Dad died very suddenly aged 62 and 6 months later my husband had a heart attack. He is 15 years older than I am and will be 62 this year...thats scary although totally illogical I know.

I myself was having a dreadful time at work with my manager. It is only now after all this time and suffering with depression that I now realise and can admit what happened to me was in fact 'bullying' It has taken a lot for me to admit to this as one normally associates bullying with children but it certainly happened to me.

I was trapped at work with no-one to help and had several long periods off work with depression over approx 4 years before HR finally sat up and took notice.

They did a full review which not suprisingly led them to find in favour of the manager. However, eventually I was hooked up with a wonderful HR person who understood my situation and did her best to help me to return to work, which I did. I have to add that apart from the manager I absolutely loved my job.

I had only been back at work for around 3 months when my husband had another heart attack. This one was far more serious and he almost died. Thankfully, he is now recovered somewhat and is capable of leading a 'normal' life although not as he used to. For that I am eternally grateful.

I was off work caring for him when the same HR lady came to my home to tell me they were closing my workplace down and I had to take redundancy.

Because of my husbands health problems he will never work again and because of my depression and the severity of it as it has dragged on for years it is unlikely that I will either. The experience I had at my last job has left me with absolutely no confidence in my ability to function in the workplace and with such a bad employment record, re the previous sickness it is unlikely that I would be even considered for a job.

During this time I have to admit to being very stupid. I had already lost my dad and almost lost my husband twice and I went spending mad. I was determined to enjoy whatever time we had together and we had a few holidays. This was all without my husbands knowledge, he thought we were using savings. I had always controlled the money and he trusted me absolutely. I finally confessed to him the situation we were in and he was great. However, he still does not know the extent of the debt.

We now have debts of approx £30000 on loans and credit cards. All the priority debts are taken care of and I went to the CAB to draw up and Income and Expenditure list to send to the creditors. Up to now all is running smoothly with that after a couple of wrangles with debt collection agencies but I stuck to my guns as the CAB had advised and told them I couldn't afford any more money.

The problem we have now is living with this debt, or should I say existing with it, because we certainly do not 'live' Its month to month and even if we do have a few extra pounds at the end of the month we are too afraid to spend it.

We own our own house outright as we paid off the mortage when my hubbie retired. We estimate it is worth around £130k.

The question is this: Do we sell and move to rented accomodation? I have seen a perfect apartment for just the 2 of us in the same area we are now. The rent is £450 per month, a new build in a community development.

My thinking is if we sold, paid of the debts we would have around £100k left. We would keep £20K for future rent and some sort of life and invest the rest, around £80k in various guaranteed income and guaranteed growth accounts.

This seems to me that we could downsize, get all of this debt out of the way and still have some sort of life, but I know there must be a downside somewhere. That is where I need the help. Do we sell and move on or do we continue to live like this with no end in sight.

I am so sorry this is such a long post but I wanted to state all the facts and information I thought necessary for anyone to give advise. If I have missed anything please feel free to ask.

I would be very grateful if anyone out there could give me ANY help or advise.

BTW our income stands at £960 per month net. This is made up of 2 lots of incapacity benefit and my husbands small pension. I have tried every other benefit available to man and apart from reduced council tax we are entitled to nothing else.

I have been reading the debt-free wannabe thread for months now and have pared down our living expenses to the bare minimum and we are still barely managing on the income we have...there is nothing left over for pleasure.

Please can someone help

Cheers
Kathy

Robert_Sterling

You have explained your situation with great frankness and clarity.
I am sure someone other than myself with offer some useful advice.
My own opinion is that you should not sell up and rent a place to live.

Kathy220559

Hi Robert

Thanks for your reply. I do hope so, I really need the advise as I don't know which way to go.

Kathy

firesidemaid

hi there.

good for you for posting here - and for sorting yourselves out with the CAB etc.

i am no expert, but i will mention a few things that i have learnt from this site.

re. benefits: i expect you and/or your husband should be claiming disability living allowance. you could also then claim carers allowance for him (sorry, if you already know this - if not get help again from the CAB). you will also then be entitled to cheaper travel/cinema/help with cars etc.

post a SOA (statement of affairs on here). there is a sticky on the DFW board to help with this. others will be able to reduce your outgoings even more, especially as you have no rent/mortgage.

i also would not sell your house. you may find the DWP may make you use your income to live on, and therefore you would be no better off. why not consider downsizing as an option?

this has probably all been already answered on the DFW post. all the best x

abbecer

You don't mention if you have children or not. Would you be wanting to leave an inheritance to anyone? If not i would sell then rent. I'm sure you and your husband have many happy years together yet but you never know what's around the corner. You can't take your money with you. Obviously you are a lot younger so would need to invest wisely to ensure a long term income. Regarding working i would do some voluntary work to build up your self esteem and perhaps gain new skills. Maybe in a couple of years you will feel strong enough to look to work again and your voluntary organisation may be able to provide references rather than your old employer.

I really do wish you luck for the future.

Rebecca x

silvercar

I wouldn't move to rented. you own your home, you have somewhere safe to live, don't risk that. renting is fraught with risks - paying rent for the rest of your lives, having to move if a landlord wants his property back.

continue with your arrangements to repay the debts and stay in your home. is my advice. I would have suggested moving to somewhere cheaper to free up some money, but I think the moving costs would outweigh the gain.

franklee

Speaking as someone who has sold up and gone renting, and is very happy with it, I would advise you not to do it. With renting privately (as opposed to council housing) you have to be prepared to move if the landlord gives you notice which can be a lot of work. I would not recommend someone with a history of heart attacks to do it.

Kathy220559

Thank you all so much for your replies. It is really good to have lots of other opinions. All our family seem to think we should go for it but I am still unsure.

The house really is too big for the both of us now but if we sold and paid off the debts there wouldn't be enough money left to buy somewhere else.

sazzacat....Thank you for that but we have been down the DLA route and it would appear that neither of us is entitled to anything. I have tried Pension Tax Credit, Income support everything and all we can get is Council Tax Benefit. Also, even if we did get more benefit this would only go to creditors and we would be no better off personally.

I have thought about Equity Release but I am not old enough. I know there are Lifetime Mortgages but I am sure there must be some age restrictions to it although I have to confess I don't know too much about that. Its weird that I have been married to my OH for almost 30 years and the 15 year age gap has never been an issue until now.

My eldest son has just bought a new house and is maxed up to the limit with his mortgage.

My youngest is living in rented accomodation because he cannot get a mortage because of bad credit and his fiancees CCJ. They are expecting a baby in September, the only bright thing to look forward to in my life at the moment, and are really financially strapped. I know both of them would love to help but they are unable to do so.

I even considered whether or not we might be able to get a mortage with maybe only interest payments until we die and then paying the balance out of the estate but I don't know if that is even possible, move house, pay the debts and free up some money that way.

I am truly grateful for any suggestions and any advise from anyone out there who may know of any possible solution. I am willing to consider anything.

Thanks once again to everyone who has replied. It is soooo good to talk

Kathy

fortunehunter

Hi If you do decide to rent and use your savings for income consider sheltered housing. Pay full rent no landlord asking you to move and somebody looking after the repairs bonus. the community feeling may help with the lack of confidence

firesidemaid

hello again.

just wanted to check re DLA - when you say it seems like we are not entitled to it. could you or your husband cope on your own completely individually on your own with no physical/personal help from anyone else at all? including when either of you are at your worst?(this includes cooking, cleaning, shopping, diy, transport, communication, medication, safety etc etc)? if not, then you should be entitled to it.

Again, i don't know whether you are able to share with us your outgoings or proportion you have for yourselves and for your debts?

are you able to sell things on ebay?

if you do decide to sell your house, please make sure you would still be entitled to the incapacity benefit with the capital as savings.

i wonder could you get a remortgage on your property for a interest only or even repayment mortgage for the debt amount, if it would make it cheaper for you. it might be worth speaking to your bank/previous lender.

take care for now x

SteveCat

It seems the debt you have obviously bothers you opposed to owning your own home. If thats the dilemma then thats were you need to start. If the debt bothers you that much then yes sell up, pay it off and maybe from the remainder look to invest with a good interest rate which may inturn pay some or all of the rent. The other scenario is to look at keeping your home, and consolidate with remortgaging, if you can. If it was me that would be the method I would use and you should find a decent enough deal dependant on your circumstances. Hope this kind of helps!