Buying out a share in property question

bubblyboo

Hello,

Hoping somebody is able to help me.

My husband was discharged from bankruptcy in April 2010. We have received a letter from the OR regarding our house. It says that I can buy out my husband's share of the property (which I estimate to be about £11k).

I can't afford to buy out his share of the property alone and won't be able to remortgage. So we have decided to sell our property and rent. We have to get back to the OR by Wednesday, so we are going to get it valued asap and then my Mother-in-law will pay for my husband's share & after we sell our house, we can pay her back. (Renting isn't ideal, but we are living in a shared ownership property and my half of the equity: £11k won't be enough for a deposit, but will be enough to pay off my credit cards & be completely debt free - hooray!)

My question is: In the letter it says I can make an offer to buy my husband's share. So if my husband's share is £11k, do I have to pay £11k or can I make an offer for say £5k? And if I can make an offer like that & it's rejected, can I make another offer until one is accepted?

Thank you for any replies - this is a scary time & any help is gratefully received

Bubblyboo

IF

Hi Bubblyboo, just bumping up the board for more answers. I would make the offer for £5k and see what they say. Hopefully more posters can advise you too.

Best wishes
If...x

Ineedaname

I'm just wondering, if you're going to sell the property I think you need the OR's agreement to do this and there wouldn't be any point in buying the BI back. Conversely, if mum buys the BI then that would negate the need to sell, unless you can no longer afford to live there anyway, in which case the beginning of this paragraph applies again.

There was a thread a few months back which discussed the issue of BI and whether that then gives the family member a right to a share of the property/proceeds if sold later on. I'll see if I can find it for you.

EDIT: Have a look at this thread as it may help you a little.

debtinfo

i think the OP means the mum will give her the money to buy the BI, and when it is back in her name she will sell the property so that she can pay her mum back quickly, and then the OP gets the other half of the equity to do with as she wishes

silvercar

debtinfo wrote: »

i think the OP means the mum will give her the money to buy the BI, and when it is back in her name she will sell the property so that she can pay her mum back quickly, and then the OP gets the other half of the equity to do with as she wishes

Wouldn't it be easier to sell it with the ORs agreement, without doing the buyback?

That way half the equity after the selling costs would go to the OR and OP would be left with the remainder. It takes away the gamble of what the property would actually fetch on the open market.

debtinfo

silvercar wrote: »

Wouldn't it be easier to sell it with the ORs agreement, without doing the buyback?

That way half the equity after the selling costs would go to the OR and OP would be left with the remainder. It takes away the gamble of what the property would actually fetch on the open market.

In a word, yes

Ineedaname

That's what I meant, but you both said it better.

debtinfo

of course the advantage of buying the interest back first and then selling it, is that it leaves you in control of the situation and you can sell to who you want when you want and for how much you want.

If you try to sell with the OR's agreement and the sale process does not go well then the OR may at some point step in to force it through

Ineedaname

I am shamed by logic and reason, didn't even think of it in that way. Thank you DI.

silvercar

debtinfo wrote: »

of course the advantage of buying the interest back first and then selling it, is that it leaves you in control of the situation and you can sell to who you want when you want and for how much you want.

If you try to sell with the OR's agreement and the sale process does not go well then the OR may at some point step in to force it through

In the current housing market there is always the risk that the final price achieved would leave you with less equity than if you had sold whilst the OR was involved with the sale. In a rising market I would say buying the ORs interest and selling yourself would be the way to go. With houses not selling and a falling market I'm not so sure.

bubblyboo

Thank you all so much for your replies. debtinfo - that was exactly our plan. The OR initially only gave us a week and a half to sort all of this out. We have called them again and have had it extended now for a further two weeks. So, because we felt quite 'pressured', we thought it would just be easier to quickly buy the BI by borrowing the money & then sell the house & give MIL her money back asap. Plus, bit cheeky I know, but we were thinking that this way, we may be able to offer £5k & have it accepted then when we sell we're £6k up & have a bit more money for later on (we're hoping to get back on the housing market in 3 years when BR is off DH's credit file).
silvercar - completely agree about the housing market. But a house over the road, practically identical, sold for asking price a couple of months ago. Nice shared ownership houses in our area are like gold dust, so I'm confident that we should get asking price.
Thank you all again. I'm just worried that I offer £5k and get refused & then won't get a chance to make another offer & the OR takes other action. Can't wait till this is all over!