Resolving share of 50/50 owned home

carohf

I own a 50/50 share in a mortgaged house with my brother. I no longer live in the house and have asked if my brother would like to buy me out. He has declined as he can't afford it.

As buying my share is not possible, is it fair for me to ask for repayment of the deposit and extra mortgage payments I paid? This could be done by renting my room out to a lodger until the money is paid back.

My brother is happy to take on the full mortgage himself but does not want to to have a lodger, and can not afford to pay me back my share of deposit etc without rental income.

What is the fairest option for both of us in this situation?

Hope someone can help!

Thanks

xylophone

Sell the property and your brother looks for one which he can afford on his own salary.

DVardysShadow

carohf wrote: »

As buying my share is not possible, is it fair for me to ask for repayment of the deposit and extra mortgage payments I paid? This could be done by renting my room out to a lodger until the money is paid back.

Once you go down that road, you should alter the 50/50 ownership to reflect. But you will keep on having to alter it and it looks like a potential flashpoint

carohf wrote: »

My brother is happy to take on the full mortgage himself but does not want to to have a lodger, and can not afford to pay me back my share of deposit etc without rental income.

What is the fairest option for both of us in this situation?

The fairest option is for your brother to pay you half a fair rent for the whole property - or a fair lodger rent perhaps - and for you to pay half the mortgage.

Or to agree to sell.

carohf

Many thanks for your feedback!

I proposed sale of property or renting my room but my brother declined both options. He prefers to stay in house and pay full mortgage himself.

I don't seem to have any options. Does this mean I have to write-off the deposit and extra mortgage payments I made on the house?

I also have the problem of having my name on the mortgage and so am still legally responsible. This will prevent me from buying a home for myself as the mortgage on the house I part own with my brother will be calculated along with any new mortgage I hope to apply for.

What to do?

DannyboyMidlands

When you bought this house, what arrangement did you make to deal with such situations? Surely it was discussed?

carohf

Sadly and naively we only made a verbal agreement that if one of us moved out the vacant room could be rented to ensure continued mortgage payments.

I wrongly made an assumption that either one of us would buy the other out if circumstances changed, as they have. Obviously my brother does not share this thought.

I'm happy to forfeit any money I would have made on the increase in value of the property and the monthly mortgage payments I've made over the years. I'm just hoping for a return on the deposit and a additional lump sum mortgage payment I made.

Am I being unrealistc in my expectations? Do I need to leave what I invested with my brother and make a fresh start?

Kynthia

You don't automatically get your mortgage contributions back as that doesn't happen when you sell. You lived there for a while and that was part of the cost of having somewhere to live.

Did you and your brother put in equal deposits? If so then you should get back half of the current value of the property less the outstanding mortgage. If you put in different deposits then you need to work out a share of the value less mortgage.

If he won't pay you this and remove you from the mortgage or allow a lodger then you will need to force a sale.

cattie

Your brother might not want to get a lodger, but how about you tell him you are thinking of renting your room out yourself to recoup some of the money you've put into the house? Perhaps if he thinks he is going to have to end up with a lodger one way or another, he will think differently about finding one himself.

It sounds to me as if he is being very selfish & thinking of nobody but himself, but he needs to realise that you have as much right to your 50% share of the property as he does his.

I'm not sure if you could legally force a sale of the property to recoup the money you put in, but it may be worth looking into this as if there is a chance you could force a sale, then your brother may be forced to view things quite differently.

BitterAndTwisted

Does your brother have any savings to repay you for the deposit you put into the purchase?

And what "extra mortgage payments" have you paid? Do you mean meeting your financial commitments during the period you chose not to live in the property? If so, this seems a rather unfair way of treating your own flesh and blood to me.

If you never reached a formal agreement about what would happen in the future if your circumstances changed, then you are stuck. Until you can reach a fair and equitable solution.

Or, of course, you could choose to go to court and force a sale. This could be very costly both in financial and emotional terms. Another alternative could be to let your bother carry the burden of paying the whole mortgage on his own and you sit back quietly but retain your 50% interest in the property. Wait until he's paid off the whole mortgage-debt and then pop back for your 50% share of the equity.

elvis86

carohf wrote: »

I proposed sale of property or renting my room but my brother declined both options. He prefers to stay in house and pay full mortgage himself.

The house that he could only afford to buy with your contribution towards the deposit/early mortgage payments? I bet he does!:mad:

carohf wrote: »

I don't seem to have any options. Does this mean I have to write-off the deposit and extra mortgage payments I made on the house?

I also have the problem of having my name on the mortgage and so am still legally responsible. This will prevent me from buying a home for myself as the mortgage on the house I part own with my brother will be calculated along with any new mortgage I hope to apply for.

What to do?

Assuming you're still on friendly terms with your brother (I would struggle to be!), what does he suggest you do? Does he actually think it's fair that you should walk away with nothing and are unable to buy a home of your own, whilst he retains ownership of the house that you both used your savings to buy (as I presume is his suggestion if he "takes over the mortgage payments").

The very least he could do is to reimburse you your deposit (perhaps via a personal loan if he can't raise the money any other way), if you are willing to accept that the mortgage payments you made effectively constituted "rent" for the time that the house provided you with somewhere to live.

Arrangements like this are so prone to turning sour, I struggle to understand why anyone does it? Why are people in such a rush to buy that they do so with a friend or sibling and don't consider what might happen a few years down the line, rather than wait until they're in a position to buy alone/in a committed relationship?

Friends of my sister had the exact same problem. Brother and sister inexplicably bought a house together when they were very young (19 and 21), with the encouragement of their parents (!!!!!!?!). Three years later both have partners and children (also too young IMO, but that's irrelevant I suppose), but the sister and her partner can't afford to buy the brother out, and he and his partner can't get a mortgage because of his responsibility to the shared mortgage. The house isn't big enough for 4 adults and 2 children, so the brother and his partner are stuck.

These situation have the potential to turn very nasty.:(

elvis86

carohf wrote: »

Sadly and naively we only made a verbal agreement that if one of us moved out the vacant room could be rented to ensure continued mortgage payments.

I wrongly made an assumption that either one of us would buy the other out if circumstances changed, as they have. Obviously my brother does not share this thought.

I'm happy to forfeit any money I would have made on the increase in value of the property and the monthly mortgage payments I've made over the years. I'm just hoping for a return on the deposit and a additional lump sum mortgage payment I made.

Am I being unrealistc in my expectations? Do I need to leave what I invested with my brother and make a fresh start?

I can't believe that people make assumptions when they're investing their savings and committing to a 25 year mortgage?!:wall: