Need your advice again.. Do I sell?

bigmommamuppet

I've continued to lurk whilst carrying on with my debt free journey. But I'm now at a crossroads and not sure which route to take..... As I haven't always been financially savvy in the past I would appreciate any advice or comments on is this the right path to take.

I have the oppurtunity to move (on a long lease rental term min 3 years) to an ideal bigger and nicer house, right next door to mine so no moving costs:). No credit checks needed etc as the neighbours who are our friends are moving back home and are wanting to keep the house as a rental oppurtunity. Lease etc will out be done via a LA, so above board. They've also said we can treat the home as our own ie decorate, hang pictures etc etc. and potential buy the place from them in 3-5 years time when the might want to sell.

I've been on a DMP since 2009, debts at the start were £104k and I'm now down to £46k, if I sell my place I can clear the debt and have a few ££'s left over. If we stay put I'd have another 18 - 24 months until I join the DF roll of honour:T.

I don't particuarly love the place we're in, it's functional but a bit small and we have always said once we're DF and have a good deposit etc we would move.

Being DF means we could save 2.5k a month until the time is right to get onto the property market again i.e 4 years or so when the defaults drop off.;)

Should also add the rent on the new place is slightly lower than our current mortgage payments.

So my question to you guys is? Is this a good idea or should we stay put and wait four years then move on. Are we mad to consider stepping off the property ladder (I've never rented, homeowner since I was 21) Decision's... decisions

BMM

fatbelly

I think this sounds like a good idea. Property prices are not going anywhere and you might be able to settle at less than the full balance of whatever remains if you have a lump sum available. Have a look at this.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/55685213#Comment_55685213

patman99

No brainer really. Only one problem, and that is how quick your house sells. If it is stuck on the market for several months, then this could scupper your final plans.

If you can get a quick sale (do NOT use one of those 'buy your home' firms, they will only offer 70% of the value at the most), then your plan will work well and you should be clear in 6 years to obtain a mortgage for the new place.

bigmommamuppet

Thanks for that patman99, we're in the fortunate position that we can afford the mortgage and rent on both properties until we sell. Our finances have had a significant improvement over the last few years and as we're now on a self managed DMP we have more control over the payments. I'm keen to have a fresh start so to speak but worried of the risks that may ensue with stepping off the propertly ladder. The plan if we go for it would be to put our house on the market in the next month once we've freshened it up, we're in Scotland and thankfully the market isn't too stagnent at the moment.

bigmommamuppet

fatbelly wrote: »

I think this sounds like a good idea. Property prices are not going anywhere and you might be able to settle at less than the full balance of whatever remains if you have a lump sum available. Have a look at this.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/55685213#Comment_55685213

Thanks for the link, it's something we will try and use to our advantage. We have already managed to settle a couple of our creditors with a F&F but even if we can't beat them down we would have enough to cover the outstanding balances, not that I'm going to tell them that;).