Sell house? to clear off debt

Jireh_2

I'm in £60,000 debt with my husband we have 2 properties.
We're thinking of selling one to move back into the other.

Selling will pay off half the debt at worst or all the debt at most after solicitors and agents fees etc are taken off.
Other houses have sold recently on the same street no problem.

Problem is that we have to spend about £4000 to get the house to sell, doing some essential work.

What would you do?

Tixy

If you didn't sell are you able to meet the repayments on your debts? how long would it take to repay all the debts if you kept both properties? and how much interest will you pay in that time - I'd try working that out first.

Do you live in both properties or just in 1? is one of them rented out and if so does the rent cover the mortgage / expenses.

Jireh_2

Tixy wrote: »

If you didn't sell are you able to meet the repayments on your debts? how long would it take to repay all the debts if you kept both properties? and how much interest will you pay in that time - I'd try working that out first.

Do you live in both properties or just in 1? is one of them rented out and if so does the rent cover the mortgage / expenses.

We are able to meet all the repayments for now and it would take maybe 5 years to pay off. Trouble is the recession is really denting my husbands self employed income and we have a newborn and toddler....ie more nursery fees...so dont know how much longer we can keep up.
We live in one and rent out the other which pays for itself.

bargainbetty

Why would it need £4k of work first? How does that break down?

Could you not knock that off the price and offer it as a fixer-upper? Or do some of the work yourselves and save the money - DIY isn't as hard as it seems if you look up online or in books how to do things. I've got past re-wiring and basic plumbing without calling a tradesman in now!

lisa701

The CCCS suggested to us that we sell our house to repay our debts (£30k).

We have looked into doing this but find its just not practical at the moment. Houses are just not selling by us, and after getting ours valued and looking into all the costs that would need to be covered by the sale we would still be in debt at the end of it.

Whilst I could just about clear my mortgage and my debts (if we managed to get full price for the house which is unlikely) I would have nothing to pay solicitor fees, estate agent fees, etc. We would also have nothing left to pay a deposit on a rental property thus rendering us homeless. Nice to clear the debts but I don't fancy living in a cardboard box just yet.

For now we have decided to just maintain the repayments and hope that things change for the better in the future.

unimaginative_user_name

Selling a house might seem like a relatively easy way to clear debts and it might be the best way for you.

My only concern is that you won't have dealt with the spending habits that created so much debt in the first place and might find yourself back in the same situation in a few year's time.

In saying this I am aware that I don't know your circumstances and being in debt might be as much a result of unfortunate events (redundancy, illness....).

Jireh_2

bargainbetty wrote: »

Why would it need £4k of work first? How does that break down?

Could you not knock that off the price and offer it as a fixer-upper? Or do some of the work yourselves and save the money - DIY isn't as hard as it seems if you look up online or in books how to do things. I've got past re-wiring and basic plumbing without calling a tradesman in now!

Theres a crack in the ceiling of one of the rooms and it needs re plastering. Plus the cornicing needs re done round the bay window~£1200
Extension needs guttering etc sorted~£2000

Plus maybe paint the outside of the house....paint in dire state!!

Reason why we are in so much debt is partly because of house!!! Old and grand money pitt!! and partly because of the recessions effects on self employed income!!

Jireh_2

lisa701 wrote: »

The CCCS suggested to us that we sell our house to repay our debts (£30k).

We have looked into doing this but find its just not practical at the moment. Houses are just not selling by us, and after getting ours valued and looking into all the costs that would need to be covered by the sale we would still be in debt at the end of it.

Whilst I could just about clear my mortgage and my debts (if we managed to get full price for the house which is unlikely) I would have nothing to pay solicitor fees, estate agent fees, etc. We would also have nothing left to pay a deposit on a rental property thus rendering us homeless. Nice to clear the debts but I don't fancy living in a cardboard box just yet.

For now we have decided to just maintain the repayments and hope that things change for the better in the future.

The other property belongs to us and is much cheaper to live in.....sooo what would you do?

Jireh_2

advice please

bump

eyeopener2

personally, i'd sell it as soon as is practicable. Do the work needed and use any equity to clear your debts.

You are then clear of debt, you have one home and then you can start building up savings again to maybe buy something again in the future.
Good luck

E2

dancingfairy

It could go up and make you money or house prices could drop and it could cost you loads more in repairs, personally I think I'd want to get shot of it if I could.
df