In a panic - flat about to be reposessed

moodydonkey

I hope you have called the Estate Agents! If you haven't then that's the first thing on your list tomorrow! Could be good news so don't put it off!

Cool_Chick

Hello,

Wow, I am so grateful for your help everyone.

Whitewing - I have made four Estate Agent appointments for Wednesday late afternoon. Have also been on lots of job websites and applied for many jobs. Called a few agencies and was told the same thing "sorry, our clients won't want you if you've been out of work for 4 years". Still been calling Shelter. They must be very busy.

Enzed22 - thank you so much for your many suggestions! Renting out space would be great - can you please let me have the website name? And the housesitter site sounds interesting too. Could you please let me have the name? And I really don't know anything about setting up my own website, I'm afraid. And can you please tell me the name of the self-help book? Thank you.

And I'm not being silly about the black cat thing - take a look at the Cats Protection campaign http://www.cats.org.uk/black-cats. You won't find a similar campaign for any other colour of cat!
And this is interesting: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/colette-bernhardt/national-black-cat-day-national-black-cat-day-hi_b_2012424.html.
Or just search #CPBlackCats or #nationalblackcatday.

Jox

Hi cool-chick, glad you are more positive and getting lots of support and advise here. Sitting worrying and feeling helpless can make things seem worse but getting up and making plans and acting on them is empowering!

I would also guess that your flat might be worth more than you think even if it is in disrepair, good luck with the valuation!

Have you looked on rightmove to see if any similar properties in your area are listed?

whitewing

Glad you have a wonderful Wednesday lined up..

Don't forget to ask at the Jobcentre tomorrow about Work Experience placements.

likelyfran

Er... did one of my posts get removed and why?

sophistica

Hi Cool Chick

Hi Sophistica, firstly, how is your brother? Is he ok now? Did things work out well for him? Is he still in the property? Did he have a family too? And £750k is huge! Is that gone now? I can imagine how stressful that must've been for him. And he didn't pay for nearly a year! Wow!

My brother started a new business and worked hard and sold it a year later for £2m. He is still in his house which is now worth around £900k. He had a few scary months but he doesn't fret or get his knickers in a twist. he has two sons but is currently divorced and living alone. He got a lodger who paid 500k. There is a saying something like if you owe £100 you have a problem but if you owe £1m the bank has a problem. Don't panic - this is all a problem that needs to be "worked"...think of it as a board game, you will need to write letters, show up in court, put the bank in the wrong, take a doctor's letter. You can sort this. BTW I live in West London and I have a massive carpet which needs cleaning and is very expensive wool, I don't want it and if you can arrange a van soon, you can have it free plus another carpet that I have in an Axminster. let me know by PM because I need to get rid of them this week but they are very big and heavy and you will need transport and help.

sophistica

BTW he got a lodger who paid £500pcm. BTW don't say on your CV that you have been out of work, you need a good story...i.e. you have been working abroad or volunteering or something. Honesty isn't always the best policy. The Job Centre runs courses by private companies on how to dress, beef up your CV and present any omissions. You could make one of your tasks to go down and see if you can get on one of these courses...alternatively approach a company called Working Links and ask them if they can get you funded for one of their courses. I know them and they are good. You have got nothing to lose - go girl!

dancingfairy

In terms of the house thing have you tried the website spareroom (not sure how much a listing costs though) or even gumtree (but beware of the scammers on gumtree).
In terms of the job situation there are many different formats for writing cvs. You can always do one that lists you achievements and skills, rather than a chronological one. O.k so it's not brilliant that you've been unemployed for x years, but what you can do is change the future and start volunteering, see if there are any training courses going at the job centre etc etc. Personally I found the adviser at nextstep (it's the adult version of the career service) really helpful when I was unemployed and they had a booklet with different cv types, as well as help with networking and also with finding a volunteering placement.
Glad to hear you are feeling so much better today. Don't panic too much about not contacting the estate agents, one step at a time (although not too much procrasinating ).
df
Edit: here is a guide from National Debtline on dealing with mortgage arrears. I haven't read this guide personally but there factsheets are normally really helpful
:http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/guide.php?page=guide-mortgage-arrears
Also if you can't get through to Shelter you can always try National Debtline or CCCS. They can all help you and advise on housing issues (it's just Shelter deal specifically with housing issues) so do try one of the others if you can't get hold of Shelter.

Cool_Chick

Hello Sophistica, wow, your brother has done very well for himself! Big congratulations to him! I am so glad that things worked out for him. What kind of business did he start? I bet those days are just a blip to him now. And thank you so much for the carpet offer! I will PM you. And I was worried about lying on my CV. But I do need an explanation. I've just emailed Working Links. Thank you for the tip! Fingers crossed again.

Whitewing - thank you for the reminder! How was your day today?

Jox and Mooodymonkey - thank you too! I've been on Rightmove but it's very hard to judge as it's all dependent upon road, property type, size, etc. I don't want to get my hopes up and then get a big reality check. But the agents will be here on Wednesday. As long as it's more than £300k then I'll be safe.

swampduck

Been there and done that with the re-possession issue! Scary though it is - it takes a while before the courts get involved and even then there are stays of execution re bailiffs etc etc. It is scary at times but it is only bricks and mortar and certainly not worth you considering ending it all.
To be honest once it all did start to happen and the decision made - to not to pay the mortgage or whatever and start saving for the rainy day that was inevitably going to happen - it was a relief!!
But the advice you have been given so far, is all helpful and gives you pointers of how you can turn things around. The condition of your property is probably a lot better than some that are offered legitimately via landlords and any possible prospective lodgers might welcome the chance the make the room their own by paying for materials/furniture themselves!!
Because you are not working - are you not in a position to approach the jobcentre plus for pointers about claiming for SMI. (Support for mortgage interest payments) Shelter should be able to help you here too so do persist in contacting them. Certain things can be claimed for if you are on job seekers - re repairs etc.
Also the government is pushing this cavity wall/roof insulation with a vengeance (and it's free!) so get it installed you would be amazed at the difference it makes! (We had it installed this summer - courtesy of Sainsburys and british gas and have been amazed at the difference it has made to the general warmth of the house) Even if you do end up selling up - these things are all potential selling points and you will need an EPC to sell anyway.
If I lived nearer to you I would be giving you all the spare timber/paint/nails etc that I have in my garage so that you could do the odd job here and there and it would keep you motivated when life is being a real !!!!!!! Hang in there! You can turn this around!!

Swampy