How does a pensioner get a mortgage?

Conrad

Equity release is probably the best option. No repayments. Nice reputable lenders. Low rates (compared to bridging etc).

custardy

would dropping the asking price by £150k and seeing if it sells not be better?

irishjohn

I am wondering where poor pensioner mum will live during a significant refurbishment of her house. I am also intrigued by the list of jobs and the estimate.

getting rid of the 1970's decor - £10,000
new kitchen - £10,000
bathroom - £10,000
windows - £20,000
re pointed - £5000
garden tarted up - £5000
floors re carpeted etc - £10,000

My guestimates are outlandish and even then they only add up to £70,000 - so I am guessing that Sarah Beeney should be contacted and offered a development opportunity. I suspect she would do a first class job for less than £40,000 but there again if the owner has only £142 a week there is still a problem.

irishjohn

I have taken a look at the Knight Frank website - they don't specialise in starter homes do they ?

Greyhoundgal_2

Thanks for all your advice. Much appreciated. Don't quite get some of the thrusts about whether it is truly a good quote for the work needed/ whether estate agents are honest/ whether my mother is poor/ where she will live, whether the work will really add that much value, or whether KF do starter homes, but in a brief response to these bizarre comments: My mothers house is large, in a very affluent area. I do not wish to state how much it is up for, or where, but it is currently on the market for a lot of money. Please do not judge me or her about this. She inherited it, and her parents inherited it. She is a pensioner and she cannot afford to do it up and has simply has no money. all she has is her home. she wants to sell it, pay off her debts, buy a new car, a new smaller house and live comfortably, with money in her pocket for the rest of her life, all of which she will easily be able to do.

Regarding the amount to do it up, here is one example: The cheapest quote to replace the windows (sash) has come in at 55k. Please just believe me that it WILL cost that much to do up.

She has already reduced the price of the house by £500,000. AND ditched the last estate agents, who were trying to sell it for the last 6 months.

The house has no central heating, leaky windows, is configured into 4 separate flats, all gross. She only occupies one, and is lonely. They are not in a fit state to rent out and anybody who has been to view so far has been unable to look beyond the awfulness of it.
She can live with me whilst it is being done.

All I am asking you good folks for is any smart ways of raising money for her to get the place made good.

I will look into equity release, many thanks for this.

Asking a developer to do the work up front and then take a cut of the uplift, plus their fees is also a great idea. Many thanks.

holly_hobby

The ERPs on lifetime equity release schemes are hefty as they are not designed for shortterm finance, and therefore may have a significant impact on the free equity (but even so may still give you more than at present), so choose any scheme wisely, and ensure that you seek advice from an authorised equity release adviser.

Hope this helps

Holly

holly_hobby

Greyhoundgal wrote: »

Thanks for all your advice. Much appreciated. Don't quite get some of the thrusts about whether it is truly a good quote for the work needed/ whether estate agents are honest/ whether my mother is poor/ where she will live, whether the work will really add that much value, or whether KF do starter homes, but in a brief response to these bizarre comments: My mothers house is large, in a very affluent area. I do not wish to state how much it is up for, or where, but it is currently on the market for a lot of money. Please do not judge me or her about this. She inherited it, and her parents inherited it. She is a pensioner and she cannot afford to do it up and has simply has no money. all she has is her home. she wants to sell it, pay off her debts, buy a new car, a new smaller house and live comfortably, with money in her pocket for the rest of her life, all of which she will easily be able to do.

Regarding the amount to do it up, here is one example: The cheapest quote to replace the windows (sash) has come in at 55k. Please just believe me that it WILL cost that much to do up.

She has already reduced the price of the house by £500,000. AND ditched the last estate agents, who were trying to sell it for the last 6 months.

The house has no central heating, leaky windows, is configured into 4 separate flats, all gross. She only occupies one, and is lonely. They are not in a fit state to rent out and anybody who has been to view so far has been unable to look beyond the awfulness of it.
She can live with me whilst it is being done.

All I am asking you good folks for is any smart ways of raising money for her to get the place made good.

I will look into equity release, many thanks for this.

Asking a developer to do the work up front and then take a cut of the uplift, plus their fees is also a great idea. Many thanks.

There are going to be issues with it being split into s/c flats esp for any residential mge - and as a result there isn't going to be any easy solution to this I'm afraid .....

If you try and sell in its current condition if its as bad as you say (which appears to be yrs of neglect), it could well be unmortgageable or full/partial retention, and if the sc flats remain in situ (ie - if not converted back to a single dwelling), you are really looking at cash buyers/builders/development finance - which I hope your est agts have already make clear to you.

Really, given the issues, I would just cut my cord with this, sell and accept what it generates by either private sale or auction, and put the matter to bed, using the proceeds to buy a decent place, easy to maintain, outright.

Hope this helps

Holly

Dave_Ham

I am not 100% convinced that equity release will be cheaper than bridging upon exit.

I cannot believe that reducing the price by £500k has not attracted a builder looking to make a quick profit.

I think it is a good idea to speak to a builder of means and make a mutually beneficial deal upon a revamp.

Good luck

irishjohn

Greyhoundgal wrote: »

Thanks for all your advice. Much appreciated. Don't quite get some of the thrusts about whether it is truly a good quote for the work needed/ whether estate agents are honest/ whether my mother is poor/ where she will live, whether the work will really add that much value, or whether KF do starter homes, but in a brief response to these bizarre comments: My mothers house is large, in a very affluent area. I do not wish to state how much it is up for, or where, but it is currently on the market for a lot of money. Please do not judge me or her about this. She inherited it, and her parents inherited it. She is a pensioner and she cannot afford to do it up and has simply has no money. all she has is her home. she wants to sell it, pay off her debts, buy a new car, a new smaller house and live comfortably, with money in her pocket for the rest of her life, all of which she will easily be able to do.

Regarding the amount to do it up, here is one example: The cheapest quote to replace the windows (sash) has come in at 55k. Please just believe me that it WILL cost that much to do up.

She has already reduced the price of the house by £500,000. AND ditched the last estate agents, who were trying to sell it for the last 6 months.

The house has no central heating, leaky windows, is configured into 4 separate flats, all gross. She only occupies one, and is lonely. They are not in a fit state to rent out and anybody who has been to view so far has been unable to look beyond the awfulness of it.
She can live with me whilst it is being done.

All I am asking you good folks for is any smart ways of raising money for her to get the place made good.

I will look into equity release, many thanks for this.

Asking a developer to do the work up front and then take a cut of the uplift, plus their fees is also a great idea. Many thanks.

Thanks for this - all the additional information certainly clarifies - I was concerned about the costs as I was trying to imagine an individual residence but in reality there are four within the building - I was also genuinely concerned about someone on a basic pension living on a building site as she would not be able to afford to move out for the duration of the build.

I do agree that equity release is the last route to consider as they take so much and give so little - the idea of finding a builder who will defer costs could be a problem also as most independent builders have no real reserves of cash to fund the work - this is why they require staged payments as a job progresses.

The only solution I can see is to look seriously at selling the site as a development site, which means pricing it at a pricing point to attract a developer who will see an opportunity to make a good profit out of the project. Regrettably it means your Mum may get a lot less than she hopes for but that has to be offset against enabling her to move somewhere small and comfortable with company around her.

Thrugelmir

Is the property a Grade 2 listed building?