what can we do now?

Conor_3

bigfred wrote: »

my wife and I are finally out of ideas... we currently live in a council house (unfortunatly) and are desperate to purchase a home of our own..

DO NOT BUY A HOUSE OF YOUR OWN. I know it seems like the best idea but trust me, it isn't in the current market. Even if you could get a good rate, you've not got any disposable income now so you'll really struggle to pay a mortgage and it'll probably be the thing that makes everything 100 times worse.

My father in law made the mistake of buying his council house a few years ago. On a £85k mortgage, the payments are now in excess of £650 a month compared to the rent which would have been £200. A week on Wednesday, he's banking and he's also going to end up losing the house.

Also remember that should you be out of work for whatever reason, the mortgage still needs to be paid. If you were still renting, you could claim housing benefit.

My advice is to stay put. It's a council house so you've got the stability of tenancy you don't get with a private landlord. Get those debts sorted out. Take the advice on these boards as to what order to tackle them in. Once you've got those sorted, you'll have a lot more money per month free and hopefully, there'll have been a market crash and the prices will have come down to a more sensible level.

bandraoi

bigfred wrote: »

my wife and I are finally out of ideas... we currently live in a council house (unfortunatly) and are desperate to purchase a home of our own..

I earn £25,000 per anum and my wife earns £6000. we are both lucky enough to be paid weekly.

Our problem is that we are in excess of £30,000 in debt. Our outgoings are now greater than our income and we are out of ideas.

We have loans, credit cards, car finance x2, various HP agreements, etc,etc, etc.

Most of the debts that we have started when we first got married... the usual setting up home costs and what have you, and have since spirralled out of control.

The problem is now that we simply have no disposable income and an absoluetly terrible credit history, with a score to boot I'm sure.

We are after some advice on our options... should we get an IVA to free up some money, or even go as far as applying for bankrupcy.

Please offer some advice if you can, desperation has just about kicked in.

You need to put up a SOA.
The most immediate thing I can see is that as a family with an income of 15.5K per adult, you're trying to run two cars - 2*Car Finance Agreements.

Can your wife work more hours/earn more money?
Also are you claiming everything you're entitled to?

raq

Vindaveen wrote: »

Hi Bigfred

Both myself and partner were in similar position last year, renting, both had large loans/credit cards/overdrawn in back. Total came to approx £30k we had no savings whatsoever and we knew we would never get a mortgage. I called the Halifax to see what they would offer and came back with £42k! But also wanted deposit...Not much I know.
We then decided to see mortgage adviser just out of interest, listed everything we owed, etc. I honestley thought our credit rating would be pants and they would just laugh at us!! They then listed mortgage companies that would offer certain deals. They only way we could buy anything was to get a 110% mortgage (I know this wasn't ideal but only way) It involved giving us an unsecured loan the same rate as the mortgage, we then paid off all loans we had along with CC's with this loan. The unsecured loan I know will be with us for 25 years!!! but we class the payments as part of the mortgage. Also straight away you have negative equity, however the way we view this is that property will hopefully rise in value over the next 25 years and we are not renting, paying someone else mortgage for them!!
Before buying our outgoings were over £1000 in rent/loans etc etc, we now pay £950 per month for both mortgage/secured loan/insurances. It is scary thinking the loan is with us for 25 years, but it was the only way we could do this. We also cut up all credit cards so we are not tempted to get in debt again, even though the unsecure loan did not pay off our overdrafts (still approx -£4800 between both of us) But we're working on this, this is why I found this site.
I know you are in a different situation, however have you looked into buying the council house? Depending on how long you have been there I think you get a discount on the selling price ( I maybe wrong in thinking this, but I'm sure they did do this in the past )
I'm sure other people will come back advising against 110% mortgages and we were also made aware of the downfalls, but in our situation it was the only way.
I am 40 this year so wanted to get on ladder for a 25year mortgage, however some companies will give you longer up to 70 years of age I think.
Apologies for taking an age to explain this, but this may be a option for you and I know this is only our experience.
Good luck.
Vin

great post. Not always bad news for everyone. My father in law is looking for a morgage and he's 50 with a very very bad scoring but feels the same on the rent side. Has had appointment with f.advisor and told him the same. WIll be able to get a mortgage but will be slightly higher on the interest rate