Should I sell home and rent for a while instead?

[Deleted User]

Hello,

I am married, with 2 young boys and have a mortgage on our home of about £86k (£850. I also have a fair amount of credit card debt (about £15k).

I work and earn about £33k, my wife stays at home bringing up the boys. We manage to pay our bills and buy essentials without too much problem.

I'm thinking if we sold the house that should provide enough equity to clear my debts and leave us with an extra £400 month or so. At that point, being mortgage and debt free we could rent a 3 bedroom place (our ideal) for about (£700/month) whilst saving the extra £400/month we'd have towards a deposit on buying our own home again in a couple of years.

I'm wondering if I'm on the right path to getting ourselves sorted or if there are any other more suitable options I may have missed.

Has anyone got any advice or suggestions based on my situation?

Thanks.

Dave_Ham

How much is your property worth?

Approximately how old are you both?

This will give a better indication for opinion on your situation.

zzzLazyDaisy

Personally I would never give up the security of my own home for renting when I had a family, unless it was an absolute last resort. Why? Because in private rentals the normal secured term is 6 months - you might get lucky and get one year. But once the fixed term is up the LL can give you two months notice to leave. I remember my cousin and her young daughter lodging with a friend with her stuff in storage because the LL decided she wanted to move back to the house, and she just could not find anywhere suitable in that time.

I'd suggest you head over to the DFW board and look for ways to make savings and pull your belts in so you can pay down the debt without losing your home. (but that's just my opinion)

amnblog

use the Ben Franklin method.

put a little down a sheet of paper and put the advantages on the left and disadvantages on the right

the biggest list wins

Thrugelmir

Have you considered options such as a secured loan on the house to consolidate your debts and make repayment more manageable.

I'm not a great fan of debt consolidation as it does require the discipline of changing habits as well. Closing down the card accounts and learning to budget money in a sensible fashion. Many people consolidate then reoffend. However with the right attitude it can work.

Atomix

Mortgages are cheaper than ever now - maybe add the ccard debt onto the mortgage. cut up the cards. And if you can - overpay the mortgage as much as possible...

Dont forget you have x2 children to think about... schools, friends, etc -

33k would in theory be enough to get another 15k

want2bmortgage3

£850 a month on an £86k mortgage sounds way too much, what interest rate are you paying? i have a similar mortgage and my monthly payment is £450.

Dreamer77

want2bmortgage3 wrote: »

£850 a month on an £86k mortgage sounds way too much, what interest rate are you paying? i have a similar mortgage and my monthly payment is £450.

+1 you either have a very short term or a high interest rate £86k @6% over 15 years is only £725 a month.

Over 20 years at £850 that's like 10.4% if you do have a short term can you not extend it to lower your payments and pay more to your debts?