Should I Buy To Let My Shared Ownership House??

K1RST1E_2

Morning All,

I'm trying to sell my shared ownership house. It has been on the market for 2 months below market value. Originally it was on for £77,500 but we only had 1 viewing request who then never turned up. We then reduced it to £74,999 and have had 2 viewings since. Unfortunately no offers have been made and we've not received any feedback from the EA on these either.

Our house is also being marketed at full ownership for £149,999, which is £10k lower than the same layout of house down the road. They have been selling their house for over a year. We have not had a single enquiry for this one.

I knew that selling a shared ownership property would be difficult and we have been forced into it a bit earlier than we had planned as my husband has inherited half of his family home due to losing both of his parents. He wants to buy it and move in (I'm happy with this, it's a great house, great location and ideal for when our daughter starts school). We've settled on £180k which requires us to get a mortgage for £80k (if we sell ours!).

My husband and I are trying to think of a back up plan if we can't sell our house. We can't expect my sister in law to wait forever and all the time the house sits there unoccupied, we're having to pay council tax, house insurance etc. on it.

My husband and I have been talking about buying the rest of this house using equity in the other house for the deposit on a BTL mortgage then renting this out. They aren't selling very well but do well as rental properties, fetching approx. £700p/m which would cover the mortgage. We could then buy my sister in law out of her share, do the improvements that need making (it needs a new kitchen, bathroom and patio door).

I don't like the idea of having 2 mortgages and it puts a stopper on us being mortgage free in 10 years which is what our original plan has always been.

Do we have any other options?

I've attached the link to our house. I sent updated pictures last month but they said they couldn't use them due to the orientation of them. I've also asked them to put what the rent is but they haven't!! These are things I need to sort to increase our chances of finding a buyer.

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/29093882?search_identifier=02d8da36c321f47e358b8f9ef297ffe9

Thanks.

richardw

How much did you pay fir it?

K1RST1E_2

Sorry, missed that. £81k we paid for our share in 2006.

kellyt86

Have you spoken to the local authority who owns the other half of the house about letting it all out?

I am currently buying a shared ownership, and they said that in some circumstances we are allowed to let it out even if only 'owning' half.

I think it's tricky with a 4-bed shared ownership as the rules around here state you can only have one extra bedroom then you currently need.

So OH and I could only buy a 2 bedroom house based on current circumstances. If the rule is the same for your area, then a couple with at least two children will be your minimum target.

Perhaps check sold prices, see if its the price? And maybe talk to a broker about the likelihood of getting a BTL mortgage on your plan B.

ViolaLass

Asking prices for similar houses are not relevant; what matters is selling prices.

anselld

Based on last sale price £120,000 in 2006 (according to Zoopla) it is probably worth not much more than that now.
There is little point comparing with other asking prices, you need to compare against similar sold prices in the area to get a good idea of market value.

K1RST1E_2

Thank you. I have spoken to the HA who were really unhelpful but I did this just before we put it on the market to see where we stood. They told me that I couldn't let it out nor get a 2nd mortgage on another property which limits our options drastically.

I have heard of similar rules but I didn't know that applied to buying, just renting from the HA or council. I think if we lower the price, we'd get more interest. The end house on our row which is exactly the same in terms of bedrooms, layout etc. sold for £130k back in 2008/ 9. That isn't a problem if we lower our share to reflect that but we couldn't do the same with the full ownership one as if the HA have a valuation done which comes back at £150k, they still expect 50% of that so we sold at £130k, the HA would pocket £75k and we'd get £55k.

K1RST1E_2

anselld wrote: »

Based on last sale price £120,000 in 2006 (according to Zoopla) it is probably worth not much more than that now.
There is little point comparing with other asking prices, you need to compare against similar sold prices in the area to get a good idea of market value.

I saw that but that must have been the price the HA bought it from the builder for as we bought our share for £81k in the same year from them. I mentioned that to my husband that Zoopla is showing it was bought for £120k which shows we're trying to get an extra £20k+

notanewuser

Get it on rightmove, get photo taken without the BMW in front of the house.

K1RST1E_2

notanewuser wrote: »

Get it on rightmove, get photo taken without the BMW in front of the house.

I did do this myself but they would not update the pictures due to the format of them. I have asked them to come out and take new pictures but have been waiting for them to make the appointment.

richardw

The photographs and the listing need completely re-doing.
Do a full de-clutter and tidy up, then redo the photos.
Photo 1 should be a front view without the BMW and wheelie bins out of sight.
Photo 2 a great shot of the living room that includes the dining table dressed for dinner.
Photo 3 a great shot of the kitchen including the space for a breakfast bar or small table.
Photo 4 master bedroom
Photo 5 en suite
Photo 6 second bedroom
Photo 7 children's room
Photo 8 bathroom
Photo 9 garden showing playable garden for children and patio table with glasses on for entertaining.

Re do the listing without the room by room description, focusing on the selling points.

Drop the price to offers in excess of £69,950 in the hope of just getting some viewings.

If that doesn't work, read up about the letting possibilities and tax situation.