Tm's MFW ramblings

turtlemoose

The BTL is in a really rough area, so prices aren't great, but I think a realistic figure would be £90k - let's say £85k to be really conservative. That would leave, after ERC and fees, around 25k cash in the bank. Have run the figures through a capital gains tax calculator on gov.uk and it's exempt via the relief entitlements (based on how long I lived there plus how long I let it etc) so I'd get the full amount.

That would be enough to pay off all the debt and have around 6.5k in the bank (as I owe the kids 2k between them too as WE as a couple borrowed it to pay a credit card, but I'll be the one paying them back).

I need to get the right of first refusal removed from the deeds first (as it was bought from a Housing Association - no discount) - I've done some research on this and it seems the law changed a few years ago and they *have* to remove it if I ask them to, but they won't do so except via their legal team and I'd like to avoid solicitors if at all possible (due to cost) but have struggled to find a 'how to' guide online about it, so may have to bite the bullet and pay a sol for it. Only at that point could I then sell on the open market. *IF* it sold of course, who knows how long it would take to find a buyer.

If I did that, I'd be debt free, my car (2 years old - quick look on auto trader for similar age/mileage is 14k+) would be mine, and I'd have almost 3 months salary in the bank. I'd also then have around £215 a month surplus in my day to day budget which would of course make things a lot easier and allow me quite a bit of breathing room financially. Oh and then when the 30 free hours kick in (Jan 2020) that'd free up a few hundred more (that previously would have been allocated to debt).

However... if they sort their arrears (they are trying to get HB to pay it, as HB *did* mess up their account and ended up paying a large backdated sum, but obviously not all of it - they're going through the complaints process at the moment) and then if they got awarded Discretionary Housing Payment to up their Housing Benefit to cover full rent then it would be great - in fact it would (after repairs, upkeep, tax etc) make around £50 a month profit. Obviously longer term this would be the better option (or would it?!) but it's not something I have any control over, frustrating!

It's hard to know what to do, I feel like a BTL is a good asset to have and hang on to if I can/as long as it a least ticks over, but equally I've dithered over ditching it for the last 6 years so maybe I should bite the bullet and get rid?

tori.k

Is the stress of it worth £50 profit, getting shot would give you more stability it's currently a liability not an investment if the rent is not being met.
To be honest it doesn't sound like your tenants have been to overly bothered to sort this to have accrued that level of debt, and you'd probably be doing them a favour serving notice as if its truly down to housing benefit mess up, they would likely have a duty to rehouse them if evicted but would be told to sit still until you proceeded down this route.
There is nothing to stop you investing in the future once you have yourself sorted. You may actually find it cathartic to sell it on and start afresh.

turtlemoose

ok cokey. Next steps - file an RX3 form with the land registry to remove the right of first refusal from the title deeds of the BTL. This I can do myself. I also need a deed variation which I believe is a job for solicitors - unless anyone on here can advise otherwise? I've contacted 3 firms for prices on this, waiting for them to get back to me.

Got declined for my remortage (capital raising) yesterday so am pretty gutted. Not sure where to go from here. Appt on friday with my existing lender - last time they offered 3.79 no fee / 4.79 fee which is rubbish. Might be my only choice though

turtlemoose

I'm having a real push at the mo on making extra money - I've signed up for swagbucks, which I'm a little gutted I haven't done sooner as it seems an easy earner.

I've put my info on the Nationwide referrers thread on mse, and posted on my personal facebook offering (the £100 each offer) and had 1 person take me up on it so far so that's £100 for very little effort!

I've cleared out some stuff to sell and potentially have a buyer, c£120 after postage etc, will report back with actual figures of course.

£20 just cleared in Quidco, I've left that for the moment as I noticed they offer a boosted reward value for some retailers - I'm wondering whether to cash it out as Tesco vouchers as you get an extra 5% - free money from your free money! Amazing!

£19 sitting in my Natwest Reward cashback thing, cannot find my login details but will cash it out and chuck at CC soon as I can get my sticky mitts on it...

I've made sure to do some work travel too - if I do 1055 miles in a month I get an extra £130 in my pay due to tax relief (but costs me approx £30 in fuel). I'm at 200 miles, and have another 560 planned in my diary so far.

I wombled a receipt in Sainsburys for 133 points. I wombled a few receipts from Asda but none were any good.

Next area to target is the grocery bill. Ocado have an offer for £10 off £40 when you use the app for the first time (includes existing customers) so used that and made sure I used mysupermarket to make sure I wasn't paying 'extra' for the Ocado label! We don't need £40 of shopping right now so I got some perishables but also stocked up on a few bits that will always end up being used - rice, beans etc.

turtlemoose

Got approved, and underwriting ok, for more borrowing with existing lender at a disgusting rate (almost 4%). Got no choice though , he won't leave without the cash, and he won't stop making my life a misery until he's gone so...

However, have hit (another) snag. The drive by valuation (that I paid £62 for, on top of the £299 product fee that they wouldn't allow me to add to the lending) came back as "Zero value. Not suitable for lending. Property appears to be more than 50% non-standard construction". What utter nonsense! this is my EXISTING lender! it's obviously NOT non-standard construction because they wouldn't have given me my original lending!!!! I spoke to various people at the lender and despite even the underwriter agreeing that that is ridiculous, I have still had to pay another £250 for a standard valuation. Not only is this costing me a lot of money, it's added an extra few weeks to the whole process too. As I just need to get the cash and get him out, I've paid it but once it goes through I will be making a stinking complaint and demanding a refund.

On the plus side, his mortgage is ready and waiting, the searches have all come back ok. It's just me that needs to get the cash.


I've found a solicitor who can do the legal work necessary to change the deeds ref the BTL property. Another £250+ vat... but at least this means I'll be able to sell it soon. One step further along the process.

My tenant is still c4.5k in rent arrears. They're getting £270 a month HB when their rent is £520 due to the benefit cap. They're not paying anything towards the shortfall. The mortgage is £350 a month. I can only afford 3 more months at the current rate and then I can't afford the mortgage any more. So I REALLY need to get this on the market. The tenant is going to try to get the council to pay the arrears but she seems to have no sense of urgency about it, incredibly frustrating.

turtlemoose

5 min update!

Selling the BTL: solicitor confirmed yesterday the draft deeds are drawn up and just waiting on approval and costs from HA. No update from tenant on arrears

Getting cash for buyout: I was FINALLY approved for my mortgage last night, at a disgusting rate of 3.98% - but needs must. I'm fixed until Jul 2020 and then will go to another lender regardless, because I've been appalled by the service I've had from them lately.

Making extra: Did an energy switch to Tonik after they came out £250!!! a year cheaper based on my actual usage. Used a referral link off MSE so that's £20 Amazon vouchers. Put my own referral link on the referral thread.... have had 11 signups so far which if they all go ahead will be £220 vouchers plus my own £20 .... so potentially £240 for nowt plus the £250 saving! Wow! Whatever vouchers I do get, I'll use them for Christmas and birthdays etc.

Onwards and upwards.


Anybody know how to change the title of a thread? I can't see an option to do it, wondering if I'm missing something obvious....

turtlemoose

Wow, 7 months have slipped by and I haven't updated.

I can safely say, 2018 has been the worst and hardest year of my life. I have spent most of it head down, plodding on - because that's just about all I could manage. So here I am at the end of it, still alive, just about.

My finances have taken a huge battering. Increased mortgage debt by 30k (to pay off ex). I've been paying minimum repayments on credit cards but using new credit cards (all 0%) to keep us afloat. It's balancing, for now, but something has got to give. CC debt around £18.5k.

I'm struggling - income around £2200. Childcare £950, mortgage £625, cc minimum payments £250, utilities and c tax £180 - so £195 left for food, kids' expenses, insurance, car costs, mobile,internet etc etc etc you get the idea. Also tenant still really unpredictable with rent, paying on average around £180 a month to me - rent is £520 - and the mortgage is £375 so I'm having to pay that shortfall too every month. Meaning then food etc goes straight on ccs because there's nothing left to spend!

I've found a buyer for my BTL. Now awaiting the solicitors to do their thing. Buyer has had the wobbles once already but convinced by EA not to pull out. I really hope it goes through, as then after paying mortgage, legal fees, EA fees etc I will have enough to pay off the CCs, pay back the £2k I borrowed from the children's savings, pay back the 1k I borrowed from my parents, pay a solicitor to finalise my divorce, and then it will all be gone. But I'll be £250 a month better off in terms of outgoings, at least, and not have the stress and worry of it hanging over me.

I've previously not been entitled to any help with childcare (but have been using tax free childcare which is some help) because the capital in the BTL is too high, but there's a rule in Universal Credit that if you're selling a second property, that capital is disregarded for 6 months. Because of this, Im temporarily eligible. Applied 5th Sept and still not had a payment....I've done more admin for it than I have to do for my tax self assessment...it's not an easy process. But seems to be moving forwards this week and I should be getting a little bit of my childcare paid for so that's a relief, and they've confirmed they'll backdate as the delay was them not me. Once the 6 months is up, assuming the house is sold, I don't know if I will continue to be eligible (because I no longer have the capital) or if I will be considered to have deprived myself of the capital (cash from the sale) by paying off debts. I'll have to cross that bridge when I come to it. Regardless - not paying 250 cc and not paying 375 second mortgage will be a massive help.

I really need to get my head back in to the game, now more than ever all the little mse tricks will help me, even if it's pennies it all stacks up eventually.

Let's end on a positive - works Xmas do tomorrow and I have a babysitter so I'm off out out! Only my 3rd evening off in the whole year so pretty excited. Have got the money
to cover babysitter and my drinks out by selling a few bits on ebay over the last couple of months, slow progress and could be paid off a cc but wow do I need a break, so this is for me! Next lot of eBay sales will go straight off the cc, I promise.

Betterthanever

I have been where you are albeit under a different DFW user name (came back as an mfw with a new name so ex didn't get thread notifications and stalk me!). Your 2018 was my 2010. But it gets better. It is tough, but it gets better. There are elements you cannot control so focus on those you can. There are things that will make you scream with frustration so channel your energy into the things that make you smile.

Take great delight in earning a £or 2 from a survey site or a referral, knowing it will make for an easier tomorrow.

2018 is almost done. You've got this in 2019.

turtlemoose

Night out was great, just what I needed. Work covered all food and drinks in the end so it was £50 babysitter and seeing as I didn't spend any of my budgeted money on drinks, I spent £30 on a taxi home rather than navigating walk-train-walk-bus-walk to get home at silly o clock while rather inebriated. Feels like a lot of money but it was all 'extra' from ebay sales so nothing came out of the normal pot, and I certainly feel better for that little snippet of time to switch off from being 'mum'.

I FINALLY have a UC payment today, only 3 months after I applied! Phew!

Submitted my self assessment - tax due is a whopping £1.40 so again, phew! (on the downside this is because the rental income doesn't even cover the mortgage payments for the year - but hey fingers crossed it'll be sold in the next 3 months and not my problem any more!)

I do like a plan, and feel better when I have one, but struggling with so many unknowns at the moment for anything too concrete - so think I'm going to go for:

1) Meet all min payments on cc's each month
2) Don't increase cc debt total by more than £200 each month

Once I can get UC payments sorted and/or the house sale goes through, then I can make real plans. But until then , this is about all I can manage. Think I'll do an SOA in case anyone wants to say anything helpful, sometimes fresh eyes can see what you cannot.

I haven't included the UC here because it changes each month as my childcare varies and so do my taxable wages. So basically any UC is a bonus and less being added to the CCs (as I finish each month negative), and if the tenants pay rent, then same. But I have to presume zero for these at the moment as it's so unpredictable. Also if CMS stopped or reduced, I'd have to compensate for that too.

I'm painfully aware there's no wriggle room here at all. A broken window. A worn out pair of shoes. A leaky pipe. All will rely on more CC.

Once I get that other house sold, and I can *breathe* again, I think I'll be joining the DFW 1% challenge - where they find a way to make an extra 1% of the debt to OP on top of the min payments.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2260
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 137 child benefit
Other income............................ 237 CMS
Total monthly income.................... 2634

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 625
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 375 (BTL mortgage)
Council tax............................. 92 (this is with discount, over 12m)
Electricity............................. 35
Gas..................................... 35
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 70 (this is 2 x 35 contracts as the ex refused to take his! Notice given, both end in Jan. Will swap mine to a SIM only at around £10-£15 a month)

TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV/internet...................... 35 (again ex left me stuck in a VM contract - I rang and pleaded poverty, cut everything down from £90+ to this)

Groceries etc. ......................... 175 (I'm struggling to get this lower. One still in nappies. One cat. And one with multiple food allergies. Have finally persuaded DS1 after lots of begging and pleading on my part to go to hot dinners instead of packup as it's free as he's Y2)

Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 0 (have fuel card provided by work)
Road tax................................ 2.5
Car Insurance........................... 55
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 45
Car parking............................. 0 (work pays)
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 900 (variable but this is a typical month - higher over school hols)
Other child related expenses............ 50 (£11 Beaver subs, plus all the other kid stuff!)
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 10
Buildings insurance..................... 18
Contents insurance...................... 0 (inc in buildings)
Life assurance ......................... 11
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Breakdown cover......................... 5 (required for work)
Total monthly expenses.................. 2571.5


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 145000
BTL value (Gross)........................£95000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 8000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 248000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 116000...(625)......2.98<
BTL Mortgage...................56980....(375)......4.7
Total secured & HP debts...... 172980....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
MBNA...........................10946.....115.......0
Tesco..........................905.......20........0
Barclays.......................3389......77........0
Halifax........................124.......10........0
Santander......................3468......35........0
Total unsecured debts..........18832.....257.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,634
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,571.5
Available for debt repayments........... 62.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 257
Amount short for making debt repayments. -194.5

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 248,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -172,980
Total Unsecured debt.................... -18,832
Net Assets.............................. 56,188

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

turtlemoose

Gah, after posting that UC was sorted, I got a whopping £0 in January's payment. Now I thought the whole point of UC was to cope with a variable income, but apparently me uploading bank statements showing zero rental income (where previous bank statements uploaded DO show rental income) is apparently insufficient evidence and so they ASSUMED I received an extra £350 income than I really did. Wow. Just wow. Back to mandatory reconsideration and a decision maker. Been told that if I haven't heard anything in 8 weeks to chase it up. I'll be getting nothing until that decision, but I will get it backdated if I 'win'.

The principle of UC is great, my experience of reality - horrendous.

Mobile contracts ending and swapping to sim only drop my mobile costs from £70 a month to £8, which decreases my monthly shortfall to £132.50, so new target January onwards is not to increase CCs by more than £150 a month (was previously £200).

Seems like the buyer of my BTL didn't get her mortgage like she said she did just before Christmas. Or wasn't happy with it, I suppose that's a possibility. Anyway, she's going with another lender so back to the beginning of the process with a survey being done on Thursday. If she doesn't get this mortgage I'm pulling out of the sale and putting it back on the market.