Owning House with Brother

pollyanna24

RAS wrote: »

That makes the difference. If you had been married the courts would probably have allocated 60+% (70% if the kids are young) and you may not have had to buy him out for years.

Not being married makes it harder.

Can I suggest that you stop over-paying the mortgage and you start saving that amount into an account so that you have more money.

And find out what this extra mmoney in another account is from over-paying???

Are you giving money to the bank that they are not paying interest on and not allocating to reduce your mortgage value? If so, take some proper advice.

True, about the married bit, but I am happier having no financial ties with my ex. And he does pay me maintenance which is more than some women get.

I just think that I will never have enough to buy my brother out (except in 7 years or so when the house will be owned outright) and I might be able to get a mortgage for half the value, so it was best to keep overpaying.

The mortgage value is going down by the amount we put on it, I can check that online.

Tixy

pollyanna24 wrote: »

If we change to tenants in common though and he does get married, then his "wife" (if she ever becomes that) would be entitled to his half, right?

You mean if he died? it would form part of his estate and then what happened to it would depend on his will.

Principia_2

Tixy wrote: »

You mean if he died? it would form part of his estate and then what happened to it would depend on his will.

Could be a problem if he divorced too though.

duchy

So long as you are both overpaying by the same amount it would seem better to overpay rather than save in an account that pays less than the mortgage interest you are saving by overpaying.

You don't know what the future holds -in two years time you might have a better paying job, or be getting married, or be offered a higher paying job in another city -equally your brother might be single again or want to emigrate to Australia . You can't predict so it seems the best thing is to carry on bringing the mortgage down until one of you does want to sell and then re-evaluate. There's no point in stressing over what might happen in a few years when you are already doing the most sensible thing in any scenario which is reducing the mortgage debt and will likely give you more options later on.

JodyBPM

Although its a difficult situation, I think that you will be far better off than if your brother hadn't moved in! Presumably you would have had to have sold up back then if your brother wasn't in a position to move in and buy your OH out. From what you say, it doesn't sound like your brother is planning on moving out imminently, so I wouldn't panic.

Ultimately, if you can't afford to own a house in that area, then you will just have to accept that, and will have to either dowsize, move area or rent, or alternatively find a way to earn more money (more hours/better paid job/second job) when the time comes. The ages of your children seem to suggest that things are likely to get easier re working hours/childcare expenses etc soon, and that may well help. Also, since it is your brother that you are dealing with, he might well be prepared to put off any plans to ask you to buy him out until after your youngest is at school, maybe ask him if he would do that to put your mind at ease in the short term.

I think whether you have savings/a higher mortgage or no savings/a lower mortgage won't really make any difference in the scheme of things, it seems to me like 6 of one and half a dozen of the other.

Re the joint tenants/tenants in common issue - you can't have it both ways - either you each agree to pass your half direct to the other tenant on death (joint tenants) or you are each able to will your half separately (tenants in common). Presumably if he did get married, he would want to leave his half to his wife (and possibly children) in the same ways as you want to leave yours to your children. Personally, I would have it set up as tenants in common, with you each willing your own half how you like, but that really is something for the two of you to discuss together and to come to agreement on.