Relocating for work - how the hell?

jonnytekno · 3 February 2015 at 7:31PM

Hi

I am about to accept a job 200 miles away. I am on 3 months notice, but the logistics of selling up here and then buying there, all around a set date, are daunting. Has anyone done this? I'm looking for any kind of guidance going?

I expect my house to sell reasonably quickly once on the market; next doors sold very recently and within a couple of weeks of being on the market. We will probably rent where we are going for a while to be sure about area before buying.

I have a million questions; just wondering if anyone has been through this and can share experience?

Thanks in advance

domcastro · 3 February 2015 at 7:38PM

I've done it twice! Inconvenient! Both times I took a 6 month rental contract which gave me time to sell as no chain and buy as no chain. I also got to know the area. This is how I would do it again

jonnytekno · 3 February 2015 at 7:41PM

Thanks - so were you renting whilst still paying the mortgage on your original house or did you manage to sell in time for the move? I don't know if I could afford to do this.

domcastro · 3 February 2015 at 7:46PM

Yes - doing both at beginning but everything worked out well. I also increased my bank overdraft, just in case. I ended up only paying 2 months of rent and mortgage both times.

Another time, recently, I borrowed money from the house, bought another house and rented out the original. Saves paying rent and mortgage yourself, but all the tax, accountant, tenant hassle wasn't worth it!

EDIT: I explained the situation to my bank and they gave me a 2500 overdraft

domcastro · 3 February 2015 at 7:53PM

Also, you may be able to take a mortgage holiday for 1 or 2 months

bylromarha · 3 February 2015 at 8:38PM

We did it last year. Rented in new town with a 6 month rental to make sure we were there for the new job start date. We put majority of our stuff in storage as the £40pm storage meant the rental was £100s cheaper.

It's a pain renting, but the pain of the thought of trying to coordinate a house purchase by a certain date was far more stressful.

domcastro · 3 February 2015 at 8:52PM

bylromarha wrote: »

We did it last year. Rented in new town with a 6 month rental to make sure we were there for the new job start date. We put majority of our stuff in storage as the £40pm storage meant the rental was £100s cheaper.

It's a pain renting, but the pain of the thought of trying to coordinate a house purchase by a certain date was far more stressful.

Totally agree. Also, places I was tempted to buy before I moved to new location, turned out to be in bad areas. I was glad I had time to buy the right house

ultrarunner · 3 February 2015 at 9:56PM

Can you not get some relocation costs from your new work?

domcastro · 4 February 2015 at 12:32AM

Relocation costs are usually claimed back after you buy. I got relocation costs that covered solicitors and stamp duty - so didn't help with immediate problem

arbrighton · 4 February 2015 at 10:05AM

We did as others have done and went into rented, especially as the house sale fell through just as we moved. We also wanted time to get to know areas and look for a character property so moving into rented was the way to go- we were there for a year in the end, although we had a bit of overlap between our purchase completing and ending on the rental.

jonnytekno · 5 February 2015 at 4:53PM

Thanks very much for all the responses. I have just realised that I have the added difficulty of £7500 exit penalty on my current mortgage as am half way through fixed deal. My mortgage adviser said I should rent my house current house out for 12 months until this is over, and rent up there for 12 months, then try and buy and sell as you would normally. I'm not sure about this as we didn't want to rent for that long, plus I don't know if trying to sell would be harder with tenants in the place. I feel tempted to just take the hit on the penalty and be done with it. Any thoughts?