Relocation advice please

boo80

Hello money savers. We would love to relocate but have a bit of a conundrum. We want to move about 80 miles from where we are now, we've been talking about it for the last 2 years, but the time has now come when we really are going to do it. We had our 3 bed mid terrace valued at £275k, whereas for a similar price we could buy a 4 bed detached in our preferred location. What is the best way to do it?

A) partner finds a job there, lives in a bedsit or similar for his probation period and then we sell/buy and move there as a family.

we sell/buy now, the children and I live in the new location while OH keeps his job but stays with his parents mon-thurs, then comes home at the weekend. All the while looking for a job in the new location

C) we buy a house for £245k, which obviously would not be in such a nice part of town or such a nice house, but there would be money in the bank

D) we sit tight for another year and see what the market does

Have we missed anything? Is there another way? Which option makes the most sense?

Thank you in advance for any input. Xx

Dizzy_Imp

We are doing something similar, but have a Let-to-buy mortgage (not to be confused with a Buy-to-let mortgage) on our existing house to buy a house in another area. Keeping our original house enables us to rent it out for over twice what the mortgage payments are on the LTB mortgage which means we can overpay the mortgage and have a little over for treats! Not sure if this is possible for you (you can combine LTB mortgages with residential mortgages if funds available aren't enough for your needs). Another option maybe?

boo80

I'm very interested in this Dizzy Imp. We have about £190k capitol, but nothing for a new deposit, so not sure we could do that?

duchy

As you are a single income family presumably, I'd find the job first and spend the time whilst he's applying to get the house in sell ready condition and get your ducks in row (eg check if you can port your mortgage with your current company if you want to - and if you don't if your preferred company has any problem with a job move right before applying for a mortgage , investigate schools etc, check out estate agents and know the market you are selling in and on and on....)

boo80

Duchy, our estate agent told us mortgage companies wouldn't lend if he'd been in the job less than 3 months, is that not necessarily true? I was thinking we'd be looking at 6 months plus of living apart with option A.

I'm self employed, working from home, the children are home educated and I've already made contact with the local HE scene (see, I'm v keen!)

Dizzy_Imp

boo80 wrote: »

I'm very interested in this Dizzy Imp. We have about £190k capitol, but nothing for a new deposit, so not sure we could do that?

I'm not a mortgage expert - this is just my own experience and it sounds like my circumstances are different from yours in that I own outright my first house, so there is no existing mortgage to factor in.

I suggest you speak to a mortgage advisor about LTB mortgages as I don't know if the calculations that apply to me would be possible in your situation. Generally you have to be able to get a rental income that exceeds the mortgage repayments but in my neck of the woods, that's easily achieved. Our house was advertised for rent for 36 hours and we had two offers at full rental price - one for a minimum year, rolling contract and the other for five years. We have a 50% LTV mortgage and were able to buy our second house outright with that, so no extra money for a deposit was needed.

We were told that you can top up funds with a residential mortgage, but again, ask a mortgage advisor as their expertise will get you answers quickly.

Good luck!

boo80

Thank you for your response Dizzy Imp, it sounds like you're in a far better position than us (although the rental market is v strong here too) but we will look into it and see if it could work for us. Xx

audigex

B if you're 100% confident that your husband will find a job in the new area, and it's just a matter of time.

A if you're not 100% confident. It's a little more expensive, but means you don't have the risk of being in a new area with no income.

You can get mortgages which don't care about probation periods, but it's still a risk to your family: not everyone passes their probation, and it's not unknown for even very capable, responsible people to not pass if the culture doesn't fit.

I assume from the nature of your posts that you're not employed yourself, as there's no suggestion of any income other than your husband's?

Dizzy_Imp

boo80 wrote: »

Thank you for your response Dizzy Imp, it sounds like you're in a far better position than us (although the rental market is v strong here too) but we will look into it and see if it could work for us. Xx

Let me know how you get on. It literally enabled us to make a long held dream a reality and it sounds like you've been wanting this move for a while. Definitely look into it - it might not be right for you but if not the broker may be able to suggest some alternative ways of raising finance x