How to sell my house, with no money?

ViolaLass

knightstyle wrote: »

Oh and if your credit rating is good you can get a loan from a credit card for a year and just pay 1.9%.

That's an incredible rate for a CC (for someone with no income). Which one do you have in mind?

rosyw

A few years ago I was in an almost identical situation, all my money tied up in the house, thankfully mortgage free by then, and just about surviving on ESA. I scraped together the money for the searches somehow, paid the removal men with my "emergency" credit card, everything else came out of the proceeds of the sale.
I was also downsizing, so by the time the sale/purchase had been completed it was a wonderful feeling to arrive at my new home with money in the bank
With some careful planning it can be done, but have to admit the run up to the move was incredibly stressful, praying that neither my buyer or seller pulled out at the last minute!

luvchocolate

Also a perfect time to sell items not needed when you downsize, giving you some extra £ to help.

moneyistooshorttomention

slowpoke_rodriguez wrote: »

Bear in mind that your nice little windfall may affect your entitlement to JSA.

Don't quote me on it - but I believe one is allowed to keep proceeds of a house sale for 6 months after getting them without the DWP taking them into account?

It probably varies a bit between different companies - but I did have to find some money upfront:
- a bit of money for "costs" to the solicitor (cant recall how much - think it was around the £100 mark?)
- the removal company wanted 50% of the money in advance

- if I had been buying a dearer house then that 10% to lay down as a "deposit" to the vendor might have been problematic. As it was - I was buying a "same price or cheaper" house and my vendor got told that 10% would come from my buyers "10% deposit to vendor" being passed up the line to them.

NB: You will have to keep fingers crossed hard that no-one wastes any of your money for you - ie buyer or vendor letting you down and you've spent money on fees for nothing. Also that you dont find your surveyor (another upfront cost BTW) telling you the house you've decided on isnt worth buying - and that would mean survey fees down the drain. I've managed to buy two houses now without anyone wasting my money (either buyer, vendor or surveyor) - but it does happen to a lot of people.

moneyistooshorttomention

BTW - I would recommend anyone - in any circumstances - learns everything they can about how to assess a house (and, these days, garden as well - thinking about Japanese Knotweed for instance).

That way - hopefully you'd be able to spot a dud house for yourself and wouldnt be in the position of only finding out it was a dud after a bad surveyor report on it.

Worth taking a more experienced home-owner with you on any "second viewings" you have - as they might spot house/garden defects that you might not be aware of. I learnt a lot of "what to look out for" on my first house and more on my second house. I expect if I bought & sold half a dozen times I'd learn even more about what vendors might be trying to hide re the condition of the house. So a serial house-seller and home improver type of person would be an ideal companion to take along on viewings.

Dan-Dan

If OP is in receipt of contribution based JSA then any capital is ignored for 6 months , we can assume by the time they complete a sale/purchase , they will be very nearly be moving over to income based JSA which juicy sums of capital will have a bearing on

OP will need the fee for one or more surveys on a property so thats hundreds of ££ required in back up , unless OP is very DIY savvy then its possibly foolhardy to spend essentially a massive chunk of your life savings on a money pit and/or dud

As money says , if you move long distance be prepared to pay half the removals cost up front, and you will need a little cash to pay for boxes , unlless you can get these from freecycle or similar

Plus as mentioned it would be foolish to purchase a property without at least having the environmental and LA searches carried out so £300 for that to be safe

You have to have some sort of buffer fund because a third of house sales/purchases fall through apparently and you need a safety net

rosyw

Dan-Dan wrote: »

If OP is in receipt of contribution based JSA then any capital is ignored for 6 months , we can assume by the time they complete a sale/purchase , they will be very nearly be moving over to income based JSA which juicy sums of capital will have a bearing on

This is something to watch out for, at the time of my move I was on the lowest level of ESA and half way through an appeal, this was income based. I wrote informing them of my move, and as my doctors certificate had run out at the same time the payments stopped and I thought no more of it. 4 MONTHS later there was a large payment into my bank from the DWP and the payments started again!! I immediately called to query this, (making sure I recorded the call ) and was told I'd won my appeal so the large sum was what I should have been paid before the move,and that payments would continue for 6 months regardless of the house sale funds in the bank. I wrote to them again, sent recorded delivery, just to ensure they wouldn't try to claim the money back at a later date I'd recommend anyone in a similar position to ensure they make it very clear to the DWP, both by phone & letter, what their financial situation is, just in case they've made a mistake.

moneyistooshorttomention

I didnt realise I was being told to pay that 50% upfront for the remover because it was a long-distance move! Oh!

I assumed that it was the firm's policy to charge everyone that - even if just literally moving round the corner.

Maybe that is the case then....and its down to the "person isnt near enough to pay them A Visit so to say" if they dont pay up.

Dan-Dan

I dont know Money to be honest , i am moving from the home counties to west wales and all 3 companies i asked for a quote ask for half up front due to the distance of the move , makes sense i guess!

moneyistooshorttomention

Oh heck...Dan....you mean you might be living in my neighbourhood?:eek::rotfl:. I think I'll take a chill pill and have a lie-down at that thought....

Well...I would if I wasnt out for another walk in a minute (translation = get up to my knees in mud (again!) ).