Should I remortgage our home, that is the question?

mrsbudget

Hi,folks,

Just wondering if you could help me decide on this. At the moment my hubby and I have an £85 000 mortgage from Bank of Scotland having a tracker rate (dont really know what that means) and paying a part of capital and interest rate. We have a 16.5 yrs to go. We are paying £687 per month at the moment.

We are hoping to have our basement converted which could be another room and a toilet. My neighbour who converted their own basement said it cost them nearly £20,000 but he said that was cheap because his son and him did it themselves. So, I thought for us to get someone might cost around £30,000 then.

My question is should I remortgage our house now or wait till we really have spare money to spend on the basement. I am only working part time at the moment and hoping to be fulltime when the kids are a bit older (8 & 7 yrs old):eek: . Our income at the moment is really budgetted but an added £100 to our morgage will be ok.

Could you give me some suggestions, pls...and if ever, should i stay in tracker or which is the best one for me. thanks.

mrs budget..

MortgageMamma

Mrs Budget

It really is difficult to say without knowing all the inns and outs of your circumstances. Why not speak to a whole of market mortgage broker and get some quotations on borrowing the extra money, some advice about the type of mortgage you have and check any planning permission and building regulations out before doing anything else. Armed with that information you should know whether to save or borrow.

MM

mrsbudget

Thanks MM, yes, we will be needing a planning permit as my neighbour had one b4 they did theirs a couple years ago.

Badger_Lady

How much is your home currently worth, and what interest rate are you paying?

Even working full-time, it would take a very long time to save up £30,000.

How much do you want the basement converted? What would be the benefits to you? Do you know how much value was added to your neighbour's property as a result of the conversion?

If you're not particularly fussed about converting, and don't plan to sell your home any time soon, I'd wait and think about it when you're a little better off.

mrsbudget

HI, Badger_Lady, according to the free house price valuation here, our home is worth around £200,000 plus now. We got it for £100,000 4 years ago from a relative. They did not really put it on the market anymore, they offered it to us and told the price and we got it. Its a semi-detached 1930's house and has 2 public rooms and 3 bedrooms. I'm sure it will add value to the house.

The interest rate is based on the tracker which Im not sure if 1% above the England base rate, I think...(am not sure reallyhow it works).wahhhhhh!!!

But as you said, yes, we are not really wanting to sell the house, it just to add that space that at the moment becomes our warehouse :-(. We thought maybe if we have another room,it can be a source of income in the future like renting it to someone we know that looking for accommodation. Then perhaps the added money we borrowed would pay for itself.

What do you think? and thanks for the concern..people!!

Badger_Lady

Well, I can't really help - it sounds perfectly feasible, but it's just up to you. I wouldn't have thought you'd have much trouble remortgaging for that amount but, as MortgageMamma says, speak to a mortgage adviser and get quotes to see how it would fit into your budget.

Best of luck, whatever you decide :-)