The Long & bumpy road - Natlou's 'I will be debt free diary'

pandapaws

By the way, did you sort out the broadband/laptop business? I did the Orange deal for a free laptop and it was trouble-free but I don't think they're doing it now.

I'm off to bed - night!

chevalier

Hi there
Haven't seen your thread before, so howdy! Sorry to hear about the house not selling, and that you will both lose out so much on it. I take it it isn't in a good enough condition to rent out? Is the mortgage on it repayment or interest only. If the former, could you make it into the latter, and would that now balance any rent you might get?

chev

Madcatgirl

Hi there! It's nice to read your diary, as I've not seen it before - good luck on reducing the debt!

Re the boiler - we had our boiler replaced in our old house for a condensing one and it cut the bills by well over a half. It cost nearly two grand, but we didn't need all the pipes replaceing, so not too bad. The best thing about it was the timer function that allowed you to set it to come on for 15 mins at a time - great if you need a quick blast of heat rather than turning it on and forgetting it.

We've just moved into a new flat with an antique back boiler with a massive water tank - I'm dreading the bills and can't afford to replace it!

Anyway, if you don't have double glazing, my tip from when I lived in a draughty student house, is to by clear pvc from a dress makers and use it as internal secondary glazing - it doesn't look pretty, but it helps in the short term!

I look forward to reading more...xx

Natlou_2

Hi Chev, Yes the house is in immaculate condition but the rent it could achieve will only cover half the mortgage (which is already on interest only) and we can't afford to stump up the other half.

Panda - No I didn't do the free laptop deal, I think I have def missed out on the orange offer but if anyone else knows of any similar deals going, please let me know!

Matcat - Im sure a new boiler will make a huge difference to our bills, the quotes we've had are for a condensing boiler, but if we manage to get it done through warmfront that would be great.

Well Im at home this morning, trying to be productive, Ive just transferred the whole of my small barclaycard balance onto my new mint card which is 0% until Dec 08, so at least I know the payments we are making will come off the balance instead of paying off a ridiculous £5 a month!

Now Im going to do some research on what the repercussions are if your house gets repossessed - see you later!

pandapaws

Oh, poor you. Is there nothing at all that you could do to try and prevent the reposession? Not that you haven't thought of that already, obviously!

Would it be possible to try and rent it out for a little over the normal value? If it has just been done up, then someone might be prepared to pay a little more for it than the norm. I know that our house was valued at £700 a month if we rented it out (on a 1500 mortgage!), but we said that if we have to go down that route, we'll try for 900 just because it is so immaculate and there aren't many 6 bed houses available, so someone might be prepared to pay it. That way, even though you'd have to be subsididing the rent, it would only be half or less of the mortgage amount you'd be paying out of your own pocket, which might buy just a little more time, and maybe you'd get more than the 250k after Xmas if the market improves? Even if it meant getting into a little more debt in the meantime to cover the payments (I know I shouldn't be saying that!), would that not be better in the long run than having a reposession behind you and being stuck with high interest rates on the rest of your debt forever more? If I've read it right, then you're paying £1000 a month on the mortgage, which you should be able to get at least 600 a month back in rent, so you're talking about subsidising by maybe 400 a month, which would be 2400 over a 6 month let. Not ideal, but probably less than you'd pay in extra interest if you're not able to get any 0% deals in the future. We keep hearing that the market is starting to pick up again in the north, so maybe just another 6 months would make all the difference?

Tell me to mind my own business! Just trying to offer thoughts on what I might do in a similar situation (although obviously I don't know all the facts!). Good luck!

Natlou_2

One of the first things we did when we moved into the house we now live in, was to convert the back part into a self contained holiday let. We decorated it really nicely with a leather bed, a new kitchen, TV/DVD player and leather settee in the lounge area. Being near the seaside we thought it could be a nice little sideline - well, I have just had our first booking for 2008 together with a deposit of £50. We had a few bookings last year but I didn't advertise it much, I am hoping it will build year on year. So if any of you want a cheapie holiday, DFW's get a special rate, just pm me if you want a brochure sending out (ok plug over now!)

Hi Panda, thanks for your suggestions, but unfortunately the mortgage is for £1330 per month and even if we rented it out - we could get £700, but we can't cover the shortfall (You wouldn't know that though, since I still haven't posted my SOA!). Seriously though, things are very tight, if the shortfall were less, we would definitely think about trying to keep it going until next year.

pandapaws

That's really good news about the holiday let, hopefully the first of many for next year! I don't suppose you could rent it out on short-term lets over the winter or anything? Not sure how many in your area, but when we were looking for temp place to stay while our house was getting built, the agents said they got quite a lot of people looking for short-term rented accommodation but never any properties! I'd love to come stay, but doubt we'll be doing anything at all in the way of holidays next summer with a baby! Will definitely bear it in mind though!

Shame about the rent vs mortgage business. If I can come up with any great ideas of how you could make the extra £600 or so I'll let you know (after I've used them myself!). What did the info hunt about reposessions bring up? Scary stuff.

Now, what were you saying about a SOA?:rotfl:

Natlou_2

To be honest it was quite difficult to find anything out at all about repo's. All the information seemed to assume that you were living in the property and did not want it to be repossessed, where as, if that is what is going to happen, I want it done with as quick as possible. From what I gather, when I fall into arrears - the lender applies to the court for a possession order and then there is a court hearing when the judge will either grant or suspend the possession order. The only thing I want to know is - If the lender repossesses, then sells the house at auction and they don't get their mortgage money back - will they come after me for the shortfall, and if so, how am I supposed to pay it back, when no-one will then give me a loan? - answers on a postcard please!

Yes, Im really pleased with the booking - we were only talking today about whether to let it out on a short term let for 6 months which will take us through to May, on a shorthold tenancy agreement should be able to get £400 per month inc. all bills, where as let out as a holiday let, we can get £200-£350 per week depending on the time of year.

I will do my SOA soon - I promise! Just come back from Monks Cross at York - had to call into Boots, as my mascara had all dried up, my fave lipgloss had run out and so had my moisturiser, spent £25 but paid in cash as had quite a good day in the shop today.

pandapaws

Ooh! All that money on cosmetics. But I'm not the person to criticise - I'm supposed to be going to a Duty Free sale tomorrow which will be a very big test of my powers of restraint when faced with Beautiful Things! I was in Monks Cross the other day for a bit of a TK Maxx binge. Came up with a great tip: buy a bloomin big suitcase that you'll have to drag around with you as DH has car at railway museum, and when you're looking round other shops you can't be bothered picking anything else up! It also helps if you're pregnant, tired and wearing a heavy coat for that tip to be fully effective. Then you can return the suitcase next time you're in TKM as I did today, and presto, no-spend shopping!

Suppose you've looked on Ebay for your cosmetics? I'm a bit of an Estee Lauder freak for skincare stuff (not that you'd think it to look at my haggard complexion!) and can usually get stuff half price or less if I'm patient!

The 6 month let sounds like a fairly good idea, so long as you can find someone straight away - you don't want the 6 months to end in September!!!

Natlou_2

Today I have been quite productive, I have:-
* Done all washing, dried it all and ironed most of it (Ironing basket was 3 ft tall so this was an achievement in itself, but I aim to empty it completely this week
* Ordered a terramundi (and got Quidco cashback) - for the sealed pot challenge
* Bagged up £10 worth of 20p coins to bankn tomorrow and pay off a card
* Washed all pots
* Sorted out all paperwork and banking for tomorrow

I am feeling really positive about the week ahead for some reason, I have set myself a couple of mini challenges which are:-

1. To find an extra £50 to throw at credit cards
2. To make £20 through Quidco
3. To empty Ironing basket (see above)
4. To abstain from chocolate, cake and alcohol for the whole of the week

I'll update in the week to let you know how I get on