Breakup - sell or be brought out? Help!

noscrubs101

Hi there, I'm looking for some thoughts/advice before I take the best step of getting legal advice.

My ex and I have broken up after 2 years of owning a house together, we paid £365k and he put down a deposit of £95k and I put down £5k. I've now moved out the property and he is keen to continue living there but can't afford the mortgage on his own and I'm not sure he can afford to buy me out. 

We have 2 years of a fixed term remaining so I see 4 realistic options:

1. we sell now and take the financial hit of early repayment fees.

2. He continues living there, gets a lodger and buys me out of the mortgage now and we pay the early repayment fees

3. He continues to live there with a lodger paying my half of the mortgage and we sell after the fixed term is up and there are no early repayment fees. 

4. He continues to live there with a lodger paying half of the mortgage and after the fixed term is up he buys me out of the mortgage. 

Is there any benefit to me whether he buys me out now or in 2 years time?  I'm a little uncertain of how we would work out what I get if he buys me out.  

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

lees80

He's got next to no chance of staying if he can't afford the mortgage on his own. It'll have to be sold. 

How paid your half of the mortgage etc since you moved in?

At the very least you should be entitled to your deposit money back, plus your share of any profit (if any, given the current situation) from the sale. 

PasturesNew

The only way to buy you out is to settle the existing mortgage and him to get one on his own/earnings.  
He can't just receive money from a lodger and give it to you... because your name's still on the mortgage and deeds. 
The only way to get the mortgage/deeds changed is legally, by him getting a new mortgage on his own. 

And you can't get round that.  He can either do it, or not.  

After two years I doubt there's any "profit", in some areas there might even be a loss.   

greatcrested

For both financial, emotional and practical reasons, you need to separate your ties - ie get your name off this jointly owned property. That means the mortgage and the ownership Title.

Unless he passes the affordability checks for a mortgage for the full amount in his sole name, he cannot buy you out. (or unless he wins the lottery).

Income from a lodger will not be taking into account by a mortgage lender.

Option 1.

SharkMoney

What’s brought out?

breaking_free

SharkMoney said:

What’s brought out?

Tsk! You know perfectly well she means bought out. Naughty SharkMoney 

ThePants999

SharkMoney is performing a public service. My wife says "brought" when she means "bought" and it's reached the point where it causes me physical pain every time I hear it...

breaking_free

ThePants999 said:

SharkMoney is performing a public service. My wife says "brought" when she means "bought" and it's reached the point where it causes me physical pain every time I hear it...

Alrighty then, I shall also perform a public service. Hear ye, hear ye, these are the rules of "bought" and "brought".

Brought is the past tense of bring. Bring has an 'r'. So if you walk into a party with an item then you have "brought" that item with you. 

Bought is the past tense of buy. Buy has no 'r' so if you are showing off your fancy new car to a friend you have "bought" that car. 

You're welcome. x

csgohan4

Best to cut your losses and sell, but given the current times, not to mention your mortgage ERC, you will likely make a loss

noscrubs101

SharkMoney said:

What’s brought out?

🙈🙈🙈 

Can someone correct me if I'm wrong here.... If I stayed on the mortgage for 2 years and then we sell it (with a lodger paying my half of the mortgage for that two years) then surely I'll get more money from the sale than I would now as there will be 24 payments less to pay back on the mortgage?

Assuming that the house value doesn't drop that is. 

greatcrested

Putting aside any increase or decrease in the property value...

The mortgage is only 2 years into a 25 (?) year term. In the first 5+ years or so, most of the monthly repayments go towards paying interest, not capital, so the size of the loan will not reduce much over the next 2 years.

You will be financially tied to your ex. If he gets into trouble eg bad credit rating, your credit rating will suffer too. If he takes out loans, a car lease, credit cards, that will all affect you as you will be financially linked.

If you decide you want to buy somewhere, you won't be able to as you already have a mortgage.

If your ex stops paying the mortgage (for whatever reason - unemployment, lodger does a runner, takes up gambling) the bank will come after you. If the property is repossessed, that will sit on your credit record for years.

Make a clean break now.