Relocation - Renting, Mortgage and House Hunting at once!

Sluphie

First time posting, so sorry for any issues!

My partner and I purchased our first house in January 2018 in England. We have been happily paying mortgage off and should have a good amount of equity in our home now.

He has had a job offer in Wales. We are seriously considering uprooting and moving there, but things are not straightforward. I have a job I love, and I certainly wouldn't be looking to hand my notice in until after he had passed his 3 month probationary period, but I cannot work from home. The most viable way we can see to do this would be:

- He finds a 3-6 month rental property close to where he would be working, and lives there during the week

- We carry on paying the mortgage and bills on our current house in England, whilst I get it ready to go on the market etc.

- If he passes his probation, we then start going through the process of trying to sell our house, find a new job for me, buy a new house and so on..

My major concern, that I couldn't seem to find an answer for on Google - money would be tight for us whilst paying rent, mortgage and two sets of bills. We would manage, but not have much 'spare'. Does anyone know if this would negatively effect us getting a new mortgage? We would be looking to sell our house and pay more for a larger house/increase our mortgage (rough calculations online seem to make that possible). Hopefully by the time this all comes around, he would have been in his job for 3 months which I think was the requirement last time we got our mortgage, and I would have something lined up on a similar salary to what I earn now (in an ideal world, of course). I would probably avoid handing my notice in until after the mortgage/house purchase completes.

To me, it's obvious that whilst we would be tight for money whilst applying for the mortgage, once we moved we woud be much better off, but I'm not sure if the bank would see it like that.

Has anyone done the same? I guess most people would just sell up and move when their partner gets the new job, but I don't think I can risk giving up my job if something went wrong in the probationary period.

Thanks in advance!

pinkteapot

Remember you don’t HAVE to sell and buy simultaneously. Would be simpler to sell the house and move into OH’s rental, then give it a couple of months to check you’re both starting to settle happily there…

We relocated 300 miles (both at the same time for us) and renting was a godsend in terms of getting to know the area and where we actually wanted to buy (which ended up being completely different places to what we’d guessed looking at the map in advance). 

If you do try to get a mortgage for a house in Wales a long way from the job whose salary you’re basing an application on, expect questions. 

Sluphie

pinkteapot said:

Remember you don’t HAVE to sell and buy simultaneously. Would be simpler to sell the house and move into OH’s rental, then give it a couple of months to check you’re both starting to settle happily there…

We relocated 300 miles (both at the same time for us) and renting was a godsend in terms of getting to know the area and where we actually wanted to buy (which ended up being completely different places to what we’d guessed looking at the map in advance). 

If you do try to get a mortgage for a house in Wales a long way from the job whose salary you’re basing an application on, expect questions. 

Makes sense - just don't know where we would store all of the stuff from our 3 bed house in a 1 bed flat, so we'd have to look into renting a storage container I'd think. And we have pets, just to make it even more difficult. But certainly something to consider, thanks!

pinkteapot

Pets does make it trickier as finding a block of flats that accepts pets in rentals isn’t easy. Lots of LLs are opposed too (limited our options as we have a cat). 

If you can get around that though, don’t rule it out as an option. Storage unit costs will be nothing compared to the cost of getting a house purchase choice wrong and therefore moving again after not very long. 😊 It would be good if you can find your new job before you buy so you know where you’re commuting to - you can then buy a place that works for commuting to both your jobs. 

ka7e

Your husband could look at spare room sites that offer accommodation Mon-Fri. It would be cheaper than a full-time rental, he wouldn't be tied to a tenancy - and very short-term ones are hard to find - and wouldn't have the hassle and expense of setting up separate utility/Council Tax bills.You can then look to rent or buy together when the job situation allows.

Sluphie

ka7e said:

Your husband could look at spare room sites that offer accommodation Mon-Fri. It would be cheaper than a full-time rental, he wouldn't be tied to a tenancy - and very short-term ones are hard to find - and wouldn't have the hassle and expense of setting up separate utility/Council Tax bills.You can then look to rent or buy together when the job situation allows.

Thank you, this was another option but I don't know if many people would want him as a housemate as for two weeks a month he would be getting home in the middle of the night. I know what a light sleeper I am and it would drive me up the wall having someone coming home at that time!

tooldle

I'm in Wales (South West). Where in Wales are you moving to? I ask as rental properties in this city are few and far between at the moment and we regularly see folks appealing on Facebook for small-medium sized properties to rent. We also have a very wide range of house prices with some very cheap areas.

Sluphie

tooldle said:

I'm in Wales (South West). Where in Wales are you moving to? I ask as rental properties in this city are few and far between at the moment and we regularly see folks appealing on Facebook for small-medium sized properties to rent. We also have a very wide range of house prices with some very cheap areas.

It would be more South East, OH has found a couple of rental flats that would do as the 'inbetween' whilst he settles into new job and we start the househunt. Of course, whether they'll still be available when he comes to wanting them is a different question..!

Yes, very pleasantly surprised by house prices as we are living in a relatively expensive area at the moment.

Snookie12cat

South East Wales is the best part ha ha, but seriously, I would rent here first because you do not know the areas or what you might want from the house and location. Some areas have crazy cheap prices, but you will soon find its for a reason.
Its very common for people to do airbnb room shares, were you can find a rental room and ask for a better rate if you occupy it in the week, so maybe a cheaper short term option.

Chances are any lender will take rent into affordability if its a predicted on going cost when you apply.

Racky_Roo

I would also seriously think about bothering with furniture storage if you do move into OH's small rented flat. Unless it's really great quality and you see yourself hanging onto it for years, it's often better to sell it locally for a few £ before you move, save on moving van and storage (and effort) costs and use the money for new stuff. When you move you often find the new place doesn't really fit what you have and you buy new items anyway