Cannot afford repairs and unsure of options

trwil

Hi all

I currently have a tonne of repairs to do to the house, and do not have the cash to do it- i took out a loan to get things going but it isnt going to be enough.

The home needs rewiring and re-plumbing as a minimum (age) and with everything else that needs doing i am probably looking at 50k to repair everything. The flat roof is also 10 years old and the roofer who recently did the roofline said the flat roof needs replacing soon.

The mortgage is paid, and i have 11.5k in loans, but still have 6k unspent in cash - so a net debt of 5.5k. No credit card debt, single income household with a net monthly income of £1900 a month.

Houses in the area go for about 250k so i am guessing with all the work required the value of the property is about 150k

However there is a legal aid charge on the house from years ago that is about 10k (they never send updates, i calculated the amount based on published interest rates). WIth the money i have already spent on repairs (roof) i would struggle to pay it off.

If i have to sell to a house buying company i will, but if i can get my hands on funding for repairs that would be better.

I had considered a lifetime mortgage on the property - however will the 10k legal aid charge stop that being an option? 

I know i should have kept up with repairs, money has been tight as single income for as long as i can remember now however. I feel at the end of my tether.

Can anyone suggest my options? The repairs cant wait, i live in fear of a major leak or wiring incident.

Thanks

pinkteapot

trwil said:

If i have to sell to a house buying company i will, but if i can get my hands on funding for repairs that would be better.

Whatever you do, don't do this. You WILL get less than selling it the usual way (or possibly even selling it at auction). They might give you a fairly attractive quote but they'll drop it at the last minute because you're desperate. 

If it comes to selling, price keenly to reflect the state, with a local EA, and attract some bids from people able to get the work done. 

If it's worth £250k once sorted and the works are about £50k, I'd be surprised if you only got £150k for it. 

Brie

you say the mortgage is paid so I assume you are of a certain age.  have you checked with Age Concern if they have someone locally who assists those older citizens with little money and repairs that are needed?  They may be able to move things along a little bit for you.

diystarter7

How old is your property and how old are you and are you on benefits?
The reason I ask is years ago people were being given free funding
to bring their up up to a certain standard, EG damp-free, leak free, safe to be in and 
I forget what it was called.

However, if you work and no benefits they did not want to know.
Some people made a living out of it, this was years ago and this
was a slightly different grant but it was easier to get if you was registered as 'disabled.'
People I'm aware of would buy a run-down house, do it up and sell at a profit, larger profit and
not have to pay the council the money they were handed. Then the councils made new
rules i think you could not sell for x amount of time and if you did you returned the money given to you.

if you are on benefits and/or are registered disabled give them a call and see what they have to offer.
Be warned everything has massive waiting lists these days.

Mistral001

Firstly even the most poorly constructed flat roof should last far more than 10 years.  Can you afford to pay a good handyman to do the absolutely necessary repairs only?  Those should make the house saleable to some people who are not just looking to make a quick profit. 

Bendy_House

Last year I gave our 25+ year old felt flat roof (over an en-suite) a couple of coats of Cromopol. I reckon it's good for another 10...

Trwil, if you were to sell up, would you be able to find a smaller, cheaper property, or one in a less expensive area, that would ALSO allow you to clear your debts? If so, wouldn't that be a good move? I'd imagine that would remove a lot of stress?

If you do decide to sell, do so in the normal manner via a good EA, and good chance you'll get over £200k for it. At least have it valued by 2 or 3 EAs to see what they think.

In the current market, homes that need work are also selling strongly; the day you could buy a 'project' for a snip and make money on it seems to have gone.

markin

A felt roof should last at least 15 years, So don't worry about that.

How long will the loan take to pay off? I don't see any urgency here if the income is steady.

Prioritise the heating system, Electrics can usually be patched as needed, unless its all 60's rubber, Do you have a modern fuse board or old wire fuses?

Grenage

A roof leaks or it doesn't.

As above, do not use a house buying company.  You'll just get less then you could otherwise.

SootySweep1

Hi
Is the roof leaking ? The cynic in me says that a roofer will tell you that it needs replacing because they want you to pay them to replace it.

Why do you think it needs rewiring & replumbing? How old is it? Are you having problems with something? 

Jen

Chloe_G

We have a total flat roof,  thought it would need re-doing after 18 year but 3 roofers recently have said it is fine.  You can always have patch repairs done anyway if needed.

Sistergold

Is there any chance of taking extra house, lodger second third job to boost income. You can then work slowly at the house and getting out of debt? If you do it slowly and if you can just get a bit of extra income you will be surprised that it will eventually look better than it looks now. Don’t sell or get a lifetime mortgage in a hurry sometimes it becomes a harder hole to get out of than the one you are in now. Good luck life can be challenging as a single income home.