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Are we mad for considering this house purchase and move ……. England to Scotland
woolythoughts
Posts: 292 Forumite
Current situation:
house and mortgage in husbands name only but I’m the main earner (70k plus bonus) and he’s retired ( 100k left of his lump sum and 26k a year)
we have about 300k of equity in it and about 90k left on the mortgage
live in the far southwest and want to move up to the highlands where husband is from and I used to live
no one in Scotland will accept an offer from England dependent on a house sale unless it’s exchanged - that then risks having to live in a caravan whilst we find somewhere
the plan:
buy a new build using a mortgage in my name only and my purchase. Approved for up to 292k mortgage so long as 15% deposit. House we want is 296k and would b3 finished June subject to delays.
we can’t put our house up for sale until we fix the garden as we’ve just decommissioned our fishpond as it was a barrier to sale. This will be march.
once we get the house in June, if we haven’t yet sold ours then we move and our house is empty. We could afford both mortgages for a few months but after that would need husbands current mortgage to go interest only whilst we sell. We have 21k extra tax to pay which is refunded once husbands house is sold.
costs we estimate are:
4.k stamp duty
3.5k removals
2k solicitor cost for seeking ours
1k estate agent cost
expenses 10k
the plan is to end up mortgage free with most of the 85k still in the bank once everything is settled. We could pay off the new mortgage with the equity in the old and if the deposit is reduced then that can be replenished every month with the mortgage payment.
‘’after mortgage and bills we have 3.5k money to spare.
‘’I think it’s doable and not that mad.
stand to be corrected
house and mortgage in husbands name only but I’m the main earner (70k plus bonus) and he’s retired ( 100k left of his lump sum and 26k a year)
we have about 300k of equity in it and about 90k left on the mortgage
live in the far southwest and want to move up to the highlands where husband is from and I used to live
no one in Scotland will accept an offer from England dependent on a house sale unless it’s exchanged - that then risks having to live in a caravan whilst we find somewhere
the plan:
buy a new build using a mortgage in my name only and my purchase. Approved for up to 292k mortgage so long as 15% deposit. House we want is 296k and would b3 finished June subject to delays.
we can’t put our house up for sale until we fix the garden as we’ve just decommissioned our fishpond as it was a barrier to sale. This will be march.
once we get the house in June, if we haven’t yet sold ours then we move and our house is empty. We could afford both mortgages for a few months but after that would need husbands current mortgage to go interest only whilst we sell. We have 21k extra tax to pay which is refunded once husbands house is sold.
costs we estimate are:
4.k stamp duty
3.5k removals
2k solicitor cost for seeking ours
1k estate agent cost
expenses 10k
the plan is to end up mortgage free with most of the 85k still in the bank once everything is settled. We could pay off the new mortgage with the equity in the old and if the deposit is reduced then that can be replenished every month with the mortgage payment.
‘’after mortgage and bills we have 3.5k money to spare.
‘’I think it’s doable and not that mad.
stand to be corrected
0
Comments
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I’ll throw another idea into the mix for you. From October, there would very probably be lots of holiday lets in that neck of the woods where the owners may be open to the offer of a longer term let at a reduced price, giving you 4-6 months to find somewhere to live up there after your house has sold. You’d be on the spot for viewings, yes you’d have to put your own belongings in storage for a while, and it would require a bit of careful timing, but it could be an option to put you in a better position to complete the move. It would certainly be a warmer, more comfortable idea than a caravan!🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00. Balance as at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her2 -
The house we’ve seen is actually perfect for us and in the perfect location. If we let this go, we may not find something as good.
we have been looking for about 18 months and this is the first time we’ve seen something perfect. Before that we were going down the sell and caravan route - but this one coming up where it is is enough to make us consider effectively bridging it1 -
I’ve just edited the original post as the new house is 296k not 206k as posted0
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Got you - yep, that makes a difference then. It wasn’t clear from your post whether the new build was a “second best” option, hence the suggestion!woolythoughts said:The house we’ve seen is actually perfect for us and in the perfect location. If we let this go, we may not find something as good.
we have been looking for about 18 months and this is the first time we’ve seen something perfect. Before that we were going down the sell and caravan route - but this one coming up where it is is enough to make us consider effectively bridging itI’ll leave those with expertise on the subject to advise on the bridging though - and will just wish you luck with the move!🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00. Balance as at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her0 -
Haven't done the maths but could you re-mortgage current home (£70K income) and add his £100K savings, and buy in scotland as a 2nd home?
Then sell current home,0 -
not sure how that is materially different than what we are planning. We still end up with two mortgages and the 21k tax which we can only cover for a few months without the current going interest only.propertyrental said:Haven't done the maths but could you re-mortgage current home (£70K income) and add his £100K savings, and buy in scotland as a 2nd home?
Then current home
figured if he phoned his mortgage company and said he had to move back to Scotland for family reasons and can’t afford the repayments they would be likely to go interest only until sale. Yes his credit would take a hit but he’s 63 and unlikely to ever apply for a mortgage in his name again.0 -
How did you get to £4k stamp duty?
If you're buying before you sell, then at a price of £296k LBTT (with additional dwelling supplement) is going to be an initial payment of £22,160 - with £17,760 of that refundable if you sell the first house within 18 months.3 -
I'd ask myself how confident I am in the sellability of the place in the SW. In a slowing or falling market, the risk you'd be running is higher than it would have been in recent years.0
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The way we moved from England to Scotland 20 years ago was to buy a building plot in Scotland for cash, sold the house in England, moved into a static caravan on the plot and built our house.
Plots are a lot easier to buy in the Highlands and you get exactly the house you want and potentially build much better than a mass built developer house.
Would you be up for that "challenge"?0 -
We are in Bridgwater which has a booming house market even now because of hinckly point.Martico said:I'd ask myself how confident I am in the sellability of the place in the SW. In a slowing or falling market, the risk you'd be running is higher than it would have been in recent years.1
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