Selling two to buy one

sizle101

Hi,

Has anyone had any experience in or has been in a position where two homes are selling in order to buy another?

My father passed away last year, leaving my mum by herself in a three bedroom house in Essex where she is beginning to struggle. It is also becoming very impractical driving everyday from London to her house. She is considering selling up and moving into London closer to me. She is mortgage free. I currently live in London with my partner who owns a small flat in north London, which we have been mortgaging since 2009. We’ve discuss the option of also selling our flat and using the sale of the two house to buy one house in London, and my mum seems keen on the idea of us all living under one roof.  My mums house is currently valued at 400,000 and my partner’s place 300,000 but has about 85,000 left on the mortgage.     

It seems like a very complicated process, I've read a few posts about selling a property and also buying but I'm not too sure how it works where two are sold to buy one. Any thoughts on the process or experience in something similar would be appreciated, thanks.

_Penny_Dreadful

It’s the same process, you sell the two properties and buy a new home together. The tricky bit is lining up the completion dates. You mention that your partner owns a flat in North London yet you go on to say, “we have been mortgaging it,” so is the flat jointly owned or solely in your partner’s name? 

Things are much easier if there’s enough equity to buy the new home outright as tenants in common without a mortgage where your mother would own 65% of the new property and your partner/you would own the remaining 35%. If £615,000 isn’t enough to buy a new home and a mortgage is required to make up the shortfall that can become problematic. 

user1977

It's also easier if you don't need to simultaneously sell both properties - can you sell one first and move in together temporarily? Or even easier if you sell both and live somewhere else before buying.

propertyrental

Not clear where you are living. I'm guessing not in the flat which is mortgaged. Does anyone live there? Is it rented out or empty?

Best option is to evict any occupants of the flat and then sell it. Bank the cash. Don't forget you'll have 30 (?) days topay any Capital Gains Tax.....

Then you just have to line up sale of mum's house with purchase of the ew one, which is what 90% of people do.

On the other hand if you are living in the flat then you'll have to either align 2 sales with the purchase, or find somewhere temporary to live...

goater78

Are you an only child and sole heir? Hopefully not for a long time but at some point your mum will pass away and if you’ve got siblings they’ll likely own a percentage of your home. May become a bit messy. 

sizle101

_Penny_Dreadful said:

It’s the same process, you sell the two properties and buy a new home together. The tricky bit is lining up the completion dates. You mention that your partner owns a flat in North London yet you go on to say, “we have been mortgaging it,” so is the flat jointly owned or solely in your partner’s name? 

Things are much easier if there’s enough equity to buy the new home outright as tenants in common without a mortgage where your mother would own 65% of the new property and your partner/you would own the remaining 35%. If £615,000 isn’t enough to buy a new home and a mortgage is required to make up the shortfall that can become problematic. 

Hi, sorry, just to clarify, the flat is solely in her name.

sizle101

propertyrental said:

Not clear where you are living. I'm guessing not in the flat which is mortgaged. Does anyone live there? Is it rented out or empty?

Best option is to evict any occupants of the flat and then sell it. Bank the cash. Don't forget you'll have 30 (?) days topay any Capital Gains Tax.....

Then you just have to line up sale of mum's house with purchase of the ew one, which is what 90% of people do.

On the other hand if you are living in the flat then you'll have to either align 2 sales with the purchase, or find somewhere temporary to live...

Just to clarify, I'm living in the flat with my partner.

Alderbank

Mum selling up and moving into London closer to you sounds an excellent idea.

Moving in with you might be less so.

diystarter7

Hi OP

The staying together, joint ownership I guess sounds nice but via my work I've seen thigns go very sour quickly. Just a heads up for all of you and consider the waht if you split/etc/etc

The rental - at times if the T is longstanding and a good T, may work to your advantage to sell with sitting T as the new owner gets income straight way - we bought with a siting T and worked out ok . However, the EA's in that areas will give the best advice for the area if to sell empty or with a T.

Thanks

sizle101

Alderbank said:

Mum selling up and moving into London closer to you sounds an excellent idea.

Moving in with you might be less so.

We've all been giving it some serious thought, will aim for a three bedroom for our sanity,

sizle101

diystarter7 said:

Hi OP

The staying together, joint ownership I guess sounds nice but via my work I've seen thigns go very sour quickly. Just a heads up for all of you and consider the waht if you split/etc/etc

The rental - at times if the T is longstanding and a good T, may work to your advantage to sell with sitting T as the new owner gets income straight way - we bought with a siting T and worked out ok . However, the EA's in that areas will give the best advice for the area if to sell empty or with a T.

Thanks

Thanks for your input, have been considering all things, mainly if me and partner separate, I can't seperate from mum unless by nature.