How "safe" are the cash-buyer businesses?

cymruchris

CARBr6 said:

cymruchris said:

CARBr6 said:

GDB2222 said:

You should get a much better price at auction than from one of the BIN companies.  

How far off completion is the extension? Is there a hole in the side of the house, for example, or is it liveable in?

It's watertight, upstairs is plastered, the large downstairs room is plasterboarded and needs UFH pipes installing and screed floor poured. The back section still needs boarding. Externally the finish brickwork is happening at the moment. No facias or soffit. So it's not livable, but with a cash injection and a number of bodies on site it wouldn't take long.

Have you spoken to a good estate agent to say 'what's it worth now' and 'what's it worth with all the basics complete'?

If the difference is more than £20k and it would cost £5k to complete (just as an example).

Then a straightforward pragmatic conversation would be useful - yes we want this settled asap - we both want out - it's what's best for both of us - but realistically if we get this work done - it'll mean £x more in our pockets to start our new lives. As much as we want everything settled like yesterday - can we work a way through this to get to a conclusion as quickly as possible to both of our benefits?

We just don't have the money to finish it, our financial circumstances are now very different so we don't have what a bank would want to be willing to lend us more against it, and me to finish it on my own would take far too long.

The other issue is that I am the one ending, she is very much not on hoard with the separation, at least not yet.

Back to my previous post - how much is it worth now - how much when complete - a good estate agent would give you at least a strong indication.

If, as you mention there's equity in the house - have you looked at taking a short term loan secured against the property - get the proper builders in right away to finish at speed to a minimum standard for selling - get it settled and sold paying off the mortgage and the secured loan - it'll cost you interest - but in the timescales it could still be beneficial depending on the answer to my question above. (And not by doing it yourself over months and months.)

It feels a little like the only answer you want is how to get out in the next 60 seconds - and while I can understand the feeling and need to do this - sometimes you have to take a step back and analyse what works best financially.

If nothing will persuade you to at least explore the option of completing and then selling, and how you might best achieve that - then auction it - cut your losses and run. (But don't then feel regret later when you sit and think 'if only I'd done that I'd have another £xk in my pocket)

Maybe money doesn't worry you, and you just want out.

CARBr6

I do see that point.
I didn't consider a secured loan, that might be workable. Thanks.
Next door sold about 2 years ago for £600k, our property is a similar arrangement but slightly larger with the extension. So I would estimate a similar price,  our mortgage and current other debts would mean we need to cover £220k to come away in the black.
I would cautiously estimate that at present it's worth £350-£400k, realistically to a buyer who has to complete the work.
The existing house is in a livable state (we have been living here throughout the build)

So, perhaps a secured loan would mean being able to finish off with builders in a month or so.

I'll look into both options as, if the relationship deteriorates then may need to go the quicker auction route.

GDB2222

Are you saying that the cost of finishing the project is around £200k?

CARBr6

No, absolutely not, £30k maybe including labour. £10-£15k without

CARBr6

Screed, plaster and paint, then 2nd fix electrical.
Bathroom fixtures and fittings x 2, wardrobes etc. Kitchen and fittings.
That's interior finished.

silvercar

CARBr6 said:

I do see that point.
I didn't consider a secured loan, that might be workable. Thanks.
Next door sold about 2 years ago for £600k, our property is a similar arrangement but slightly larger with the extension. So I would estimate a similar price,  our mortgage and current other debts would mean we need to cover £220k to come away in the black.
I would cautiously estimate that at present it's worth £350-£400k, realistically to a buyer who has to complete the work.
The existing house is in a livable state (we have been living here throughout the build)

So, perhaps a secured loan would mean being able to finish off with builders in a month or so.

I'll look into both options as, if the relationship deteriorates then may need to go the quicker auction route.

Present valuation of 350-400 plus 30k to finish = 600k! 

If that is true then buyers should be biting your hand off.

cymruchris

CARBr6 said:

Screed, plaster and paint, then 2nd fix electrical.
Bathroom fixtures and fittings x 2, wardrobes etc. Kitchen and fittings.
That's interior finished.

And if you're doing it to sell - then as much as it's nice to have 'nice' fittings - I'm sure you can chop the costs by fitting something that looks ok, and because it's shiny and new will help sell, without necessarily putting in the original spec that you would have chosen to have lasted a long, long time. Whereby you were going to put in X,Y and Z - see if there's a way you can get it with just X or X and half a Y to get it up to a standard that it looks good enough to sell rather than your own long term spec.

For £30k to get it done for the difference of £400k to £600k - you'd be daft to just auction and run away financially - but you're the one that has to manage the situation on a personal level to get through it to conclusion as quickly as you can.

mi-key

If it only needs £30K and not too much time to get it finished, and it would add £200K £250K to the value of the house then you would definitely be better off  finishing it ( and i think mad to sell it at auction just to get rid of it quickly ).

Even valuing it at £400K ( and personally I think that is very conservative ), you have a couple of hundred thousand equity in the house at present, so it should be easy to get a secured loan against it. You may have to go to one of the lenders who charge high interest on it, but then you can pay it off in full when the house sells.

Try not to let your heart rule your decisions at the moment. I know splitting up with someone, even when you decide to do it, is very emotional, but you need to think with your head and look out for your future.

It's quite possible you could get it finished, sell via a normal route, pay off the mortgage and debts and have enough left to buy yourself somewhere else, either outright or with a small mortgage, which will then make your life much easier in the future. 

GDB2222

CARBr6 said:

No, absolutely not, £30k maybe including labour. £10-£15k without

It does sound like you are disheartened.

If you’re fitting the work in around your day job, I can well imagine that you would find it an enormous burden. Particularly, if you’re perhaps not getting the support you deserve from your OH. 

Really, the question you should address is how to fund getting a building firm in to finish the job. You seem to have loads of equity. Why not see a mortgage broker to discuss it?

RAS

Yes. Just get basic bathrooms, the new owners will rip them out anyway, and don't bother with the wardrobes.

Ditto, no point in a £15+k kitchen and brand spanking top range appliances. You might even pick up some "pre-loved"?