I need to downsize , but my equity is my home

Silvertabby

Are you sure that selling your house and buying something smaller/cheaper is really what you want?  You may find that you'd also have to move to a cheaper, less nice area, in order to be left with a decent sum of money after all the costs etc.

A family member moved to be nearer family and to release cash for a better retirement.  Old (mortgage free) house sold for £400K, new one cost £300K.  Nice amount left after fees etc.... except the 'new' house they thought only needed a lick of paint, needed new garage/front doors and windows, a lot of plastering, decorating, a new bathroom, a kitchen re-vamp, new carpets, new furniture to fit the smaller rooms..... still not finished, and their nest egg is getting smaller and smaller.

Would some form of equity release meet your needs?  I know the subject isn't popular on these boards, but it's only really a problem if you have children with expectations of a nice inheritance.

lookstraightahead

I think what you're saying is that you don't have enough money to start the ball rolling, only when you've sold? So things like searches, solicitors etc? 

Flugelhorn

lookstraightahead said:

I think what you're saying is that you don't have enough money to start the ball rolling, only when you've sold? So things like searches, solicitors etc? 

my parents didn't have much in the way of savings when they downsize in the 90s so I loaned them the money to pay the things upfront and solicitor paid me back out of the finds at completion

peterhjohnson

If by "downsizing" you mean moving to a cheaper house, then several posts above  describe the process nicely. If you happen to want a smaller but more expensive house, that may also be possible through Equity Release.

Nebulous2

We considered downsizing where we were, but found prices were really compressed and we were likely to lose a huge amount of amenity, for very little cash being freed up. 

We decided to move to a cheaper area instead, and bought a much cheaper property. 

We bought before we sold, by taking a mortgage on our original home, which was mortgage-free. 

You can only do that if you have income to afford the mortgage. 

If you don't you will need to sell first, or sell / buy simultaneously.