Stuck on a mortgage

Sarahspangles

Could your son confirm what the house is like?

tightauldgit

Madball said:

tightauldgit said:

Umm if she has offered you the house for £4k (and you think that's a genuine offer) you get that documented by a solicitor, bite her hand off, then sell it.

£4k is a LOT less than it will cost you to force a sale through the courts and it'll be a lot quicker that way also. even if you then share the equity its still worth it. 

The issue I have is that I have no idea the state of the house, which could mean I could end up spending thousands more trying to get it to a sellable state, which is why I would rather just get my name off it or sold.

Yeah but you need to read your own posts! 

1. She's not able and not willing to take your name off the mortgage. Solution to that is to apply for an order which forces her to sell the house which may or may not get ordered, will take a year to sort and cost you more than £4k in all likelihood unless you do it all yourself. Then you are still going to have to spend money to get it sellable or sell it at whatever its worth in current condition  plus she can be obstructive in the sale while she is living there and tank your credit history in the meantime

2. Or if you want her to sell it. Solution to that is to apply for an order which forces her to sell the house which may or may not get ordered, will take a year to sort and cost you more than £4k in all likelihood unless you do it all yourself. Then you are still going to have to spend money to get it sellable or sell it at whatever its worth in current condition  plus she can be obstructive in the sale while she is living there and tank your credit history in the meantime

3. Or you give her £4k, get her the hell out of there and sort out the mess yourself before it destroys your credit history and your sanity. 

Sarahspangles

tightauldgit said:

3. Or you give her £4k, get her the hell out of there and sort out the mess yourself before it destroys your credit history and your sanity. 

Or you tell her that you don’t have £4k but there is equity in the house and she can have it all, less selling costs, if she cooperates with selling it.

Because if you give her £4k she’s going nowhere, you’re just sending good money after bad. 

tightauldgit

Sarahspangles said:

tightauldgit said:

3. Or you give her £4k, get her the hell out of there and sort out the mess yourself before it destroys your credit history and your sanity. 

Or you tell her that you don’t have £4k but there is equity in the house and she can have it all, less selling costs, if she cooperates with selling it.

Because if you give her £4k she’s going nowhere, you’re just sending good money after bad. 

Well obviously she wouldn't get the £4k till she moves out. Which is why I said if he thinks its a genuine offer (and only the OP would really be in a position to know) then get it written up by a solicitor and done formally. I share your scepticism that it's a genuine offer but if it is one then it's a no-brainer.

The OP has said that for whatever reason she doesn't want to sell the house and won't engage with him on the topic. 

I suspect what will happen in reality (as seems to be the case with most people who want to save money by not employing solicitors or going to court) that it will just rumble on as a bone of contention until a crisis occurs.  

MattMattMattUK

Engage a solicitor, force a sale, get 50% or more of the equity, have money to move on with life. She is trying to screw you, she is doing it deliberately, stand up for yourself. 

Annisele

Madball said:

The issue I have is that I have no idea the state of the house, which could mean I could end up spending thousands more trying to get it to a sellable state, which is why I would rather just get my name off it or sold.

I'd be astonished if the house isn't already in a sellable state. It might not be in a mortgageable state - but if she's living in it, there's at least a chance that it is. So you might not even need a cash buyer.

People will buy houses in pretty much any state. Some people want beautifully refurbished properties that they can move straight into, whereas others are actually looking for run down places that they can do up and make a profit. Unless you have experience with property development / some reason to think you'd do a better job than that latter group of people, you're likely better off selling to one of them rather than taking on the costs and risks of a development project yourself.