Selling my house to buy myself a flat and one for my son

Sammybucca

Hi own my house outright mortgage paid off. What is the best option for me, I want to sell my house and buy a flat for myself and a flat for my son who will be a first time buyer. Can you please give me some advice on what is the best way to do this.

El_Torro

Find an estate agent and take it from there? If you clarify what advice you're looking for that would help.

Are you gifting the money to your son so he can buy a flat himself?

Keep_pedalling

Will you be gifting part of the proceeds of the sale to your son so he can buy in his own name or are you planning to buy two properties in your own? The latter will be more costly tax wise.

Sammybucca

I will be giving my son half of the proceeds to buy his first flat. Just wanted some advice on the best way to do it

mta999

Sounds fairly straightforward - put your house on the market and both of you start looking for flats

There may obviously be timing issues the hopefully it will all work out

elsien

which aspect of it are you wanting advice about?

The finances or the practicalities. If it’s the money side, what are you worried about?

eddddy

Sammybucca said

Hi own my house outright mortgage paid off. What is the best option for me, I want to sell my house and buy a flat for myself and a flat for my son who will be a first time buyer. Can you please give me some advice on what is the best way to do this.

There's nothing special or complex that you have to do.

• You sell your house and buy a flat in the usual way

• Then you transfer the remaining half of of the money from your bank account to your son's bank account, and your son can then use the money to buy a flat

When your son buys his flat, his solicitor will need to do "Anti Money Laundering" checks (e.g to make sure the money he has isn't stolen). So your son's solicitor will probably want to see your bank statements, and proof that the money came from selling your house. But that shouldn't be a big deal.

thegreenone

If your son uses the same solicitor, it might make things easier re AML checks as all the money will be going through them.

horsewithnoname

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81903878#Comment_81903878

definitely. I did a similar thing and using the same solicitor made it much easier

EssexHebridean

You also need to check what the impact could be if something was to happen to you in the next few years, OR if you were unexpectedly to find yourself needing care in that timescale. Trying to help your son like this is a lovely thing to be able to do, but you both need to be fully aware of the "what if the worst happens" implications.

theartfullodger

You will presumably be buying for cash so could do it very quickly. Some people may seriously want a quick sale so you might be able to negotiate a discount.

I bought for cash twice and got significantly reduced prices.

Mind you whilst I helped my 3 sons buy there was no way I'd give them the whole price. IMHO the wrong message, but other views held.

Good luck to you both