Feeling trapped

[Donlousan]

Hi guys, as a reader of this forum for a while now I can't thank you all enough for the invaluable advice and assistance given to members which in turn helps others. Even the Brexit thread has its entertaining moments 

We have made the decision to go back to the UK after 6 years in Perth. My 18 year old is already there staying with grandparents having finished year 12 here and has now started college. Thankfully the college accepted him as a non fee paying student. Our house has been on the market since July with not a lot of interest. The market is dire although high end houses are selling, go figure.

After speaking with a mortgage retention officer at the bank who said we should be able to move to an interest only loan, we made the decision to rent the house out for a year, started the ball rolling and both gave notice on our jobs. It would be tight financially but doable. The broker section of the bank have now told us that we can't move to interest only which means that it is no longer financially viable for us to rent the house out. 

So we have 3 weeks notice left to work, a house we can't sell or afford to rent out and I can't see a way out. I am so stressed and have no idea what to do. Fire sale the house and cut our losses seems the only way out but even then no guarantees that it will sell. 

I'm not expecting someone to come up with a miracle answer, just thank you for listening if you take the time to read. I'm off to bingo with friends tonight. Not sure the $500 jackpot will go far even if I was lucky enough to win it ??

[Guest241083]

.........have you time to approach another lender?

.........the best of luck with your plans

.........and good luck with the bingo!

[Wa7]

I assume you are still living in the house?

How would you feel about renting a room out ?

Depending on your location etc you could get between $120 - $160 ish a week           ( $600 month ish ) per room.

Not ideal but if your desperate....................

Edited October 14, 2017 by Wa7

[VERYSTORMY]

First don't panic. Life is never as dire as it seems. 

We were in a similar position last year. We owned a house in Mandurah and we're moving back and couldn't pay the mortgage anymore. 

We spoke to the bank and told them the situation and put it on the market and made the move. We ended up accepting an offer for less than the mortgage but had mortgage insurance which covered it. It was sold after we made the move and it just meant a trip to London to get documents stamped at Australia house. 

[Beckfield]

 

Wow you have a lot on your plate.  The situation will change and everything passes, as we all know, but your stress levels are something you can control and I really think you need to do a 10 minute relaxation each day, - relaxing music, sink into comfy chair and focus on breathing slowly in and out.  YouTube Bill Douglas Peace As a Running Wave to You - marvelous for relaxation.  Your dilemma will change and it will all work out.  It's just hard at the moment but that will pass...  promise!   I wish you all the best. xx 

[Donlousan]

Thank you for your kind words. Never thought it would be this hard. Don't think we can remortgage to another lender as we have served notice on our jobs already and a broker has told me they do an employment check. We've dropped the asking price of the house to try to get more people interested. If nothing else the exchange rate from $ to £ isn't too bad just now.

Didn't expect everything to fall into place, no one is that lucky. My mum always says what's for you won't go by you and I keep telling myself that. Sadly my luck didn't change at bingo but there's always lotto right ??.

 

[Elljane]

Sorry to hear you are having such a hard time. If you have to resort to renting out a room, you might be better off with an overseas student boarder. There's an organisation that guarantee you rent every week and the students are usually at University all day,plus you have a signed contract agreement of how many months you rent to them. If you do rent out a room you might have to go through a real estate so the boarder has a lease agreement, it's all a bit tricky because a boarder could rip you off, steal, bring home painful friends etc which is why I suggest a contract, but if you have a contact and the boarder is a complete pain, you will have drama kicking them out! Is there any way you can undo your notices to leave your jobs? Things usually sort themselves out in the end, good on you for retaining your sense of humor. Best of Luck 

 

[Phil & Vikki]

It sure does sound a bit of a mess at the moment, but like everyone has said, things will sort themselves out. There are just a few options here, with the main viable one going down the route that you have already started, dropping the price until someone snaps it up. This is not ideal by a long shot, but if it is the only way to shift it and allow you to move back to the UK without this hanging over your head.

 

We have a friend in the UK who has put his house on the market at what the agent said it is worth. Personally we think this is more than 50 - 70k above what it is worth. It has been on the market now for a few months and not even a sniff. He is thinking of taking it off the market now as it is not going anywhere. Agents will say it is worth x amount (as they want the most profit they can get), but at the end of the day a place or anything is only worth what people are prepared to pay. You may need to keep lowering it until you reach this amount.

 

The other option for a short term may be to go down the Airbnb route. This is not ideal but it may give you a bit more time to sell, while you are not here. From the sounds of it you will not be able to delay your leaving date. Good luck and please let us know how it all goes.

[Chortlepuss]

Would it be possible to remortgage the house once you have UK incomes? Not sure if you can get a mortgage in Australia based on UK income but may be worth a shot?