Housing / Accommodation Advice

[answerbanker]

I am mid 50's (so too old for a mortgage now), working full time, live alone and renting a 2 bedroomed house. My father passed away this year and I inherited his 3 bed house. I dont want to move into it for various reasons and have a tenant in there at present as houses in the area are not selling at present. It is worth about £89000.
I have just found out that I might have to vacate my house soon and will need to find somewhere else to live. I wondered if there are any schemes whereby I could part exchange my house for a smaller one to buy or rent.
Anyone got any ideas ?? thank you very much

[annie0000]

You won't necessarily be too old for a Mortgage - just depends on how much you want and for how long and whether you can afford the repayments.

If you google shared equity and the area you are interested in living, it may come up with something (shared equity is wher you buy a proprtion of the house and rent the rest) - without knowing where you want to live there is nothing in particular I could suggest. Also if you look at the websites for new build in the area it should tell you whether there are any where they are offering part exchange - I would say that theses are usually only offered where people want to move to a more expensive property - they aren't usually interested in people downscaling.

[Maydup]

I can understand you not wanting to live in the house AB, but it would be worth thinking about using the capital value to secure your own furture rather than paying it over to someone else in the form of rent.

Be bold and sell it. Put the money into a small place of your choice and if needbe, get a mortgage for 5 or 10 years to top up. Then you'll be rent free by the time you retire, if not before.

Sorry to hear about your Dad, I do hope 2013 is a good year for you.

[answerbanker]

Aaah - thank you for your kind comments Maid up - and for your help Annie ! I live in the West Midlands and was hoping not to have to take on a mortgage but I suppose it might be wise ........

[ladybird49]

Maybe get planning permission to convert your dads house into 2 flats? youl own it and get rent paid to you , thats if you have the money to do so

[annie0000]

Would the rent on your Dad's house cover a mortgage on that and thereby release funds for you to buy something else?

[answerbanker]

Its a mid terrace house - not really big enough to split and the tenant I have in it at pressent has only been in a few months (6 month exit clause for me) and is already a nightmare ! :( I am using a letting agent

[annie0000]

They'd probably give you 80% of the value or maybe more on a buy to let mortgage.

That would give you about 72k to spend

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E61378&maxPrice=80000&partBuyPartRent=true

[EDDIE51]

I would give the tenant notice to quit as you need the house yourself, then move in. As has been said no point in throwing money away by paying rent to someone else if you have a place of your own. If the house is too big consider letting one of the bedrooms. That could give you an income as well as being rent free.

[answerbanker]

thankyou for going to so much trouble - its a bit scary when you are on your own ! :(

[answerbanker]

Yes Eddie - that is the most sensible answer but I have never liked the house, the area or the neighbours so it would really have to be a very last resort ........ :(

[Maydup]

6 months from now is only July ABer. If you were to give the notice now it would offer you time to put it on the market and start to look for something for yourself. In the meantime you have notice on the place you're in. Is that 6 months too? If not and you need somewhere to live while its all in termoil, then see if you can get a short term let via your letting agency.

It'll be a big project but if you take one stage at a time you will succeed. By the summer you could have your ideal place in sight, and own it outright.

[annie0000]

In that case, I would definitely look at taking as much money out of the property that the rent will cover, but not so much that you wouldn't be able to pay it yourself if you found yourself without a tenant for a couple of months. Use that to either buy or part buy something more suited.

I'd also get the letting agent to get the problem sorted with the tenant - you need to be firm with them - you are paying them so that you don't have any hassle.

[ladybird49]

Sell and move then if you can , good luck in whatever you decide x

[annie0000]

best answer is as maid up says, get rid of the tenant and sell up but if the market wont support that then my option would maybe be the next best.

[answerbanker]

Ive just looked online at houses for sale in the area of dads house and nothing has sold since last year so Im not optimistic about selling it quick - if at all :(

[Brinjal]

I would definitely give the tenant notice and move in even as a temporary measure until you sort out your way forward. It will give you time to sort your options.

[answerbanker]

Thankyou all for your advice
Ive slept on it and decided to move in my Dad's, do it up, and then (hopefully) sell it. Your advice was very useful and really helped me.
Now I just need advice on decorating !! LOL :)

Cheers everyone ! Have a great weeend !