To consider selling my house and renting instead

[90sfilmsforever]

I've had a rough few years and I'm struggling to stay afloat financially as a single parent. Today I found out that my megalomanic boss isn't making my fixed term contract permanent, even though this was promised previously and I have worked my arse off to prove myself and had nothing but glowing feedback from my line manager.

I own my house with no mortgage but a small family loan on it that I pay back monthly. I've had a catalogue of disasters with plumbing and other house stuff in recent months that means I can't even afford to replace my only work shoes that fell apart two months ago. Since then I've been wearing a pair borrowed from my eldest that are too big for me. With necessary house repairs, a car disaster as well and the cost of living sky rocketing I've been in my overdraft for a good week before getting paid for the last few months, despite being in a professional salaried job. And now I find I'm going to be unemployed in less than 3 months.

I have no buffer or savings anymore due to afore mentioned disasters. There are no jobs in my field at the moment as due to the nature of my work they mainly come up at certain points in a year. I've been looking - just in case- since September and there have been two jobs. One I applied for and they withdrew due to covering the vacancy in house in the end. The other I applied for and heard nothing despite me always usually gaining an interview as my application is strong and I have lots of experience.

Would I be mad to sell up and rent to give me some breathing space, better job prospects than a small dead end town? I'd happily sell and relocate somewhere cheaper to buy but my daughter has to be within commuting distance of her dad and everywhere around here (south east) is so expensive to buy. Plus I'd have to pay back the family loan if I sold so that's already £50k I'm down. I have no real friends or ties where I am and we are both miserable. I love my little house but hate the town and the lack of prospects. Is it such a mad idea? In a few years my daughter will be at uni or old enough to decide where she lives irrespective of where her dad lives, so I/we could potentially relocate to a cheaper area then and still buy mortgage free with what's left, or with a better job I could get a mortgage in this area in the future. Am I mad??

Rent is astronomical at the moment. We are paying £2250 a month for a modestly sized 4 bed. Much more than most peoples mortgages and wipes us out almost every month!

Your DD is 14 if he takes you to court for a prohibitive steps order it will cost him a lot of money, your DDs wishes will be listened to.

It's highly unlikely he would win unless moving out of England or Wales.

Honestly move away.

I think you’d be insane. If you can’t get a credit card then how on earth do you think you’ll pass the credit checks to rent. And as for the idea of throwing away your equity paying said rent, I have no words!

Do everything you can to keep your house.

If your credit is that poor and you are unemployed or have only just started a new job, you won’t pass rental credit checks anyway.

I totally get where you're coming from but the rent on even a 2 up 2 down in my area (Kent) is stupid. Think nearly £1000 p/m. You won't be able to claim housing benefit to help you cover it as you'll be sitting on the equity of your house. Rentals are super competitive at the moment and unless you have the perfect set up (long term) you won't get a look in.

We live in a rented house. Securing it was a nightmare. To put it into perspective, when we were looking for a house in early 2019, there were 159 on the market within our parameters. When our old landlord decided to sell and we were looking again 18 months later there were 29 and costs had increased by circa £250 p/m. The market In our area hasn't changed since then.

Keep your house....work in a different field of necessary whilst you look for something better but keep your house!

He can threaten court but that doesn’t mean the court would do anything and your daughter is old enough to have a say in what happens to her now. There is a huge backlog in the courts at the moment too so it could take a while to get to court. I would look at moving out of the area somewhere cheaper rather than renting. The insecurity of renting would not do either of you any good. Rental properties are in short supply at the moment too. I really hope things improve for you.

Unfortunately despite everything DD still desperately wants to see him at the moment, she craves his attention, especially since he started a new family as she's so worried she's being replaced. It breaks my heart as he really plays on her emotions.

Her idea of moving area is to our nearest city which I could never afford 😅

If your house is all equity, can you downsize and buy something cheaper outright?

Personally I would --but then look at getting a new job and using some of the money made to buy a25% share on a shared ownership place - outright- so you don't need a mortgage- yes you will have a rent element still but fairly manageable and would be even less if you do a40/50%. It will give you security of tenure - but also spare cash and remove some of the issues around maintanance . It's pointless I feel to keep a place that you can't keep in decent condition.

Can you start looking for a job in a Supermarket etc, so at least in 3 months you can go straight into work and not have a month with no income. Do you mind saying what the loan repayment is per month?

I agree with everyone else - do everything in your power to keep your house. Rent out your room and share with Dd. Take on cleaning jobs - £15 -£20 cash in hand is pretty standard. Look at supply / tutoring as others have suggested. Could you ask your employer if there is scope to reconsider, even temporarily?
Review your electricity usage - do you have low cost bulbs in absolutely every light fitting? Are you actually using that amount of energy or is your energy company overcharging you on your direct debit?

I am confused - you need to stay in the area, but don’t want to be where you are?
uou have a house with a tiny loan on it and bad credit history so you won’t get a mortgage. There are no cheaper houses around.
if you sell your you won’t get back on the housing ladder - and your equity will be eaten up by rent. You won’t have anything left.
why don’t you either commute further to work, or take up some retail over Christmas?

I would do anything to keep your house, especially as you have done the repairs and its in in good condition with new kitchen and bathrooms and high end finishing. I totally understand wanting to keep your daughter near to her dad.

I dont understand the maths.

The house is in perfect condition but needs huge investment and repairs to the degree that it would literally bankrupt you to obtain

You earn about 25k as a qualified teacher in the south east, where teachers are in high demand but cant get good supply jobs that pay well, in fact you said they only just pay too much to get benefits?

I'm getting the feeling this might be a bad idea in the Mumsnet consensus. 😅

Honestly though, even if I can make it work financially to stay we hate the area and there are no prospects for me work wise. I can't afford to buy any other the towns locally as we live in the worst one with the lowest house prices!

Both of us are in a really bad place mentally at the moment. Dd is getting counselling, I can't afford any for me and the waiting list for nhs is insane. We really need a fresh start, even if it has to be in a commutable distance to her dad... but I just can't afford to buy anywhere, even a flat with what I'd get for my house minus the loan from my mum.

Contact Step Change for help with reducing your outgoings including the debt to your mum.

I feel like you’re only really answering the things you can reply in the negative with. There’s a lot of good advice on this thread for things you could try - look at benefits, make it work with a lodger for the sake of much needed income, find any job to see you through, etc etc.

We bought our first flat two years ago. I shudder now to think about how hard renting is for people, particularly with children. We have 3 young kids and there is nothing that would make me go back to renting, unless I had exhausted every avenue.

I can 100% understand your concerns. I'm a single parent with 3 children and am currently paying a mortgage on the further marital home. I need to get a few basic repairs done to the house but can't afford to at the moment after my car needed fixing and wiped it my small amount of savings, I can't even afford to get my boots rehealed or buy some new jeans which I desperately need and I'm having to sell a lot of stuff to fund Christmas. I could sell the house and rent but I know that rental prices are sky high at the moment and the equity would be used up within a few years, to rent my current house would cost me 3x my monthly mortgage payments!

I really think you shouldn't sell and rent. You are just throwing money away by doing that. Could you rent your house out and then rent a place for you and your daughter elsewhere/somewhere cheaper until she is at uni and then sell and relocate properly? If you sell now and rent you might find it very difficult to get back on the housing ladder in the future.

My 18 year old DS is also tutoring (French GCSE and A level) and making about £200 a week. He’s good at what he does but isn’t a qualified teacher like you - could this work for you? I know others have mentioned it already but it seems like it might provide a buffer? Try and hang on to your house. Renting isn’t stress free, has its own insecurities and it’s very expensive at the moment.

Sorry Op, I am not sure if anyone else has said but rental agencies tend to do credit checks before renting out a property, so that option may be a dead end for now with your credit history and no possible guarantor or employment.

Now is a hard time for a lot of people, so ring around who your bills are paid to and explain the situation, they may have something in place similar to covid, where they will reduce or freeze your payments for 3 months, try to reduce your outgoings as much as you can and pay your essentials like council tax, mums care, & food first. Any unemployment benefits will help towards these costs.
Also enquire about any extra money you are entitled to, eg energy payments

good luck and I hope you manage to sort something out that your happy with.
xx

Rent would be over £1000 a month - I reckon keep the house.

We both have OK jobs but live in permanent overdraft, I think you would be worse off. You will struggle to get a mortgage with no job.

If you can't even get a credit card there's almost no way you'd be able to rent.

Then why on earth would you move her into insecure housing where you could get turfed out any minute.

You need to breathe and look into benefits if the time comes. Start job hunting instead.

I can't get a loan - poor credit history linked to the relationship with my ex husband. I can't even get a credit card. Tried to get a secured loan for house repairs- the only one that would accept me had an apr of 68%!

Of course it would be absolutely insane to sell your home. With your dire credit rating you'd never find a rental.

You need to take a deep breath and start being logical. You're not thinking clearly right now and I fear you could make a knee jerk decision that you would deeply, deeply regret.

Honestly OP, a single adult family with no income and bad credit is not going to be accepted for a rental.

For every rental that goes on the market, there will be at least 20 people applying for it. Landlords can afford to be choosy, you won’t get a look in and I say that as a renter.