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??

First of all, don't sell!

There are more cons than pros for this decision. You said that you have a bad credit history and couldn't even get a loan for repairs. Will be very hard for you to buy a house again with this kind of credit history. For now you have a roof over your head even if you are cold and hungry. You don't have to worry about rent or mortgage.

I would also not recommend to get a mortgage as the interests rate are going up and it will be hard to pay off. And you will be putting a secure property under risk by taking a loan on it. You can always sell in a few years time once your daughter is older and you can move to a cheaper and better place.

You say that you are a specialist teacher. Have you considered tutoring online for your subject? See if you can find any online jobs with academies or on tutoring websites. You can also check if there are tutoring centres that are in need of someone with your specialities. That would bring in some income.

Also see if you can apply for any benefits. In your situation when you loose your job you can apply for UC within 7 days of when you job will end, although bear in mind that it takes 5-7 weeks for the first payment. You can also see if you are eligible for any grants.

www.turn2us.org.uk/Get-Support
www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en

Alternatively call money helper or Citizens Advice to get advice on how to deal with this situation.

Best of luck.

What subject do you teach? Primary or Secondary?

Re: counselling for yourself, as a teacher you should be able to access the employee assistance programme 08000 562 561 it’s confidential.
re: housing, renting is very unstable I’d hang on to your home by any means.
good luck

You want permission to run away.

No. If your Dd's health is so bad that she must have her own room and can't be unsupervised for a few hours in the evening, renting in this climate is a really bad idea.

Give up your room and get a lodger. Look at online tutoring, book keeping, copywriting, proofreading... there's a huge appetite out there for online services aside from teaching. Ditto if there's no supply teachers, look at admin or hospital staffing. There will be something.

Focus on getting your credit score up and look again at your energy bills. Mine is £230 a month and I live in a much bigger place with a husband & 2 kids. Are you using a tumble dryer constantly? Is the boiler on all day for water? Is your house insulated?

Long term, yes you can sell up and move to another (bought) property away from the SE. But plan it properly - have funds or a credit card in place for the expenses and expect it to take longer than it should. 3 mo ths would be pushing it and you don't have the cash for an upfront rental deposit or solicitors fees.

Would you consider a career change, I ran my own business which failed during Covid, I then changed my career and now work in tech and it’s much better paid, although I was made redundant by the first employer and I walked into my current job straight away with many offers from other companies.

Maybe explore other career options that are better paid and are high in demand - but that’s more for the longer term, so that you won’t feel stuck in your life, better financial security will also improve you and your daughter’s mental health as your quality of life improves.

I agree with Step Change btw, suggested by pp, because you have to reduce your outgoings somehow.

Also go on National debt line website. They have a budget calculator. Fill it and print it out. Send it with a letter to all your creditors explaining that you cannot afford to continue making payments as per the budget sheet and if they accept a token offer of £1 till your financial situation gets better. National Debt line have sample letters to choose from. If you go to citizens advice they can also help you apply for breathing space for three months so that you can get some time to sort out your finances.

nationaldebtline.org/

I proofread and edit on a freelance basis. I charge about £35 - 50 ph, and work a couple of days and a few evenings per week. I usually make around £1000 - £1400 per month. There's a ton of work out there for a native English speaking teacher.

My house is worth 270k based on estate agents valuation- they were spot on with the valuation on my last house and sold it for exactly what they had valued it for within days of it going on the market.

So pay back the 50k loan and I'm left with 220k less fees etc.

I know in another part of the country I could buy a lot for far less than this but even flats in the nearest ( slightly better for jobs) towns are 300k up now

How do you get freelance work? I'm very good at editing! Perk of a huge marking workload 😂

Have you checked you aren’t entitled to tax credits or other benefits of any kind?

Don't rent. Too easy to end up homeless

@90sfilmsforever your ex won’t take you to court. Don’t rent; maybe go somewhere else for that fresh start, otherwise stay where you are. Look into him paying regular maintenance, this all sounds very unfair. But also there is other work available.

Have you tried contacting your union for assistance/ advice re your position regarding fixed term contract? Also unison has loads of advice

www.unison.org.uk/get-help/services-support/there-for-you/

This website also does financial grants for education staff no harm in seeing if you fit the criteria

www.educationsupport.org.uk/get-help/help-for-you/financial-support/

good luck in find both mental and financial stability.

Also the school I work at is desperate for cover! What about looking for maternity contracts?

its such a risk i understand you need money but what happens when you want to buy again and just cant afford it anymore

im not even sure if landlords still do credit checks probably even if you pay up front

so yu could end up beng homless because noone will rent to you

Owning a property is the only secure roof over your head. You'd be crazy to give it up.

If you sell the property , your cash assets will block access to benefits. You won't be entitled to UC.

I was in the same position. I'd lay in bed at night scared what disaster would be next. The house sucked money up and it never ended. I was a single mom scared to death stressed beyond belief. Everyone said you can't sell its your childhood home. I sold that house in April and the stress it removed is amazing. Sell it!

There are loads of online teaching posts -

Some international schools have full time teachers - my friend looked into this a few months ago.

Easy work at home - good pay.

If you sell and move to a cheaper area, you likely are moving to an area with fewer earning opportunities, perhaps more crime/social problems, lower appreciation of housing values.

Cling to what you have now and figure out some way to generate more cash. If you are in a tourist area, can you fix up your room as an AirBnB? Bunk in with your daughter if you have guests.

As I wrote on a previous thread, I pay nearly 100 a night for pet sitting. Are you in a position to take in small/medium dogs while their owners are on holiday? Or do drop-in pet sitting around your area?

Good luck. I know it's a horrid position now but when people liquidate their equity they also tend to fritter it,and once it's gone you are in a VERY precarious position.

Are you getting all the benefits and child maintenance you are entitled to?

Would you mother forgive the loan? Or allow you to pause repayment?

If you live in a touristy area, could you maybe supplement your income by putting your room on Airbnb? You could make it available only on the nights your daughter is at her dads and you could stay in her room, or else rent the house out completely if you had somewhere you could also stay?

Maybe not a long term solution, just an idea that might help tide you over!

Sell up and buy a one bed flat give your dd the bedroom. In a few years she will likely move out anyway. It will ge much cheaper to maintain and for bills.

I know it's been mentioned but do consider online tutoring. You could even work self employed. I teach using Google Classroom and it's very straightforward.
Good luck

@90sfilmsforever IDK if this will help, but there are schemes where you part buy and part rent. If you know where you want to live, you can search for a property, its more secure than private renting;
movingsoon.co.uk/shared-ownership-part-buy-part-rent/

Keep your property

Frankly I'd decide which area you want to move to that will give you good prospects for employment, affordable housing and then sell up in order to buy another property outright in the new area.

Your ex screwed you over financially and hardly contributes any CM, he is flaky about seeing your DD and both of you are miserable living in your current area. So just take that leap and move away for your financial and mental well-being. But, don't rent, buy in the new area, renting would be a crazy idea when you own your own home.