Will we be able to get a mortgage at all???

[DopeyDawg]

Cant seem to get any Indy Mortgage people to call me back so am asking here.

We want to buy a house. It is a Repossession.
Bank wants oiro £107.5K
We would initially offer £100K
(it last sold in 2007 at top of market for £160K).

We have low deposit of £10K so would need a mortgage of around 90K or 90% over 18 years as H is 49. We are not first time buyers. We have no history of poor credit.

Income: H: 26K gross. Me: just DLA and child benefit so around £700 pm.

We have 2 kids - 10 and 7.
also £10K on credit cards (int free atm).

Do we have a chance, do you think?
Will the credit card debt scupper us?
Can we not mention it, or would that be very stupid indeed?

thanks, if anyone can offer advice?

I currently have £136K outstanding on a £200K value house (surveyor valuation) which I expect would actually sell for around £175-185K.

I am considering selling it for £150K to a 'we buy any house' company as I am desperate to move and the market is slow around here.
There could be more equity but I am looking at worst case scenario.

My whole aim is to drastically reduce debt - mortgage, pay of credit cards, have £10K in bank and live to budget.

I would have a chance if I could afford to take time selling house but I cant, for health reasons, and financially it is very hard too.

I will call current mortgage provider and Which today.

thanks to all for good advice

Ah ok that changes things completely then. The bank would actually be more exposed in your new scenario.

You'd be better of scrapping the plan to have £10k sitting in the bank (pointless anyway with interest rates the way they are) and instead put £20k into the house.

Atticus - yes take your points completely.
However, having experienced being unable to work and benefits slowly being taken away from me whilst I wait for operations, I would never not want to 'have 10K in bank' again.

oP, I can understand your desire for a safety net but £10k in the bank when you have a debt of £10k is going to massively hinder your need to move.

If you used the savings to pay off the debt you'd be in a stronger position to try and get a mortgage- as it stands you have pretty much no chance of getting a £90k mortgage so you would have to look at renting if you can't stay where you are.

Presumably as you can't work and your benefits have dropped, although it's bad, it can't get much worse- £10k is a big 'just in case' buffer.

You could build your savings pot up again once you've moved knowing, if things got really bad (and its a long way from ideal), you'd have a virtual safety net in the form of the credit cards (which would have a zero balance but a £10k limit)

Meant to add, have you actually put your house on the market?

You are looking a taking a massive hit on selling your property for £150k- who says the market is slow round you?

You only need 1 person to like it.

I'd advertise it and see what happens first- anything over £150k is going to benefit you.

These quick house buyers know they'd sell it for more than that or they wouldn't offer you that price- they don't plan on keeping the house.

Bear - yes, they will sell it on I know.

yes market is very slow.
I know others in village with similar houses in better condition who have had 3 viewings in 12 months.
this is a 4 bed detached period house in fair condition.
it is enough to make you weep.
but the situation is what it is.

but I struggle to get up the stairs now and my kids are miserable in school too. I HAVE to go.

dopey, I don't know who to suggest but you really need to take advice on your options as the money you'd be giving away in the short term will likely make a big difference in the long term.

I'm guessing your kids being unhappy in school is not related to your disability so that might not change even if you do move.

Can you 'live' downstairs in the short term?

Hi. one child has an issue which is not being helped here and that and my health is inter-related.
yes, 'giving away' potential money is crazy when we have none anyway but I HAVE to go.

Just called re mortgages though - bad news.

Without the 10K credit card debt it would be upto £123K
With it, it is: £55K

I feel despairing now.

My only hope would be to sell for enough to allow me to pay off the cards so I can get a half decent mortgage.
I'd need around £80/90K on a purchase of £110 which wouldn't be a problem, apparently.

DH is a high earner and we had to clear all debt before our remortgage was agreed so going in with a 10k debt will be against you.

Your best bet is to see a mortgage advisor.

They will just do a credit search on you so you can't hide the debt.

If I were you, I'd put your house on the market for a price lower than any competitors but higher than the we buy any house company. Any house will sell if it's priced right. Or look for an auction to put it in, again with a reserve higher than the company have offered you. Then take the equity, pay off the credit cards and live in rental for six months. You will then have a deposit, no debt and three months of affordable expenditure to show.

Ok all this addition information completly changes the situation.

Has an occupational therapist been out to view you home? It is their responsibility to arrange adaptations to allow you to stay at home.

Moving house is very expensive, if at all possible look at ways to stay where you are. Have you had an estimate for a stairlift? Is there a downstairs space you could use as a bedroom?

If you have social work/GP/OT assess that your home is unsuitable due to your disability then you should be a very high priority for a council or housing association home. Have you made any enquires about that?

Are you having any help from your council's adults with disabilities team? Have you had a community care assessment? What help are you getting with your care needs?

Avoid those quick house sale companies if at all possible. You would be throwing away £££££. Is your house on the market now? If not get it out there and see how it goes? If you need to spend a bit on some diy or putting excess clutter in storage then do that.

Are you getting any tax credits? Have you been reassessed since you got your dla? There is a disability element to tax credits but I don't know if that would apply as you're not the one working.

Sorry you're in this situation, it sounds very stressful.

But even then you may well have to choose between buying a house and having money in the bank, you may not be in a position to do both.

That was the kind of advice I was thinking of- nice one jackie

dopey I know it must be a nightmare now but selling to a quick house sale company really has to be your very last resort.

2 other options

rent the house and rent somewhere else, at least temporarily

Property auction

No help with care needs.
H does what he can when he isn't at work.
No disability element to tax credits as I don't work atm.
In fact we were wrongly paid too much by them over this and are having to 'pay it back; out of our current tax credits.
Disability team came out 7 years ago.
Mobility probs not expected to last.
There is 'nothing they can do' I have been told as I manage to walk the children to school (hobble with my stick) so my mobility needs are not bad enough. Cant drive them anymore as had to sell the car.
My Operation is not even in sight yet and it is not a cure all for everyone anyway.

HAVE to move for my sake and kids.

Looked into local agents - they wanted between £1800 and £3K to go on the market! In Scotland so have to have a £600 Home Report too.

Really stuck.

If in Scotland you can put it on s1homes yourself. Take nice photos, measure rooms. Copy estate agent speak to create a blurb. Put an ad in local paper. Put a sign in your window if you have passing traffic.

If you've not been assessed for 7 years you are due a new assessment. Policies have changed a lot recently.

Are you on a waiting list for op? Is your GP any good? Can they help hurry things up?

If your home is really unsuitable for your needs you may be classed as homeless which will give you the highest priority for rehousing.

Honestly trying to source private accommodation for someone with a disability is notoriously difficult, both practically and financially. Most people end up selling up and going into the social rented sector. You aren't excluded from this by already owning a house, despite some people thinking so.

I'd also go to your Citizens advice and check you're getting everything you're entitled to and that you're not paying back your overpayment too quickly.

THANK YOU Jackie

GP not able to help. Hospital have decided 'not enough evidence' Op will help and delayed nearly 15months now. Now decided 'maybe' but after extensive further tests. They've taken me off waiting list meantime. It stinks. My ESA ran out last Sept so using DLA for food. Not enough income though Govt says too much for me to keep getting ESA. Sorry, I am bitter.

I could make a good Ad for S1 homes. I'd love to get it on Zoopla and stuff too?

The cheap(ish) house I want to buy is already converted for a disabled person, that is what is SO frustrating.

I did get a call via Gumtree today so you never know!

Dawg - what part of Scotland are you in? There's a brand new scheme just launched by the Scottish Government called Help to Adapt, piloting in a number of LAs, which assists older and disabled homeowners to borrow based on any equity in their property to make adaptations which allow them to remain in their current homes.

Comtesse - I will pm you.

.x.

There are also shared ownership scenes all over Scotland which sometimes have disability adapted units. Although they are often only 2 bedrooms (don't even get me started on planners assuming disabled people don't have DCs!) would it be possible for your DCs to share? A good thing about these is that they tend to be quite big so you might be able to use a big kitchen as a kitchen/living room, creating 3 bedrooms.

You should be able to find out about new developments online.

Hi. kids are boy, girl, 10 and 8 so not good for sharing. also one of them on Spectrum so sharing a no no.

Thanks for all good ideas though.
Want to do everything I can to get out of this hellish situation.

I spoke to a mortgage company.

They said it might be possible, should I sell my house for enough, to get a modest mortgage with the condition the credit cards are paid off (which is my first plan after selling house if I get that lucky).

They want me to fill out a detailed list of outgoings.
Obviously I will be honest as:
A. no point not being as mortgage on false info could be withdrawn
B. wouldn't want to get into trouble for being dishonest.

Some of the items though we genuinely spend nothing or very very little.
ie holidays - er, no. Well, last year about £60 in campsite fees. Clothing: £20 pm average for all of us I should think (charity shops and Asda sale stuff). Will they accept this or will they think I am having them on?
The guy was sceptical about childcare costs being zero, even though I explained I'm a SAHM due to health issues.

Prob not an option but need to fill this form out to find out and anxious not to 'muck it up'.

Hi Dopey

Yes it's fine to be honest even if some come out as zero or very low. Some of our outgoings were v.low or zero when we took out our mortgage last year (we put zero for childcare as like you I am a sahm). As long as your bank statements back up what you've said you'll be fine. eg. you can't say your clothes spend is nil if you have £100 a month showing for River Island on your bank statement for example.

I'm not sure if by mortgage company you mean broker or not? I'd second whoever above said they recommend London & Country. The chap we spoke to knew which lenders were the fussy ones for different things, we moved just after the mortgage market review last spring (when lender's suddenly had to be more careful about checking affordability) and he discounted a fair few lenders straight away as we are a one-income family as he said they would be twitchy about our ltv ratio. The lender he did recommend was fine, it all went through just like he said it would.

Good luck with it all, it sounds very stressful.

Thanks, Teal

It's hard as we probably spend WAY less on clothes and days out than most yet, if they are going to check it against bank statements it wont add up? eg I have put £40pcm on ave for clothes (asda and charity shops). Yet last month I spent £45 each on good winter boots for ds. It also looks as though we 'should' have about £300 LEFT each month - ha! ha! that gets eaten up by food / petrol being a bit extra / birthday's / school trips / Xmas / fridge blows up / bit falls off car - there is always something to eat up the money.

Will call London and Country, thanks.

One last Qu - we are finding out if we are 'mortgage-able' (and how much) before we have gone on market (no point going on if cant get a mortgage). It wont affect our credit rating doing it this way round, will it?