Negative equity - but need to move

[Curlyshabtree]

I bought my 2 bed house in 2007, 100% mortgage. I completed on the day I went into prem labour with ds1 who sadly died 6 days later. We only planned one child hence we bought 2 beds. Fast forward 11 months and we welcome boy/girl twins. They have happily been sharing but as they approach 9 we really need to move to a 3 bed property. The house is still in negative equity, not by much. Anyone have any advice how to proceed? No spare cash around .

You will need to be able to cover the difference . I was in the same position a couple of years ago and had to borrow money to cover the 3.5k between selling price and the amount left on my mortgage.

Could you sleep in the living room on a pull out bed for a While and chuck all your spare cash at over paying the mortgage?

Then hopefully in a couple of years you will have made enough of a dent in it to move to a larger place.

Mmm we only have the one reception room do this isn't really a viable option. Plus DH works shifts...!
I guess I would need to work out how much I am short....

Why can you not put a sofa bed in the lounge and fold it up during the day........? Your OH could sleep in one of the kids beds when they r at school if he's working shifts.

I appreciate it's not ideal but it would only be temporary and at the moment it doesn't look like you can afford to move as you will need to clear the negative equity and raise a deposit.

Sadly the mortgage market has changed beyond all recognition in the last 10 years so now you would need a minimum of 5/10% deposit on the new place to move, in addition to paying moving fees and paying off negative equity .

Have you any idea how much this would be and how long it would take you to save it up? You say you have no spare cash - can you afford a bigger mortgage? Or is there a chance that you could move somewhere cheaper to get a bigger house for same/less money?

Have you done a ‘money makeover’? Look on the budgeting section of moneysavingexpert on budgeting and cutting back – can you reduce all your bills by a bit to free up extra money, reduce your food spend and any TV/broadband/mobile phone costs etc? Is there a chance that either of you can get more work? Are you claiming all the benefits that you are entitled to – tax credits etc?

Any chance of a loft conversion to make an extra bedroom – could you afford a personal loan to fund this?

It sounds like you are in a difficult situation and proves that house prices aren’t increasing in all parts of the country – people in London and the south east don’t always realise that in other parts of the country, prices are still around 2007 levels, give or take.