Hi All,
Any advice would be very much appreciated - my situation is complicated, and here's a potted history. I am British but have lived in Ireland for many years. In 2005 I bought a house in Ireland, on 1.6 acres of land. In the crash of 2008, my finances and work went belly up, and after a long, drawn out battle with the banks, they took me to court in 2014 to repossess the house as I could not pay the mortgage. I'd had enough, and agreed. I moved everything, knew I was facing financial ruin but anything better than facing the stress of dealing with banks, so I walked away from it, and moved into a tiny, rented studio apartment which is grotty but cheap. Anything but have the debt collectors breathing down my neck. I heard nothing more, until January 2018.
I got a phone call, form the bank in Ireland, asking if I wanted to negotiate. I'd been thinking about financial insolvency etc, and thought they'd contacted me about debt repayment after selling my house (it was in serious negative equity after the crash). But no, it turns out that due to a bank error, the house was never repossessed. It's still in my name, massively damaged, squatters etc (I got rid of them with help from neighbours and police). I went to see a PIP, who suggested that the best thing to do, is to offer to pay the bank off at the current value of the house (I and then the bank had it valued at €50K), that they'd be likely to accept this, and walk away, debt free, with damaged house etc, but end of story with bank.
In the meantime, during the dry weather, I had percolation tests done on the land (it's off grid so no sewage system), and land passed, meaning I now have a site with 3 potential sites on it that I can sell and will pass the tests required for new builds. The local auctioneer has valued these at 50K each and 65K for the site with the house, so actually, the land is now worth €165K, though the bank don't know this and I won't be telling them.
If I manage to raise €50K, I can pay off the bank and be done with them. I can then sell off one site of 0.5 acres at 50K, which could take up to a year to sell, and pay off any debt from a loan or cards. I'll still be left with my house, and another site to sell if needed to pay for repairs etc.
I am trying to raise 50K, or 40 sterling to do this through UK credit channels. I can raise €10K from my own funds, and am looking to borrow the rest, so probably £30K sterling.
In Ireland my credit rating is shot, but in the UK, I've been building up my rating, I'm on the electoral roll, I have one credit card with a limit of £3K (0% period is over though so can't use that) which I've been repaying regularly, and have just been approved for another one with a 0% rate for 36 months, with a limit of £4800. So I'm thinking I could raise the cash with cards, or try for a bank loan?
IF bank, should I go to my bank (Lloyds) and ask for a home improvement loan or tell them what's happening - surely not!? Is there a way of doing this with multiple credit cards? It's risky of course but I am fairly certain that the site would sell pretty fast as land to build on in this area in Ireland is hard to come by - although I'd need to factor in the risk of the land not selling.
Also, rather than paying back monthly instalments on a loan, it'd obviously suit me better to pay nothing until the land is sold, then the £30K in one go.
I know this is complicated, but after going through hell with the banks, repossession, facing bankrupsy etc this feels like a chance to pay off the bank, and still walk away with my albeit very damaged home, and be able to start again, debt free and never get into such a mess again. I'm 44 and realise that being off the housing ladder, and with a repossessed house etc, it's very very hard to get back on and the thought of living in rented accommodation for ever is not appealing.
Thanks for reading, if anyone has any advice or thoughts on the scenario I'm facing, I'd love to here from you.
Cheers, Cat