financial advice needed please

[isittooearlytogotobed]

Hi, i am hoping someone may be able to give us some advice regarding our financial situation

i work part time, 28 hours a week. DH lost his local authority job due to redundancy a year ago, and has been doing contract work as a consultant surveyor. he is coming to the end of a good contract that has been well paid, in about 5 weeks, and the current job market is looking very bleak.

he has debts from his first marriage that he has slowly been paying off, but he says he is so fed up of chasing his tail on repayments etc that he wants to consider selling the house (even at a loss to one of these fast sales companies) and using the equity to pay off his loans

he then wants us to rent for a few years while we start over again. he says we will be much better off without the debts.

has anyone else been in this situation and has that worked for you? i am worried that at 46 & 42 we may struggle to get a mortgage again in a few years

any advice at all would be welcome, thanks.

Presumably he has dismissed the idea of remortgaging on the grounds of affordability? Or is it that you wouldn't get a mortgage on your salary?

These don't sound as if they are joint debts (even though obviously the repayments are being made out of household income). The equity will be joint to some extent if only because you are married. Are you happy to see your share of this asset used to pay off his debts?

Personally I think he should get some help from the CAB or equivalent. At the point he is out of work again he could get the CAB to ask for interest to be stopped which owuld give him some breathing space. This is a fairly good time to renegoiate existing debt.

thank you for your response it is kind of you to advise

we have had the house revalued to weigh up a remortgage, we are still waiting to hear from this.

i am happy to help out as he has supported me working part time whilst our daughter is young, and we do work as a team

there is a glimmer of hope - 2 potential jobs to be applied for, but of course it all takes time.

i may suggest to him that he approaches the mortgage company to ask for a short repayment holiday of a few months to see if that helps

thanks again, i am not as gloomy as i was, and it wont be the end of the world if we have to sell up - but it will be disruptive for our little un, and who will buy in this climate?

aren't his debts your debts if you are married? i assume you are happily married and see this relationship for the long run?

money problems can destroy relationships so i understand where he is coming from as starting clean with no debts will be so liberating.... personally i'm not a v good "in debt" person!

men tend not to talk about their fears/problems etc until it is too late so this is good he is sharing?

i would do it, then again with the current climate (esp in his trade) would he become complacent in getting a job?

but i agree selling up doesnt sound like it would be the end of the world.... as for who will buy... who knows!

good luck!

plus you guys could start saving for long terms goals, house etc, timing wise ideally when the credit crunch/crisis is over....

thanks hulahoops

yes we are v happily married, and i hate to see him so stressed over money. even thou the debt is in his name, of course its a shared problem

he has always been upfront since we met (long after his first marriage broke up) he took on the debts from his first marriage in return for the house but its been a weight on his mind ever since

lets hope one of those jobs comes off and we will battle on