Is there a flaw in my plan?

[StormzyinaTCup]

We have been looking to relocate to another part of the U.K. for the last three years. In 2019 we had our house on the market, accepted an offer but it fell through, luckily got another offer but then that fell through at the eleventh hour so was very stressful (and expensive) so we took it off the market and planned to try again the following year but COVID and the uncertainty put paid to that.

The thought of tidying, arranging/doing viewings and getting two teens and a dog out of the house at short notice, I'm not sure I can face that for weekends on end again, however, I need to do something as I'm fed up of putting our lives on hold.

So I had an idea, as we have only 4 years left on the mortgage we could extend the mortgage back to 15 years so mortgage payments would be very small, this would free up enough a month for us to move out and rent somewhere in the location we want to be in, the house would go on the market vacant, I won't need to tidy, estate agent could do the viewings whenever they want and we can get on with our lives elsewhere (the original plan in 2019 was to sell and go and rent first anyway so not too worried about that aspect). Obviously once the house is sold the outstanding mortgage would be paid off.

Apart from a sharp rise in interest rates before we have managed to sell, I have a feeling there is a big flaw in my plan that I'm missing so need some opinions. Is this a good cunning plan or more a Baldrick one?

One aspect you need to consider is whether the house will fetch as much empty.

A house nearly always looks better with furniture in situ.

I bought this house empty and it took a lot of thought to understand the relative room sizes and the potential in the property.

The agent who sold it to me valued it last week and even she said it looked completely different now.

Conditions of the residential mortgage ie you won't actually be living in the house, also conditions about residency on the insurance

Won't there be a big fee to extend the mortgage and a penalty to finish it early.

@inmylifeIlovedthemall

One aspect you need to consider is whether the house will fetch as much empty.

A house nearly always looks better with furniture in situ.

I bought this house empty and it took a lot of thought to understand the relative room sizes and the potential in the property.

The agent who sold it to me valued it last week and even she said it looked completely different now.

We've had a few houses listed in our area with photos both with the house occupied and with it empty. We considered doing this for ours until we realised there is just nowhere to rent (or buy!)

Your plan has the potential to go wrong if it ends up taking months to sell or complete plus I think it would be less hassle just to make yourself scarce. You could arrange an open day and book a mini break so the house is empty for it or pay to go out for the days of viewings at a much cheaper cost.

Houses are moving very quickly, Personally I’d price it realistically, have an open day ….and you’ll probably get an offer. Unless it’s likely to be difficult to sell in which case your plan is open to risk.

There’s a limit on how long houses can be left empty for insurance.

But you could take pictures before you empty it and use those to illustrate house. Or leave some basic furniture.

The biggest risk. Would be getting priced out of market while you are renting….but gain is you’d be a cash buyer.

Short answer it’s perfectly reasonable plan, check your house insurance, and don’t do it if your house is likely to be hard to sell.

I wouldn’t when you’ve only a few years left on your mortgage. Houses near me are selling really quickly like within a week so you really wouldn’t have to keep it tidy for long. You could get it tidied during the week, have an open weekend and it be sold by Monday. Get teens helping out.

Houses in my area are on the market for less than a week at the moment! This May drop off as the stamp duty holiday comes to an end though.

Insurance, overheads and security of an empty house? Will the mortgage company allow this?

How messy are you that you'd rather move out and spend all that extra cash on mortgage fees than tidy up for a couple of weekends?!

Easier idea- start packing as though your moving. Pack all the stuff you don't use first, seasonal clothes, clothes that don't fit, inherited stuff you can't throw away, sentimental baby stuff, excess furniture, kitchen gadgets, fancy glasses. Give teens 2 suitcases each they can fill with things to keep in house, everything else pack it up.
Get a storage unit nearby, put stuff in there. Get a cleaner to come every Friday. Its summer, not really that hard to go to he park or for lunch when there's a viewing.

Issues:
Selling empty houses is harder
House insurance is hard if the house is unoccupied for 30+ days
Viewings will be harder for evenings and weekends, unless you get (and pay for) an expensive estate agent package.

However: with teens in the mix you are also getting close to a point where moving might be restricted by 2 year examination courses (moving in y10/11 or 12/13 isnt great). So moving now and selling the house empty might be the lesser of 2 problems

Give the house a good declutter now as you'll have to do it when you move anyway. Be really ruthless about what you're going to donate and sell at car boot fairs. Entice the teenagers by letting them keep the car boot profits.

Organise storage for excess furniture etc and get the estate agent in to take photos. Put it up for sale normally and see what happens.

My biggest concern would be house prices continuing to rise after you sell. Especially if you are locked into a years rental contract, make sure you have a 6 month break. And be prepared to cover a few months rent if something comes up to buy mid contract.

I think your life would simpler if you sell now and go into rented then. Selling houses is reasonably easy. I’d also put excess stuff in storage or sell and tidy up. It doesn’t take too long.

Thanks everyone - I’ve taken on board all comments so will give my plan some further thought. Not even sure if mortgage lender would go for it anyway so that would make it a non starter.

On the decluttering front I already did that in 2019 so wouldn’t need to do that again thank goodness.

Maybe we will just stick it on the market in the normal way and hope for a quick sale.