# Looking for advice on mortgage arrears and going interest only.



## Jackbubble (18 Jan 2012)

Hi All

I would greatly appreciate some advice on my situation.

After graduating from college in 2005 i started working and decided to purchase a house in 2006. I had a 1 year old child and girlfriend (now wife) who was not working at the time so what i could borrow was not much. The property i purchased was valued at 200K. 

Iv been unemployed since 2010, and my wife works part time and have kept up my mortgage payments. 

My problem is, this house was never my forever house and I expected to be selling up and upgrading a few years after the purchase

I don't want to live here for factors I don't want to discuss on these boards. so lets just say "staying here any more than 8 years is not an option"

The value of this house now would be 80k if im lucky. I have no savings as its all gone trying to keep up with payments, I cant see myself saving anything because factoring in all my bills and costs all im left with every week is usually around €30 - €40 Euro (Cant even go to the cinema with the wife). I haven't had heating in two months just so i can pay my bank what their owed. I dont drink I dont smoke and im beginning to wish I had because I cant cope anymore

Iv taught of just doing a runner to Australia with the wife and child but god their must be other options, I cant live like this anymore

What are my options?


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## ClubMan (18 Jan 2012)

Have you engaged with the lender under _MARP _to see what can be done?

http://www.keepingyourhome.ie/

(For some reason the site does not seem to be working right now).

I don't know if _UK _bankruptcy might be an option if things are so bad. See the other threads on this.


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## Rose (18 Jan 2012)

Please approach your nearest St Vincent de Paul Conference, They will help you to heat your home and may be able to help you in other ways too. Are you sure you are getting all your entitlements


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## Jackbubble (18 Jan 2012)

thanks for the replies

I am getting all my entitlements including mortgage supplement alright 

I never new about MARP but It looks like I'm going to be ringing my bank tomorrow

How would I go about getting interest only for a while?

And probably a question nobody could answer but will the government ever consider writing off first time buyers debt like myself? seems like the only way i ever will get out of this mess


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## iscritto (18 Jan 2012)

If you are in arrears the bank should be telling you about MARP but from reading posts on aam it seems this is still not happening.

One of the 1st things the bank will do is as you to complete a SFS  - [broken link removed]

Once completed the bank should be willing to enter an arrangement with you depending on the results - how much  you can afford to pay.

This might help also  - some info on MARP

[broken link removed]


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## Jackbubble (18 Jan 2012)

woah i used the budget tool on mabs and being honest with myself it looks like i have a shortfall of between 300 and 500 euro every month.

Would it be possible to take one or two month payment holiday and then enter interest only? It might allow me to build up enough savings to get my head above water.

How to i work out how much interest im currently paying every month? i can imagine its a lot


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## ClubMan (18 Jan 2012)

iscritto said:


> If you are in arrears the bank should be telling you about MARP but from reading posts on aam it seems this is still not happening.


Original poster is not in arrears yet as far as I can see. In a pre-arrears situation the borrower needs to be proactive and engage with the lender under _MARP_.


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## ClubMan (18 Jan 2012)

Jackbubble said:


> How to i work out how much interest im currently paying every month? i can imagine its a lot


Your most recent (2011?) mortgage statement should give you an idea or else use this calculator to figure it out using your outstanding capital balance, term and rate.

http://www.drcalculator.com/mortgage/ie/


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## Bronte (19 Jan 2012)

You should heat the house, that is more important than the mortgage.  You need to get your priorities right.  The home you live in is your family home and if you cannot afford the mortgage (after food, heat and light) then you must engage with your bank who have to enter the Marp process with you.  Basically they will see how much you need to live on and reduce the mortgage to the amount you can afford.  

You say you are getting all your entitlements, can you post up the names of them and the amounts, are you not entitled to mortgage supplement? Post them up so others can point out if you are missing out on something.  

The fact that you only realised you had a shortfall of 300/400 means you are not budgeting, and understanding your full financial circumstances,  do a monthly diary of your spending, and post on here your spending so you might get advice on how to save.  

Both you and your wife need to be talking on this, it is important that you communicate your feelings, she may not understand the pressure you are under, but she will support you.  Do you have a friend/relation you can talk to, it's important to talk, sometimes men don't understand this.  

You don't seem to want to emigrate, only as a last resort?  Then don't, try and sort it out with advice from here, go to Mabs for free advice and engage with your bank (in writing only).


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## Jackbubble (19 Jan 2012)

Im just learning now that my priorities are a bit muggled alright..

Your right heating my home and feeding my family take priority from here on in..

I contacted the bank. They said they do SFS over the phone, and they dont post due to postal charges and some other lame excuse, I had the feeling some how that this doesn't seem right?

I told the lady i would ring back anyway. What should I do?


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## ClubMan (19 Jan 2012)

Jackbubble said:


> I contacted the bank. They said they do SFS over the phone, and they dont post due to postal charges and some other lame excuse, I had the feeling some how that this doesn't seem right?


Seems a reasonable way to do it in my view. But if you want you can easily download an _SFS _and do it manually:

http://www.centralbank.ie/publicinformation/Pages/default.aspx

_PTSB _seem to be the only ones who provide a useful _Excel _version  and I found it very handy to use that one when helping somebody in a  similar position last year:

[broken link removed]



> I told the lady i would ring back anyway. What should I do?


Familiarise yourself with the _MARP _process (this site is back up now):

http://www.keepingyourhome.ie/

Clarify in as much detail as possible your financial situation ("balance sheet" = assets and liabilities and "cashflow" = monthly incomings and outgoings) to get a clear and honest picture of where you stand.

Think about what options might suit you - e.g. interest only period on the mortgage - and how you plan to regain control of your finances. 

Talk _to MABS _if possible.

http://www.mabs.ie

Be prepared to make some tough decisions to get out of this situation.


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## Jackbubble (19 Jan 2012)

I will try and get interest only and maby a payment holiday to get my situation in order. 

Im currently doing a course to try and get employment and get myself out of this hole im in. 

I want to move house, but I cant move house with such negative equity

So within the next two years if the government does not make changes by helping first time buyers by writing off debt. I might just go to the UK for 6 months and write it off that way. Will their be measures made in the next two years stopping people filing bankruptcy in the UK?

So what ever way it goes for me. I will be looking after myself and my family.

I feel a lot better now after all the help and advise iv received here. Light at the end of the tunnel!!


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## ClubMan (19 Jan 2012)

Jackbubble said:


> I will try and get interest only and maby a payment holiday to get my situation in order.


Just to clarify - I think that you need to figure out a plan before just jumping at one of these options. E.g. once you have collated and analysed all of your financial details you see what you need to help you get to a more sustainable position. 


> I want to move house, but I cant move house with such negative equity


As above - you need to figure out a plan to sort out your finances and achieve this goal. It may or may not be possible in the short term and almost certainly will require some (possibly tough) decisions to be made.


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## Jackbubble (19 Jan 2012)

ClubMan said:


> As above - you need to figure out a plan to sort out your finances and achieve this goal. It may or may not be possible in the short term and almost certainly will require some (possibly tough) decisions to be made.



Its hard seeing clarity at the moment when you have no prospects of employment. 

If I get interest only, sure I will have a little more money each month but this will not sort out my real issue which is the 100K hole that needs to be filled so I can then move. the only solution I can see is 

1/ The government writes off the debt for first time buyers
2/ I take measures to write it off myself.

Im in my 20's, my family is young, I have nothing to loose because I own nothing. Yes i payed 8% towards my house which I will never see again but its better than paying for it the rest of my life and no prospect of moving.

I made a huge mistake in buying where I did, but it never was meant to be permanent. 

I am going to talk with a financial adviser on Monday and hopefully sort out what I need to do, so I can achieve what I want


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## ClubMan (19 Jan 2012)

Jackbubble said:


> Its hard seeing clarity at the moment when you have no prospects of employment.


I appreciate that but this is the very time that you need to think clearly about these issues. Collating the raw data and analysing it is not that difficult. That's the first step towards formulating a plan.


> If I get interest only, sure I will have a little more money each month but this will not sort out my real issue which is the 100K hole that needs to be filled so I can then move. the only solution I can see is
> 
> 1/ The government writes off the debt for first time buyers
> 2/ I take measures to write it off myself.


Short of something dramatic (such as _UK _bankruptcy or maybe _Irish _if/when the personal insolvency legislation is sorted) I don't think that you will find a way to write off €100K. You might want to consider if moving is not a realistic option for the moment.


> I am going to talk with a financial adviser on Monday and hopefully sort out what I need to do, so I can achieve what I want


What sort of financial advisor?


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## Jackbubble (19 Jan 2012)

ClubMan said:


> Short of something dramatic (such as _UK _bankruptcy or maybe _Irish _if/when the personal insolvency legislation is sorted) I don't think that you will find a way to write off €100K. You might want to consider if moving is not a realistic option for the moment.



What do you mean? I need to move withing 8 years, so what ever I decide it will have to be drastic unless I land a good job that pays highly and take out an even bigger mortgage. 

I think I will give myself 2 years, if i don't secure a job by then, its off to England I go. Unless Enda Kenny Rides up on a big white horse with bags of money for me



ClubMan said:


> What sort of financial advisor?



Just a personal friend who would have a lot of knowledge in the finance business. Not the bank dont worry Ill tell them nothing they are the bad guys here


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## Mrs Vimes (20 Jan 2012)

Jackbubble said:


> Would it be possible to take one or two month payment holiday and then enter interest only? It might allow me to build up enough savings to get my head above water.
> 
> How to i work out how much interest im currently paying every month? i can imagine its a lot



Just to warn you, if you are getting MIS and take a payment holiday, you lose MIS for that period so you would probably be better off getting an interest only period instead.

To work out interest paid just multiply rate by amount outstanding and subtract TRS (or look at the MIS application - the bank will have filled it in there)


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