Hi all I am in the very early stages of selling my home and it’s just about to go on the market and I’m scared. It’s just me and my child. I’ve a good job that I’ve worked in for 20 years salary circa 50k plus bonus, medical etc. At current value I will leave this house with circa €150k and will need to get a new mortgage of circa €140k to purchase the new house. Reason for sale is to be nearer family, work, school etc. Should I sell and does the fear go away ? or should I just stay where I am ? The fear is that we sell our house and something happens and the new mortgage doesn’t go through ... we do have some where to stay for a very short while we buy our next house.
Scared to trade up
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Gordon Gekko
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I don’t think you’ve much to fear. Well done for being in such a strong position. Have you cash held in reserve? If not, I would borrow slightly more and keep, say, €21k in cash for emergencies. Some might argue for a lesser amount.
Thank you Gordon I’ve a small bit of emergency cash but not a lot I’d like to keep the mortgage as small as possible to be honest .. conscious that my kid will be going to college in a few years and that will need to be funded too so want keep repayments as low as possible
Have you got mortgage approval in principal yet? Remember until you sign a contract it’s up to you. Personally I’d
1. Get mortgage in principal from 2 banks at least
2. Get house on market. Make sure it looks spacious (as much as you can into the attic/storage!)
3. Start looking at prospective properties
4. Apply for full mortgage approval
5. Hopefully it all falls into place!
Having somewhere to stay between houses is great but personally I wouldn’t sell unless I had another property lined up. Banks are becoming very slow with mortgage applications and 3.5 times isn’t guaranteed at all so get cracking. Do you have a tracker mortgage on current house?
1. Get mortgage in principal from 2 banks at least
2. Get house on market. Make sure it looks spacious (as much as you can into the attic/storage!)
3. Start looking at prospective properties
4. Apply for full mortgage approval
5. Hopefully it all falls into place!
Having somewhere to stay between houses is great but personally I wouldn’t sell unless I had another property lined up. Banks are becoming very slow with mortgage applications and 3.5 times isn’t guaranteed at all so get cracking. Do you have a tracker mortgage on current house?
So I’ve got API with my own bank but planning on requesting it with another bank also ... is it really my choice until contracts are signed if I couldn’t find a house I wanted to but do I have a choice to pull out up until I accept an offer and would I have to pay estate agent fees, legal fees etc if this was the case ? Or if I didn’t get full mortgage approval do I still have the choice to pull out ? It’s the security of it that is stressing me I think I don’t want to be left homeless
My experience of moving house last year was that estate agents wouldn't accept an offer from me unless I was sale agreed on my own. I was unable to close the sale and purchase on the same day due to the need for overnight bank transfers and a pernickity solicitor on the sale side who refused to close the sale of my house until I had moved out, so I was between properties for a weekend. I was able to stay with a friend, all my belongings had to go into storage for a few days, which had to be arranged at very short notice. There was no mortgage involved.
My suggestion, if you can manage it, is to sell first, find somewhere for a temporary stay while you buy. Not always possible, I know.
I understand the stress of even thinking about a move only too well!
My suggestion, if you can manage it, is to sell first, find somewhere for a temporary stay while you buy. Not always possible, I know.
I understand the stress of even thinking about a move only too well!
Thank you I’ll definitely ask the solicitor I’ve already signed with estate agent and they didn’t mention anything about fees if sale doesn’t go through ... although advertising is paid separate to sale. Hopefully it won’t be necessary but it’s good to know if things don’t work as expected I don’t have to sell and won’t be left with a massive bill
To be nearer family is a good reason to move but I must ask, do you expect to be much closer?
Is the drive gone from half-an-hour to quarter-of-an-hour?
Or will the distance be reduced from a definite drive to a cycle/walk?
You’re going against the grain by moving to be closer to work. Anecdotally proximity to work is no longer important to people due to WFH in the Covid era. Are you WFH at present or does your job mean you have to be physically present every day?
Given that your child will be in college in a few years I really don’t see being nearer their school as a good reason. How many years, roughly?
Brendan Burgess
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Hi Sheba
I think that the risk of the bank pulling mortgage approval is quite small. Keep an eye on it, but don't worry too much about it.
The one risk which is more serious is the risk of a spike in property prices between selling and buying. A lot of people have been caught out by this.
So you have to try to choreograph the selling and the buying process. Do not put your house on the market unless there are a few houses which you could buy in your target area for your target money. For example, if you want to buy in an estate, and there are 10 houses for sale in that estate, great. But if you want to buy in a particular area where there are no houses for sale at present, then you have a problem.
Brendan
I think that the risk of the bank pulling mortgage approval is quite small. Keep an eye on it, but don't worry too much about it.
The one risk which is more serious is the risk of a spike in property prices between selling and buying. A lot of people have been caught out by this.
So you have to try to choreograph the selling and the buying process. Do not put your house on the market unless there are a few houses which you could buy in your target area for your target money. For example, if you want to buy in an estate, and there are 10 houses for sale in that estate, great. But if you want to buy in a particular area where there are no houses for sale at present, then you have a problem.
Brendan
Brendan Burgess
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These are all good reasons for moving.
I doubt if Covid is going to put an end to the commute. It might reduce the frequency of it for some people. But most people will still need to travel to work most of the time.
Brendan
Yes the move would be walking distance to family one of the difficulties we have is the home we live in now is in a different district so all the kids from the village go to school in the district say 15km to the left while my daughter goes 15km to the right so there are no school bus services available to her so even if I’m working from home it means I still need to go to town every day to drop and pick up. She will go to college in 5 years please god but even then I would prefer to be nearer family as we have no ties where we are at the moment in terms of family or friends.
The fear you're feeling is perfectly normal to anyone moving, and doesn't really go away until you've the keys to new house in your hands.
We went through it a few years ago, and there was no mortgage involved in the purchase, and it was still stressful with young children involved. We had planned staying with family a while between sale & purchase, but had a few bumps along the way (we had to pull out of the purchase and find another house).
Go for it, and best of luck with the move.
Very good reasons to move.
Take comfort that your reasons to move give you no basis to be scared.
Moving house is one of these “life events” that usually come with stress, anxiety, etc. Especially when selling the old residence and buying the new, more-or-less simultaneously.
Based on your posts, go for it.
Having an interim place to stay is a huge positive, a safety net of sorts. Who knows what things will be like in a few years, you may not have this to fall back on.
Definitely go for it, do so now, and good luck.
There’s a few houses we’ve seen that we would like we have fallen in love with one in particular but it’s a bit out of budget at the min although my auctioneer reckons it’s overpriced by about 40k and
Thank you