Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Selling current house/buying a bigger one - advice needed

Options
  • 27-07-2013 1:02pm
    #1
    cocokay
    Registered Users Posts: 160 ✭✭


    hi all, have never posted in this forum before, would really appreciate some advice!
    my current house is a 2 bed 1 bath, small but in a decent area and nice neighbours etc. but a lot of problems have arisen with leaking, damp, an extension that was built years ago about to collapse etc. i bought it for 220k 3.5 yrs ago on a variable with ebs.
    so my choice is to put money into repairing all these problems/knock down current extension and rebuild or, while house prices are still low, sell and buy a new property. i would prefer a larger house anyway, in the event of having children in the future.
    of course the issue is being in negative equity now - would i be laughed at for trying to sell and buy another property at this stage?! this is my first house and the sale was quite smooth so i am not really up on how these kind of things work. can anyone offer advice? the houses i am looking at are 3 bed properties from 199k - 230k but to be honest unless i can get a drop in asking price its more likely to be at the lower scale of those figures.
    thanks in advance :)


Comments

  • Options
    #2
    xper
    Registered Users Posts: 1,068 ✭✭✭xper


    Well, whether you'd be laughed at (by the bank, I presume you are asking) depends on your personal financial situation (debt, income, etc) of which you have not given any details. Can you finance the gap, with savings and/or increased borrowing, between the the c.200k you are looking to spend on the new house and the price you'll get for your current property which is presumably going to be considerably less than 220k paid in 2009/10 if that price didn't take the problems in the building into account. Have you had a valuation done on the current property as is?

    I find it hard to believe that the severe problems with your current house have "arisen" in the short time you've lived there (unless you treat the place particularly badly). Did you get a report done by a professional surveyor with indemnity insurance when you were buying it and what did the report have to say about these matters, particularly the state of the extension? If there were problems that were present then that they missed, then you may have a case for compensation. I would check this option out and if it is fruitful, then staying put and repairing the building is a serious option for you.

    Generally, selling a current home and buying a new one is, obviously, more complicated and a more drawn out affair than purchasing your first house. If the house you are selling has these structural issues then the prospective buyers will be fewer in number and whoever does bite may well get cold feet or start trying to haggle for discounts when they get their survey done of the building. Your prospective buyer's lender, if they need a mortgage, may also throw up all sorts of red flags. You could be in for a long haul.


Advertisement