Internet News Blog
May 22nd, 2009
It looks like it is going to be a tough year for home owners as it is estimated that 75,000 homes could be repossessed this year. It is probably one of the worse things I can think to happen, being forced to leave your home as your house is taken away from you.
If you are in that situation what do you do? There are many companies out there offering a sell and rent back service, but how safe are they? The idea behind them is that you sell your house to them for a discounted rate which allows you to pay off your debts and rent your house back. There is also the suggestion that you can continue to rent back your house until you can afford to buy back your house. In reality this does not always work, some companies only guarantee you can rent your house for between 6 to 12 months. There are also reports that people have still lost their homes as the new landlord fall behind on their repayments and the house repossessed.
With time getting tough many people are turning to renting out their property or taking in a lodger. If you have the option then it could be best to move out of your house and rent it out, giving you extra income to continue paying off the mortgage. Of course this is only an option if you have somewhere else to live. If you do not have anywhere to go a lodger could be another good option. I don’t know if I would be too happy with a lodger living in my house but for some people it could be tolerable.
There are Government schemes out there to help. The mortgage rescue scheme is supposed to be another option to the sell and rent back schemes from private companies that may take advantage of desperate people. The idea is the same that you sell your house to the local authority and they rent your house from them. I think that because it is with the local council it will be a lot more secure as you are not going to end up with a dodgy landlord that will dramatically increase the rent and evict you. Of course it is not perfect, one people has been told he was eligible for the scheme and then after a lot of interviews with him saying how good the scheme was, he was rejected for the scheme because he was in negative equity. In a time when property prices are falling and a lot of people are in negative equity, how useful will the scheme be?
I think that the best thing to do when you find yourself in a difficult situation would be to confront it as soon as possible and take as much advice as you can.
Tags: home owners, lodgers, mortgage rescue, mortgages, Property, property prices, renting, sell rent back
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (1)
August 1st, 2009 at 6:35 am
When facing repossession by your lender it can be tempting to sell your home to the first buy and rent back company that you come across. However, in the past not all companies were found to be ethical and this has meant that those selling did not get the deal they thought they were getting. Thankfully from 1st July the industry will be regulated by the Financial Services Authority which should work out safer for those wishing to sell. So when selling to avoid repossession choose an fsa regulated rent back company.