18 months ago I moved into my dream home, a new build Beal property (3 bed end terrace Chelsea). I bought it on my own (as a single person) with my own money I'd saved hard for and with the intention of living there for the foreseeable future.
The weekend I moved into my property (August 2015) I met my now better half. Fast forward 18 months, we now have a dog, we're extremely happy and are now looking to move! I originally purchased my house using the government help to buy scheme, this means that the government gave me 20% towards the cost of purchasing the house.
The help to buy scheme is great for buyers who intend on staying in their house long term. You never repay this loan, you only begin paying interest after 5 years. To clear the loan you can pay it off in one lump sum, two lump sums (stair casing) or when you sell the property. You cannot rent out a property with a help to buy loan but you can do pretty much whatever else you want!
When we first started talking about moving and buying somewhere together, our original plan was to rent out my property and purchase a second one. This was for a couple of reasons...
1. I had an idea that my house had reduced in value therefore I would lose some of the deposit I originally paid
2. I would have liked to have kept my own house (just in case!) and rented it out for future security and investment.
After a visit to the bank, it turns out that I can't borrow anymore against my house due to the value of it decreasing so clearing the help to buy loan isn't possible. This means that selling is the only way to go!
I've had a few estate agents visit my house and they've all pretty much valued the house around £5,000 to £10,000 less than what I paid for it. I kind of knew this but it still wasn't the best thing to hear. The builders are now selling my style house for £12,000 more than what I paid yet they're worth hardly anything (crazy).
We've seen a few houses for sale online that we like the look of and we are going to start viewing once mine is on the market. We're potentially looking for a bit of a 'project house' where we can improve and modernise it to suit our tastes. We plan on staying there for a large chunk of our lives so it needs to be the perfect size and layout for us. It's a very exciting time but also a bit worrying (just in case mine doesn't sell)!
Selling my house and clearing the help to buy loan is a whole different ball game to a normal sale!
As soon as I receive an offer on my house I need to instruct an independent surveyor to value the house. After the valuation the surveyor will let the help to buy know what it is worth. The help to buy will then tell me exactly what they'll take from me once the sale is completed (note, the surveyors valuation only lasts 3 months and then if the sale isn't completed I need to pay for another survey... £200 a pop!)
I feel like I've got a long road to go down but the sooner I start the better... I'll keep you all posted on my house move!
Thank you for reading,
Doll xoxo
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