Trading Down - what's involved?

[Roaster]

I am considering trading down to a property that costs less than my current mortgage, yet I'm not sure how this works when dealing with the bank....

• Can I just put my current property on the market and identify a property to buy and then (if sale and purchase work out) approach the bank to transfer my mortgage?
• Do the bank have to facilitate this or can they resist?
• I'm on a ECB tracker mortgage - am I entitled to keep this type of mortgage?
• Are there any stamp duty implications?

Is there anything I'm forgetting apart from the above? Any experienced advice would be much appreciated...
Thanks
Roaster

 

[mf1]

* Can I just put my current property on the market and identify a property to buy and then (if sale and purchase work out) approach the bank to transfer my mortgage?

It doesn't work like that. The mortgage attaches to the specific property. When you sell, your purchaser will require that your mortgage is cleared so that it does not attach to what is now their property.

* Do the bank have to facilitate this or can they resist?

Once you pay off your mortgage, the bank cannot prevent you selling your property.

* I'm on a ECB tracker mortgage - am I entitled to keep this type of mortgage?

No.

* Are there any stamp duty implications?

If you buy a new property, then there may not be any stamp duty payable on your property. If you mean, are there are stamp duty implications in "transferring the mortgage", see above.

mf

 

[Mpsox]

We did this in 07 (thank the stars !!) when we moved down the country. In effect, you have 2 transactions to complete
Firstly you have to sell you existing house and ensure that either the sale price pays off the mortgage or you can fund any shortfall yourself
You then need to buy another house and this will be done via a new mortgage on the new house (if a mortgage is needed).
You'll also need to consider funding stamp duty (if required), auctioneer and solicitors fees.
It's doubtful if you'll get a tracker on the new mortgage
It's likely that in addition to stamp duty you also need to have enough from the sale of your house or from savings for at least a 10% deposit.

In the current climate you should do 3 things
Firstly, ask a couple of estate agents for a valuation of your existing property, knock 10-15% off that since it's a buyers market and see will that clear your mortgage
Talk to your bank and see what mortgage you can get for the new house and who is prepared to lend
Look around for the new property

Realistically, if you buy a house for €250k, to cover stamp duty/deposit/fees etc you would need around €40-€50k