Negative Eq but have to move - opinions please

Just thought I'd add a final postscript to this. I'm the OP from May 2011...

meb said:
Glad to hear it worked out for you. I learned a lot from this thread as I am in a similar position with neg eq and savings. Thanks for sharing. Can I ask: did you ask the bank to write off some of the mortgage seeing as how you were giving up a tracker and they were saving money by "getting rid of you"?
Click to expand...

First off, no - the bank did not offer to write off any of the mortgage as a sweetener to get me off my tracker.

I don't think I mentioned before but I did secure a meeting with a home loans manager in a local AIB branch. I spent a long time with her and outlined my situation (with a myriad of supporting documentation) and put the suggestion of a Negative Equity mortgage to her. Bearing in mind that this was in 2011 when such products weren't commonplace. She listened intently, vowed to get back to me and I never heard from her again!

Anyways, fast forward to Oct 2015. I am now living in a great house (with an additional 2 kids!) in an area that is close to family and employment. I rented a property in the area for several years before buying a property that suited my needs. I now have a greatly reduced mortgage - 50% less than original mortgage payment (albeit 50% less than when the original mortgage was at it's highest ie when the ECB rate was on the up). I am on a SVR now but am working hard on reducing my LTV to improve my lot.

Not sure if I made the right decision but all has worked out for me. I have friends who were in similar situations and took the option of renting out their former PPR - I don't envy them, there is a lot of work involved in being a landlord and the worry they have about being left high and dry by dodgy tenants is ever present. However I realise they might think my course of action is unenviable!

The moral of the story: life is short. If you are someone 'trapped' in negative equity, don't panic, you have options. Consider them all. Make your decision and get on with your life. Family, health and happiness are what is important.
 
OP here. Was listening to the radio the other day and this thread popped into my mind. I've long since forgot the login details for the original 'confuseduded' account so apologies for the apparent new alias.

Anyways, I just thought it might be interesting for some (or maybe only myself) to give a 10 year update!

I'm still living in the same house that I referred to in 2015. I've been aggressively paying down the mortgage and have circa 40K outstanding. Still have a SVR mortgage but now avail of much lower LTV rate. I've made some minor home improvements over the years and the price of property has risen substantially in my area. A similar house, very nearby, recently sold. It's sale price was 196% higher than what I paid for my house. Whether my house would fetch the same price is debatable but it's a positive development nonetheless.

Family is growing up and thoughts are turning to college fees etc. Life moves fast. Health & happiness have now become even more important to me as I get that bit older (and have a few minor health issues). In summary, anyone who may be struggling financially - take a step back, breathe and try to get everything down on paper to help you make the best decision. Reach out to others (MABs if needs be, or just trusted/professional advisers) if you can't face it yourself. Stress can do awful things to a person and do very little for the external problem. Control the controllables, as Andy Farrell would say, and don't be too hard on yourself.

See you all in another 10 years.
 
When you sold your old house in 2012 how much of a loss did you make? Did you roll the shortfall on to the new mortgage or use your savings to clear the difference with AIB?

There are many horror stories from people unfortunate enough to buy property before the crash. There's a flip side that doesn't get much mention. A generation of Irish had a golden era of reasonably priced housing throughout the 2010s, low inflation and low interest rates too for years.
 
CharlieMac said:
When you sold your old house in 2012 how much of a loss did you make? Did you roll the shortfall on to the new mortgage or use your savings to clear the difference with AIB?
Click to expand...
The loss was in the region of 100k. There was no option to roll the shortfall on to the new mortgage, at that time. AIB weren't very good to deal with. They were happy enough to meet with me but never came back to me. I always had to chase them for responses.

I then became one of those generation that bought property that were at historic lows & benefitted from low interest rates. The specific property I bought, according to Land Direct, had a mortgage of 62% more than the price I paid for it. This gives an indication of how much the property market had faltered in the area. I think the vendor had multiple properties in the area - not sure how he was able to sell at such a price but I'm glad he did.

Needless to say, it would have been much better for me if I'd been a first time buyer at that stage. But such is life. For most people, first homes tend to be bought when they're needed rather than as a financial investment. The most we can hope for is a stable property market but I don't see that occurring for a while yet.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top