Hi, i will try to be brief in background information!
My wife and i bought a house in Dublin for 350,000 euro in 2007 just before the crash. We now owe 230,000. Unfortunately we are now in the process of separating. It is amicable and we are on good terms and have no children. I moved out 3 months ago and hoped she would remain and rent out a room to cover the mortgage payments of 1300 per month. She has now informed me she wants to also move out and for us to sell the house by May at the latest. Her friends advise her that a recession is imminent and the house will certainly drop in value again. She does not want to rent it out as she sees this as a risk and does not want the hassle/responsibility/worry that goes with it. She had two estate agents value the house at 275,000 - 285,000 and 285,000-295,000 with both assuring her it would most likely sell for 300,000 euro. So after costs etc we might each come away with 30,000 euro.
For my part, i do not have a pension (i know, very irresponsible!), and always saw the house as a financial investment which would provide us with some sort of a lump sum if we held on to it for long enough, (another 5/10/15 years). My best case scenario would be to hand the house over to the council on a long term lease which would guarantee the mortgage payments are covered and thus no worry or stress for us and would ensure i have at least something to fall back on once i retire.
So my questions are......am i being naive? Is it a sound financial investment? (I know it wasn't when we bought it!!). I know there is no absolute certainty with house prices and a lot of speculation involved but i would have thought that in the long term (10/15 years) the house value will inevitably rise? Should i even try to convince her to hold off till next year as I read values are still currently rising and the new government 'help to buy' scheme might increase value further? Or should i bite the bullet and agree to sell?
Apologies if my question requires too much speculation.
Also, i know keeping a long term financial investment would be unusual for a separated couple but i must stress we are on good terms and always intend to stay in close contact.
Any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks.
My wife and i bought a house in Dublin for 350,000 euro in 2007 just before the crash. We now owe 230,000. Unfortunately we are now in the process of separating. It is amicable and we are on good terms and have no children. I moved out 3 months ago and hoped she would remain and rent out a room to cover the mortgage payments of 1300 per month. She has now informed me she wants to also move out and for us to sell the house by May at the latest. Her friends advise her that a recession is imminent and the house will certainly drop in value again. She does not want to rent it out as she sees this as a risk and does not want the hassle/responsibility/worry that goes with it. She had two estate agents value the house at 275,000 - 285,000 and 285,000-295,000 with both assuring her it would most likely sell for 300,000 euro. So after costs etc we might each come away with 30,000 euro.
For my part, i do not have a pension (i know, very irresponsible!), and always saw the house as a financial investment which would provide us with some sort of a lump sum if we held on to it for long enough, (another 5/10/15 years). My best case scenario would be to hand the house over to the council on a long term lease which would guarantee the mortgage payments are covered and thus no worry or stress for us and would ensure i have at least something to fall back on once i retire.
So my questions are......am i being naive? Is it a sound financial investment? (I know it wasn't when we bought it!!). I know there is no absolute certainty with house prices and a lot of speculation involved but i would have thought that in the long term (10/15 years) the house value will inevitably rise? Should i even try to convince her to hold off till next year as I read values are still currently rising and the new government 'help to buy' scheme might increase value further? Or should i bite the bullet and agree to sell?
Apologies if my question requires too much speculation.
Also, i know keeping a long term financial investment would be unusual for a separated couple but i must stress we are on good terms and always intend to stay in close contact.
Any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks.