Want to Move, Can't Sell The House Though...

As prices continue to steadily decline, what options are there for homeowners if they need to make a move urgently but can't afford a larger or more expensive house? What happens when sellers are struggling to get prospective buyers through the door? The Nationwide Building Society has published figures which show that house prices have decreased by 0.2% in April to complete a 1.3% drop over the past financial year. The Halifax witnessed an alarming 1.4% drop in property prices in April alone, and this followed a sluggish March.

With mortgage lending becoming more sluggish than in the early part of the year, buyers are finding it increasingly difficult to obtain finance to buy a property, and so sellers are seeing less feet through their doors for viewings.

First off, you need to get the price right. There is no point charging over the odds if your potential buyer can get better value up the road. There is a possibility that your property has been valued incorrectly, so think about whether you think the property price is right, by comparing to other homes for sale in your area.

It is important to remember that the price must reflect what the buyer is willing to pay to own it, and if your property really cannot be priced any lower then you may need to rethink your options.

Remortgage With a View to Letting: One option is to retain your current property, remortgage it to release the equity and let it out. With the Bank of England Base rate at a historic low level, there are plenty of excellent remortgage rates available. If you have some equity in your home you can release this money and add it to the deposit you have saved for your new property.

Any rental payments that you receive from you tenants can also cover your mortgage costs, so the property suddenly becomes an even larger investment as you won't be paying for it!

One option if you are extremely desperate to sell your home, and are unable to find a buyer is to use a home buy scheme. They will buy your home in cash and there is no need to put the property on the market.

Beware however; as the price paid is generally very low, and you will probably get a poor price for your property compared to what it is worth.

If you struggle to find a buyer for your home, you may also wish to consider property auctions. Most people who attend will be business people or landlords, and so they will only attend if they have the finance or the ability obtain finance. The price paid will probably be quite low, however it is the better option compared with home buy schemes.

In Summary: It is a tough market for people looking to sell their home. A lack of buyers and downward pressure on prices mean that it's difficult to achieve your asking price and so you may find you have to accept a lower offer than you wanted. An alternative is to release equity from your home through a remortgage, and let out your existing property until the market recovers.


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Timothy Frodsham writes for JustRemortgages.com one of the UK's top sites for the latest remortgage rates and best remortgage deals.