Buying out my brother

[Gaia]

Hello

I purchased a 2 bed flat with my brother 5 years ago for £206,000 and we paid £20,000 deposit and the mortgage is joint with a 50/50 split. We both put in equal amounts in doing up the flat and currently hold a fixed rate interest only mortgage which ends in Sept 10. My brother wants to sell when this ends to release the equity and I am fine with this, however, I am curious about the costs and possibilities of me buying him out since I currently live in the property and would like to see if there is a way to hold onto it if I can.

What would I have to do first to research this? My salary is £26,000 and I have been the main manager of the property and I share the rent with a tennant. I may be able to source extra funds to buy him out and we both wouldn't want to sell the flat for anything less than £250,000 if I wasn't thinking of buying him out. I'm just not sure how much I would need and whats the first step in finding out. Should I approach my current mortgage lender about this first or what? Any ideas/thoughts on this are much appreciated.

Gaia

[brian]

Have you talked to a mortgage advisor or property solicitor about this as yet? It sounds like there are certainly potential areas for problems to arise.