what would you do in our situation?

[claire81]

Hi, Last August I lost my fulltime job, then my partners hours were cut by 12 hours per week. To say that we have struggled is an understatment. We found it hard to pay the mortgage, we had to take a three month mortgage "holiday", we ended up getting into debt and it got so bad that we accepted the offer of a loan from my partners parents, they lent us £12,000.

With that money we payed off all the debts that we had, plus kept some for the mortgage payments so we would be able to pay it. We are living in a three bed detatched house that my partner already had when I met him. We both know that we cannot afford to live here anymore so the plan was to sell it (we were struggling before I lost my job, then things just got worse.)

The plan was for us to get a smaller place that was affordable. I thought that I would have found a job by now, I am not on any benefits at all as they say my partner works too many hours over the limit (16 hours is the limit, he works 30)

We had the house valued and they said it would be worth 120k, if all the stuff was finished that needed doing. We still owe 90k on the mortgage, we still owe the 12k to his parents and the house itself needs work done that we cannot afford to do (mostly cosmetic, painting, a fence outside, internal doors etc)

The problem is, we are going overdrawn each month as it is, if we bought the stuff we need for the house we would be in debt again.

If we sell the house "as is" we will lose a lot of money on it and wouldnt be able to pay the mortgage back and his parents, but if we stay here we will end up losing it.

Also we dont even have to £250 to put the house up for sale (the for sale sign, putting it online, broshoures etc)

A friend said try to sell at auction, but then when I looked at a website it said there must be no outstanding mortgage to sell at auction.

We dont know what to do anymore. Any advice would be great, and sorry for such a long post.

* EDIT we live deep into the country and the houses around here are not selling, the house next door has been for sale for over 2 years.

[KDWALKERMS]

Sadly I do not think you are the only ones in this situation and I applaud you for trying everthing you can to keep your head above water. Just a couple of things you may already have thought of or tried to do. I don't know. 1) certainly speak to your lender to tell them of the situation. Ask them if you can extend the term of your mortgage to reduce your monthly repayment. You can always decrease it when things are better. They may offer an arrangement to pay although this will help your current situation it may cause problems in the future with your credit rating. 2) Have you thought of renting your home (speak to your estate agents to see the likelihood) and say, move back with parents. Sometimes not ideal but think of it as temporary. This could generate income to pay the mortgage and cut out your bills. Although you may wish to contribute to your parents bills. 3) Speak to Citizens Advice Bureux or equivilent or a qualified debt advisor. 4) Again not ideal but the bank of Mum and Dad may be able to help fund the cosmetic work to help it sell.

Sorry to be the bearer of more bad news and I'm sure you would have considered this, but if you do sell, you may not be able to find mortgage finance due to your previous arrears so you are likely to end up renting or back with parents.

As with most things there are pros and cons so please seek qualified advice as well.

Forgive me but that all I can think of for now but I hope it helps a little.

Good luck

[KDWALKERMS]

Sadly I do not think you are the only ones in this situation and I applaud you for trying everthing you can to keep your head above water. Just a couple of things you may already have thought of or tried to do. I don't know. 1) certainly speak to your lender to tell them of the situation. Ask them if you can extend the term of your mortgage to reduce your monthly repayment. You can always decrease it when things are better. 2) Have you thought of renting your home and say, move back with parents. Sometimes not ideal but think of it as temporary. This could generate income to pay the mortgage and cut out your bills. Although you may wish to contribute to your parents bills. 3) Speak to Citizens Advice Bureux or equivilent or a qualified debt advisor.

As with most things there are pros and cons so please seek qualified advice as well.

Forgive me but that all I can think of for now but I hope it helps a little.

Good luck