House Swap?

[goldilocks1]

I would like to know if anybody has a clue on house swapping (permanent). We have a problem in that my new partner joint owns an appartment with his ex. They want to sell up but will end up loosing money if they do this. His ex can not afford to buy him out and I do not want to live in this appartment as it was 'theirs' and I want us to make a fresh start.

I wonder whether we could swap the appartment with someone else (mad idea i know!) so that we can still keep on paying the mortgage but be living in a new home that we can call our own. Any ideas what we can do? We live in the Birmingham area and would like to stay around here due to work etc. PLEASE HELP IF YOU CAN. x

[Hawkwalk]

this does not make a great deal of sense. If you swapped the apartment then surely the ex would have to swap her half so you would be in exactly the same position as you are now but just with a new house. How does the ex benefit from you wanting to house swap? Also you can not swap a house and then continue to pay a mortgage on the old property as you would not own it.

I think your only option is to sell it or buy the ex's half and live in it.

[goldilocks1]

At present they have only lost money on the property (14k approx including charges to get out of the fixed term mortgage) so the ex would get a free 'get out of jail card' so to speak if she agrees to take her name off the paper work. Otherwise they would both be out of pocket if they sold the property.

Surely there would be an easy way to sort this out with the mortgage lender if we were living in a different property as the mortgage lender will still be being paid? x

[Ethel]

She won''t be able to take her name off the mortgage - the mortgage company would never agree to it unless your boyfriend can cover the mortgage on his own.

[goldilocks1]

I would be put on instead

[Hawkwalk]

but if you dont want to live in it then what is the point. The 14k loss will still be there and is likely to get worse with the current housing market.

Your boyfriend and the ex will have to speak to the mortgage company to find out your options.

[Ethel]

A mortgage is a charge on a property. If you fail to pay the mortgage the property is repossessed. That is why you cannot have a mortgage on a property you have swapped with somebody else.

A mortgage cannot be transferred to another property.

With negative equity it is going to be very difficult to sell the property and get another mortgage.

For you to buy her out would involve terminating the existing mortgage and getting a new mortgage in joint names. This is still going to be difficult - no lender will be happy about giving a 110% mortgage in the current climate, and you will still have to find legal fees, the early redemption penalty and so on.


Talk to the mortgage company.