Sell Your Home Quick – Stop Repossession & Don’t Have to Move Out

With repossessions at some of the highest levels in years, more and more families are facing the threat of losing their homes because they can’t keep up their mortgage repayments. Whether by choice, because they’ve had to sell, or because they have been evicted from their property, the pain of losing their greatest asset is often made much worse by having to leave a home they’ve put so much in to. However, if this is a situation you find yourself in, there may be an alternative. You could still sell your home quickly, to stop repossession, but arrange to rent your property back, so you don’t have to move out. There are plenty of organisations that offer “sell and rent back” schemes, so how do they work?

Getting an organisation to buy your property and then rent it back to you, as a way to stop repossession, is nothing new, and there has been a successful market for these kind of house sales for years. While most businesses provide a genuine solution to those who are having problems with their mortgage, recently, the Financial Services Authority has started to regulate this market, to make sure homeowners are being treated fairly. So the first thing you need to do, if this looks like your best option to stop repossession, is to make sure the companies you are talking to are FSA registered.

It’s usually a good idea to speak to more than one organisation, to make sure you get the best offer for your house. Make sure they use a surveyor who is registered with the RICS, so they are basing their offer on the realistic market value of your property. The offers you get will usually be slightly less than the market value of your property, so whilst these schemes are a good way to stop repossession, make sure you are not losing too much money just because you need a quick sale.

Once you have agreed a value for the sale of your home, you then need to arrange the terms for renting it back. Most organisations will provide you with a long term rental agreement, often up to 5 years, so you have the security of knowing you can stay in your home for the foreseeable future. Check what happens at the end of the rental period, you should be able to get the option to expend your lease, and sometimes you can even buy your property back. It’s also a good idea to understand who you will actually be renting the property from, to make sure you have a reputable and reliable landlord, who will charge you a fair market rent throughout the term of your lease. Don’t be afraid to ask plenty of questions, and if you’re using a reputable company, they should be happy to answer them all.

Selling your home quick and agreeing to rent it back, might be your best option to stop repossession, and still stay in your home, but make sure you’ve looked into it thoroughly, and considered all the alternatives. As well as losing some of the equity in your house, with interest rates as low as they’ve been, you might find that your rent is the same, or more, than you were paying for your mortgage. Of course, you may be able to manage this once you’ve cleared your arrears and used any additional equity to pay off other debts, but it’s something you might want to get more advice on. Selling and renting your house back could be a good way to stop repossession in the short term, but you want to make sure you don’t end up with more problems further down the line.