Picture this scenario: You leaf through the catalogue of houses for sale. Then you find the house of your dreams. You contact the sales agent and agree to buy the house.

You then proceed to sell your own house so as to raise money to buy the new one. You find a buyer. He declares his willingness to buy your property at your listed price. But on the last minute, he backs out saying he has been refused a mortgage.

What happens next? You don’t get money from your property. And you aren’t able to buy your dream house.

This situation is a classic example of a broken sales chain. All the while, when you thought that the transaction related to the sale of your property is going smooth and steady, it was actually fraught with the risk of collapsing any moment thanks to a broken sales chain. Many people, who are struggling to sell their house in order to buy a new one, end up losing the deal at the last moment thanks to a broken sales chain.

Now the question is, should you simply accept the fact that you can’t buy your dream house, not with a broken sales chain throwing a spanner in the works at the last minute?

Or you should

• Wait it out in the hope that the chain won’t break
• Get an expensive bridging loan
• Not look for a new property until you’ve sold yours and stay with relatives or in rented accommodation until you find somewhere that is suitable.

Not very attractive options, are they?

Don’t lose heart! There is one great option available. You can avail services of a sell and rent back company like SellHouseFastCash to get the cash you need to purchase your new home.

This option will:

• Save you money from the bridging loan
• Help you avoid purchasing a Home Information Pack – more saving
• Speed up the sale and purchase process
• Give you control over the completion date
• Reduce your stress levels considerably

Seems like terrific idea, right? This option is particularly attractive if you are struggling to sell your property in the open market or you just want a quick no-fuss house sale and are prepared to get a bit less than the over-inflated valuations of estate agents. This will also make sure that there are no heartbreaks because of broken sales chain.

Divorce in itself a protractive process and when coupled with a problem of settlement of property issues, it can be even more painstaking. It took complete four years for Lizy and me to discover that we are not made for each other and we should legally untie the nuptial knot. We filed for divorce and after 2 months from the time of filing the petition, the court proceedings came to an end. Besides other settlements, the court ordered us to equally divide the property, i.e. our condominium that we purchased after putting almost equal share.

Since we cannot share the same roof now, we decided to sell off the property and divide the amount equally. I was about to fly to Berlin to join as Senior Draftsman in an architectural firm, while she wanted to stay back in Birmingham as her fashion boutique in the busiest shopping arcade of the city was bringing her good money

We weren’t frankly on talking terms and so hunting out buyers together to sell our property was out of the question. We both were trying to sell the same house independently. We both contacted two different realtors and published ads in newspaper classifieds to get the house sold as fast as possible.

In fact, we had started the house selling process even before the divorcee through as we knew the legal process may take some time and hence it’s better to start taking preparatory measures by selling the commonly bought property before hand.

As anticipated by us, the court also ordered for the equal division and our efforts to sell property doubled up. And our frustration at not getting results increased.

Neither the realtors nor the newspaper classifieds brought any potential buyer. We were desperate and exhausted. It was just 26 more days for me in Birmingham and after that I had to fly to Berlin. Lizy was more than occupied in her boutique and felt frustrated whenever she had to keep away from work to meet realtors, negotiate with buyers, etc.

The situation were getting worse by the fact that everyday after work we both had to come back to share the same house even after divorce. We both wanted to settle it fast but had no clew. We decided to visit one of our common friends and property consultant-Mike, thinking he can help us in selling our house.

Mike turned out to be a great help. He told us that we were wasting our time and money by visiting realtors when we wanted to sell property urgently. He gave us a few numbers and website addresses of cash buyers of property.

We were not aware of the cash buyers and so asked Mike to give us some information on the trade. Mike told us that cash buyers are actually private investors who buy property immediately by paying all amount in cash.

They will offer you a price that is slightly lower than the market rate. But considering there is no middleman and no closing cost involved, the lower price factor should not bother you.

Plus, they guarantee to sell your house and settle all liens within 28-30 days. They also offer you to sell and rent back the same house option. If Lizy is willing to stay in the same house she can.

After 4-5 months of frantic but unfruitful efforts, it all sounded too good to be true, until we walked to one of the cash buyers referred by Mike. We actually sold our house in 13 days time and now I am in Berlin, while Lizy continues to live in the same house on rent.

If you are undergoing divorce and wanted to sell your property, approach one of the cash buyers in your area. I got the best service because I had a friend and property consultant Mike with me. But all may not be lucky enough to have friend like Mike. Just this thought prompted me to write this blog.

In my opinion no landlord would like to go through the complex and time-consuming process of evicting a tenant. But at times there is no choice left. The reasons could be anything ranging from non-payment of rent or nuisance to breach of the tenancy agreement and so on.

When and how a landlord can evict a tenant depends on where he lives and the type of tenancy involved.

If the landlord has not received satisfactory rent arrears repayment then he has full right to take legal action in order to recover the outstanding rent payment and ultimately to evict a tenant.

When your tenant is defaulting on rent, then as a landlord you can take recourse to two types of court proceedings.

• Accelerated possession procedure and
• Rent arrears ground

Accelerated possession Procedure

In this procedure, you don’t have to go through hearings and the order is made on the paperwork. If all your relevant paperwork is in order, then you should go for this method.

You can use this if

• The tenancy is an assured shorthold tenancy (AST)
• The tenancy agreement is in written and
• A section 21 notice is served on the tenant.

If you win you obtain an order for possession and an order that the tenant pay fixed costs.

The advantage of this type of procedure is that it is comparatively fast, and there are no court hearings.

Under the Rent Arrears Ground

Under this proceeding, court order is given only after attending the court hearings. You can go for this method if your tenant owes you more than 2 months or 8 weeks rent.

You issue a section 8 housing act notification to your tenant and a notice period of two weeks to repay the arrears. If he fails, then the court will fix the date for a hearing and you need to provide proof of the rent arrears.

Both types of proceedings have their pros and cons which I would discuss in my next posting. Apart from these methods, you can also approach property buying companies which help in dealing with landlord tenant issues and comparatively take much lesser time as compared to these law proceedings.

The wrinkles on the face of Mrs. & Mr. Ben have started growing prominent for the past 5-6 months. Mrs.Ben works in a departmental store as an Accountant while Mr.Ben was to retire from the post of Purchasing Manager from a Govt. owned Construction Company. In their heydays, they managed to buy a house in Glasgow on mortgage. The term of mortgage was fixed for 25 years and it’s now been 19 years of successful repayment with no bounce backs of checks from Mr. Ben’s bank account.

This was Mr. Ben’s last month in the job and Mrs. Ben was not physically fit to continue with her present job. The increasing power of her lenses was sometimes being cheated by the numbers in the account book. A serious error in book keeping can cost her job anytime and she could foresee this for sure despite her myopic vision. Her mistake gnawed at her conscience.

Mrs. & Mr. Ben have not been able to saved a lot and now what Mr. Ben would be getting after retirement can only support for their living. The problem was to find a solution that can help them to repay their mortgage balance.

Unfortunately they do not have any child who could bear their responsibilities. There was no option left but to sell their only home. They started with a classified ad in newspaper. The response was poor and discouraging. With 7 years of mortgage repayment still left and limited physical movements actually made the task of finding a potential buyer even tougher.

The folds in the wrinkles of this couple clearly narrate the story of their pains. It’s just a few days left in retirement and the couple has no means to support their present lifestyle for longer.

Besides, once they have sold they need to find a new house on rent too. They tried to sell property through real estate agents but could not find any potential buyer who could carry forward the repayment of their mortgage balance.

Mr. Ben retired before the house could be sold and Mrs. Ben was asked to resign as she figured 860 as 360 causing a loss of 500 pounds to the owner. This was not the first time she happened to misread numbers. Now she is looking for another job where she does not have to deal with numbers.

3 months past and the couple started feeling the burden of heavy mortgage repayments. While reading the morning newspaper, Mr. Ben eyes stuck to the headline of an article that said “sell house fast and rent back”. Mr. Ben could feel the blood gushing towards his heart making it pump faster. He hungrily read the lines.

The article talked about cash buyers and private investors who purchase property in cash within 28 days and offer you the option of living in the same house on rent. Mr. Ben switched on his Laptop to check the website http://www.sellhousefastcash.co.uk as mentioned in the article. He immediately send online query and waited for their call.

An hour later Mrs.Ben picked the phone and inform Mr. Ben that they are ready to buy our house and will pay us by cash. They will take care of the remaining mortgage and we can continue living in the same house as renter. Seven days later, Mrs. and Mr.Ben were basking under the sun, sipping morning tea and planning to visit some of the relatives in Dover.

The house was sold. They had enough cash in bank and do not have to worry for the mortgage repayments.

Repossessions are taking place in such large numbers in UK that I am afraid situation would become as bad as in USA.

I can’t describe how bad I felt when I saw my best friend’s house being repossessed. Sam was in tears. His mother was crying aloud. My heart went out to them. It was such a terrible sight. I was cursing those mortgage lenders who had turned so rude and harsh. Just some time ago these very guys were politeness personified when Sam had approached them. How can people be so inhuman? It pained me so much seeing my friend becoming homeless.

It all started when Sam approached a mortgage lending company for a loan to buy a home. The sub-prime loan meant for people with low income and damaged credit report was granted to him at an interest rate higher than other loans. At that point of time I tried to reason with him. But he told me firmly, “I need to buy a house and this is as good a time as can be. I know the interests are on the higher side. But I will manage I know.” I didn’t say a word after that.

Over a period of time, Sam found it difficult to cough up huge mortgage payments. After all he was the only bread earner in the family. He had to take care of his ailing mother and younger brother too. For some time he pressed on somehow, but after a few months he fell behind on the mortgage payments.

Soon he got a repossession order from his creditor. He tried to convince them that once his condition improves he would clear all his dues. But they turned a deaf ear. They were the same people who were so eager to offer Sam a loan even when they were very much aware that he wasn’t a high earner.

And now that he had a few mortgage payments piled up, these lenders turned so wicked. Gosh! People are so mean. Even I dint have enough funds to help him get out of the situation. Eventually he lost his house. I get goose bumps every time I think of that day. It was such a terrible day. Wish Sam could prevent it somehow.

Seriously common man has suffered a lot because of this sub-prime crisis. True, economy has been affected badly. But the common man has suffered the most, he has become homeless.

Just a few days back my colleague, John narrated to me how he managed to sail through the same problem by selling off his home. It took care of the remaining mortgage payments and with the cash he go, he cleared the dues he had got piled up due to all the financial juggling he had had to do.

He told me there are cash property buyers who are ready to help people in such situations. They purchase properties for cash payments and make the deal happen in a matter of few weeks. They don’t charge any fees and also offer the opportunity to sell your home and then rent it back. Not just that, you can also buy back your property from these cash house buyers in future when you become financially strong.

I was stunned to hear about this. Nobody suggested this idea to us that time. How badly I wish I had known about this earlier. May be Sam wouldn’t have been homeless.

I would suggest anybody in a similar situation to sell your house in order to save it. And save your credit worthiness too.

Imagine how would it feel if one day you suddenly find yourself thrown out of your job. You have lost your job and you stand the risk of losing your house too. The company I was working with had gone bankrupt. The rot had set in earlier but only the company’s top brass new about it, rest of us had no inkling. We had heard that the company was facing some trouble and that it was being sorted out.

All of a sudden when we were told that we had no job! My world crashed around me. How would I take care of my two children and pay the mortgage for my house now? The future seemed so dark.

I applied for a job everywhere I could think of, went to consultants, gave endless interviews. But all in vain. Since I was out of work; I was unable to make the payments. Carol, my wife worked in a departmental store. But she was not earning enough to run the house as well as pay the mortgage arrears too.

As I was expecting it, soon I was contacted by my mortgage lender regarding repossession of my home. I tried to convince my creditor that I would clear all his dues once I get a job. But the lender told me bluntly, “Pay the mortgage or forget about your home.” Home repossession in the UK is increasing I had heard but had never thought it would hit me below the belt.

Jesus, I can’t describe the fear of watching auctioneers sell,my home away in the auction. I badly wanted a miracle which could prevent repossession. Shall I sell my home myself? But the thought of going through the rigmarole of estate agents, their fees, the legal fees, sundry other payments….x y z….is too scary.

I had seen what my sister went through when she tried to sell her house via agents. They make you wait for months or even a year before your house is being finally sold. And I was running short of time.

Then my colleague and friend, Matthew suggested me to get in touch with cash investors who buy property really fast and without any hassles. I wasn’t too sure of it. But then I didn’t have any other option. So I checked out this property buying company online

Matthew was right. It is an organization of cash investors who like angels pulled me out of the crisis. The deal was completed in less than a month. It immediately put a halt to the home repossession process. These investors bought my property and paid me in cash. And what’s more I even rented back my home.

My creditworthiness is intact. That cash helped me pay off my creditors and I didn’t even vacate my home. Sure they were angels.

So you have decided upon emigration from UK to USA. Great, you and your family are excited to bits on the prospects of great new job, chance to explore and live in that land of opportunity - the melting pot called USA. But inside you are worried stiff.

Reason being the logistical problems like how to sell your home fast ; whether or not to dispose of the furniture; how to ship your stuff across Atlantic with minimum damages; how to get that monster of paperwork done in time; and last but not the least what exactly you would encounter once you get there.

Not for nothing George Bernard Shaw observed that UK and USA are “two countries divided by common language”. So guys except for language (even it can differ like chalk and cheese quite a few times) nothing is same between these two great nations. So how does one go about crossing the Atlantic rather permanently?

Let’s tackle the big (read real estate) issues first. Before actually getting down to the business of selling the house or any other property, you need to empty it right. Maximum space in a modern urban house is taken by various types of furniture. Alas all of it can’t be moved to USA as it is not feasible physically and economically. You would be better off purchasing or renting the new ones once you get to the USA.

So how does one go about disposing off the ‘extra’ furniture? Well try car boot sale party. This is actually quite good an idea of socializing and having a blast with your neighbours, friends, ex-colleagues for one last time besides pushing off your furniture and accessories.

Car boot sale will help you clearing some of the stuff but big and expensive ones might still be left. You can offer the purchaser of your home these furniture at lower than market price. Chances are that he/she will readily agree as it will be cost saving both on ‘getting one’ and ‘shifting it’ fronts.

If still you are left with some furniture, just donate it to some charity. Someone somewhere might just get a chance of lying on a real bed or studying on proper table chair set up because of your largesse. Pretty neat idea I guess!

After all these exercises you will be left only with essential ones (hopefully) which need to be shipped across. Look for the companies which offer packing, shipping, storage and unpacking services as well as the ever important “insurance”.

With furniture out of your way you can think about tackling the biggest issue – selling your home and other property if any. There is help available in this regard which will help you sell your home super quick and in cash through the UK wide network of buyers

More on emigration related stuff in next posts.

Bon Voyage!