We desperately want to move out our house, for us its too hard to maintain-eg,we have about half an acre of grass which my husband has to find the time to cut and weed. There are other ongoing issues with it too, poor drains that constantly block, leaky conservatory. We haven't got the money to pour into it anymore. I am disabled and cannot help with most maintenance tasks so its a massive burden on my husband which has actually effected his mental health over the years.

So anyway,we want to get out, but are unsure about what to for the best.

These are what options we think we have.

1. Rent it for about £500 per month (we are in lucky position that we have someone who wants to take it on for 5 years and do all maintanance. After 5+ years, sell the house.

We like this option but would need a big mortgage to buy new house (avg 200-250). Can we get a mortgage now for this amount? My husband has a permanent job earns about 40,000 per annum. I have just secured a job (but not started yet) for 30,000. Could we use the existing house as collateral? Our last estimate of its worth was about 240,000 but that was a couple of years ago. Would we be better off getting an interest only mortgage whilst we are renting out the house?

2. Part exchange on a new development

3. Use one of these quickmovenow type companies.

4. What about selling the land for development?, we could easily fit a few houses on our plot. Dont know where to start with this really?

We could put it up for sale, but dont really want to hang around for another year whilst it sells.

We just dont know what to do for the best. What mortgages are actually out there that might suit are needs?. Can anyone give us some advice on the pitfalls of these options?? Are they even viable for us?

Thanks

Generally options 2 and 3 will be the easy options where you will lose out financially.

I can assure you that any tenant who promises to maintain the house will, with the best will in the world, do no more that cheap and cheerful repairs. £500 per month is a very small rent for a £240k property.

If you can get planning permission to build on the land, you should be able to make money but this wont unblock your drains. Even if you don't actually go ahead with building, the existence of planning permission will add value to the property. You should certainly investigate whether or not it is likely to be granted to help with the decision.

In your shoes I would probably go with the selling option to avoid the burden of still being responsible for the property. Yes, the market is depressed so you would need to be flexible with the price if you wanted to make a sale in the next few months but this could work in your favour. In a depressed market, you could find that others sellers may be equally flexible with their asking prices if they are wanting to sell to you.