Get out of debt by selling up – A radical solution to your financial problems. Could it work for you?

Moving on – but think it through before you start:
1– Weigh up your personal circumstances
2 – Slicing through the knot – is this a good idea?
3 – Doing the deed, fixing and resetting your life

Getting into arrears on your mortgage, and getting into debt is for most people the result of some unfortunate life event – even if the real financial problems come way down the line, months or even years later.

Losing your job, illness, illness of a loved one, death of a partner – all of these are misfortunes that can lead to severe financial issues. And through no fault of your own. Debt and financial worries can grind you down – no question of that. It is exhausting, super stressful and it’s easy to stop thinking straight.

“I just want to run away and leave it all!” That’s a common reaction and you wouldn’t be human if you didn’t feel that. Generally it’s not possible to “hand your keys in”, but there is often the option to sell your house, unwind all your financial problems, and walk off.  Get out of debt by selling up in short.

Get out of debt by selling up – look before you leap!

If you’re thinking about doing this, it is crucial to:
– Think clearly
– Be realistic
– Deal with things in an organised fashion
– Set yourself up for the best possible situation after the sale

Thinking clearly can be tough when you’re under pressure. The best advice here is to write things down: create task lists for yourself and write your plan so you can look through it to see if it all makes sense. Also, find a friend  or relative to talk it through with. This is often the hard bit. You feel embarrassed and stupid but most likely people will be helpful and also, you will find, quite surprisingly, people have been in tough situations themselves.

Be realistic

Get out of debt by selling up (or downsizing your home): Be realistic: Write down what you owe and prioritise what you need to pay out on a monthly basis. Write down what you can realistically sell your property for, and check this carefully against Rightmove and Zoopla. Write down what you owe on the mortgage and what you owe on your other debts.

Then you need to take this work a step further. How much cash do you need to make this happen? It might not be that much in the scheme of things, but cash is scarce right? That’s the whole point. You will need to pay for a legals, marketing, EPC and so on for your property, you may need to decorate and spruce the place up. Everyone’s situation is different, but do be sure you can make this happen.

Being organised

Then – be organised. Get your to-do lists in order and be relentless. Try and immerse yourself in doing this work as fast as possible. Selling a home can be emotional, but work hard and get through this. If you have not sold a property for a few years you’ll be surprised how many documents you have to come up with. Be relentless.

Look forward and think ahead by planning properly

And finally – make sure you’re planning all this looking forward. Make sure you put yourself in the best possible position when you’ve finished up:

– Plan to remove as many stresses as possible

– Plan to have somewhere to live where you can be happy

– Make sure you wind up with your credit file clear

– Plan to finish up with as little debt as possible

– Plan to finish up living within your means, with your outgoings covered by your income

Summary

I know this is a lot to think about but this is a huge decision and let’s face it, you are thinking about this all the time anyway. This is positive action you’re taking and if your first plan doesn’t work, you’ll likely find a different one which will work.

Think of this as pushing a heavy cart over a bump in the road. It may seem like you can’t get over that bump – but if you get people to help you, and get everything set, with one big heave you can get the load over the bump, and after that the going will be smoother.