I'd appreciate some advice about financing a house move. I would like to move home from England to Scotland. The current market value of my house is around 250,000 and my mortgage, taken out years ago, is
35,000. The kind of property I want in Scotland would cost around 175,000 - so I should be in the happy position of being able to buy outright from the proceeds of my sale and still have a bit of change left over after paying solicitors, estate agents, surveyors etc.The problem is timing. I would like to be in a position to make an offer when I find the property I like (which would then be legally binding in Scottish law, unlike in England where an offer to buy "subject to contract" is meaningless ) even if I have not then reached the point of exchange of contracts on my sale (the equivalent legally-binding point in English law, but which comes much later in the process). What's my best way to achieve this? My existing mortgage lender will only offer limited bridging loan facilities, and only if contracts have already been exchanged on the sale (and possibly not at all if a new mortgage is not placed with them on the purchase!)
So, what are my options? Am I likely to find anyone offering open-ended bridging finance - and if so, at what sort of rate?