120k - house or some sort of stock market investment?

Another broker/platform worth considering is Cavendish on line.

pip895 wrote: »

With current interest rates and the state of the stock market - I personally would keep the property. Pay off my own mortgage and go with drip feeding monies saved from the mortgage + any excess from the rent into pension + isa. With regard to the property I would not employ an agent - they make IFAs look cheep and some are worse than useless. The internet is your friend.

I agree except for the agent. Mine cost 8% (no VAT) and this is tax deductable. They dealt with everything and all I needed to do was fill out a tax form each year which took all of 30 minutes. Finding a decent agent might not be easy but they are out there.

It is interesting how many people get interested in ploughing money into the stockmarket when prices rise. Whatever the original poster does she should not lump sum invest on the basis of knowledge gained from a couple of books. I have many stocks but have drip fed money into them over the last 30 years. Stick to unit/investment trusts and you won't go far wrong. Individual stocks should be avoided for novices.

Having said all this the reality is the markets are presently toppish but property is anticipated to rise. To me who has invested in both property and stocks, the property option for the OP is a no brainer despite what others might say.

bigadaj wrote: »

Property is guaranteed to rise?

I can't see it myself, whilst there may be demand then we are at the very end of the government induced housing bubble surely. Funding for lending is starting to end, interest rates can only go one way and with 300 year lows people are still struggling to pay their mortgage.

The only thing that can sensibly happen to the property market is a correction, either short and painful or long, drawn out and flat to allow inflation to reduce prices in absolute terms.

I like a spread of asset classes, and can see more of an argument for keeping a property than the expense of buying, but at least shares are backed by dividends and earnings which are very healthy in historic terms even at current prices.

I didn't say "guaranteed to rise" I said ........"anticipated to rise" which is very different.

I too like a spread of asset classes to include cash, stockmarket linked investments and property. The original poster already has £10000 invested in unit trusts. For an investment of £120k in her share of the property she will generate an income of around £550 per month in an asset which is ANTICIPATED to increase. There will of course be offsetting expenses but she advises the property is in a nice rentable area and presumably is in good condition.

There has been no government induced housing bubble - quite the reverse unless you live in London - as the government has attempted to stimulate demand by introducing measures which have yet to kick in.

But for the sake of argument let's say the property will fall in value as you suggest even though that is not the common perception. Will that necessarily matter because she will still be generating a monthly return? If people start selling houses because of a rise in interest rates won't that stimulate demand in the rented sector? As demand rises without an equivalent rise in supply the rental income will rise according to the basic laws of supply and demand. History tells me that property prices will rise in the long term as will shares.

The earlier advice suggests drip feeding money into equities. What is wrong with that?

The OP's other solution is to sell her £120k share in the property and invest in shares. That is a very bad idea for a person who needs a book to help her invest.