Equity release?

chesky369

Even a bank loan would be less dramatic than equity release. I think that should be treated as a very last resort. You say houses aren't selling well at the moment but perhaps you're expecting too high a price - houses will generally sell if they're good value.

margaretclare

DH and I didn't have very long to wait at all for our cataract surgery. Nowadays you don't have to wait until it 'ripens', you just need to show that it is affecting your life, and obviously, as a driver, it is. We are both drivers and the bonus is no more cataract and also, no need to wear glasses for short sight because that is corrected at the same time. We'd both worn glasses for some 60 years, so it's great.

missile

royeee wrote: »

This is a routine procedure nowadays so no real benefit in paying to have this done privately.

I know that, I also know how long some have to wait:rolleyes: and was suggesting she could go private so she got it done quicker:j

I cannot drive currently as I have cataracts, and I am the only driver in the family.

missile

margaretclare wrote: »

DH and I didn't have very long to wait at all for our cataract surgery. Nowadays you don't have to wait until it 'ripens', you just need to show that it is affecting your life, and obviously, as a driver, it is. We are both drivers and the bonus is no more cataract and also, no need to wear glasses for short sight because that is corrected at the same time. We'd both worn glasses for some 60 years, so it's great.

The waiting time varies depending on where you live. http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Statistics/Performancedataandstatistics/HospitalWaitingTimesandListStatistics/DH_082886
18 weeks can seem like a long time

Please note, it was just an idea. I was not suggesting private is the way to go for everyone. Obviously we each have many calls on our resources and must prioritise how we spend our cash. I have some friends who live in Cardif and they felt it was worth spending their money to have cataracts done privately.

lisyloo

Auction is one way to get a house sold quickly.
You should expect to get only 70% for the benefit of not having to wait, but if it was a gift then that might not be an issue.

As someone else said it will sell at the right price.
If houses are not selling then they are not priced correctly for the current demand.

What kind of repairs are needed?
Is this professional only stuff or is it the sort of thing that a oyoung couple could do e.g. painting/decorating?

Another option is to get a young couple in for 6 months at a reduced rent to get one of the houses done up.

You are living in one at the moment and planning to move to the other so they must both be habitable.

margaretclare

Waiting times for cataract surgery, ours was done in the ophthalmology department at Southend University Hospital.

I had an initial appointment 17th July 2007.
Left eye: 18th September
Right eye: 15th October - this was at short notice because of a cancellation.

DH had his done about 3 months earlier. You can sometimes get them done quicker if you're willing to accept short notice. We didn't think we'd been waiting long at all.

missile

margaretclare wrote: »

......... We didn't think we'd been waiting long at all.

If that includes the time from referral by your doctor(?), I would agree that is very prompt service.

margaretclare

missile wrote: »

If that includes the time from referral by your doctor(?), I would agree that is very prompt service.

No, it doesn't include the referral time. I was referred directly from my optician and I had 3 choices of hospital to go to. I went to a private hospital locally through the NHS but I didn't like the consultant's attitude, so I went back to the optician and asked to be referred to the NHS hospital, which has been innovative in modern treatments, and we were very pleased with it all. It is fantastic not to need glasses after all these years, but that is really the bonus.

HellsGranny

Sorry folks, the cataracts are a different issue. I was asking about Equity release.

missile

You did mention cataracts.
Sorry, you are not happy with our advice. Perhaps if you were a bit more specific, what do you need to know? There are many posts on MSE about the pros and cons of equity release. You could try a search and you might get whatever info you may require.

See here > http://www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk/pdfs/equity_release.pdf