museumworker's quest to consign mortgage to history!

museumworker

Thanks for popping in Toots, I've been wondering how you're getting on so will pop onto your diary when I can.

Weekend away was lovely, the house was like something out of Elle Decoration, all glass, wood and welsh stone. Bit too modern for me to be my ideal retreat, but lovely to stay in. Although there was a skylight with no blind above the bed for no apparent reason so was awake by 6 every morning :eek:!

Went for walk in Brecon Beacons which was fantastic, and ate lots of lovely homemeade food. Was great to see the other people there, some are absolute stars so had a lovely time catching up with them. Had a little charity shop tour of Brecon, and got an unused Neals Yard handwash and moisturiser set for £2 which is the first Xmas present I will put to one side. Also bought DD a dress for the wedding in Ireland, Next Signature one which is dark red taffeta with beaded neckline, £3.50. I could probably sell it for more once she's worn it!

Going there really made me and OH realise how much we want a home in the countryside. Nothing flash, but with a bit of land. Reckon we need around £200K in today's money. We could then rent out our London home and live off that and a bit of freelancing. So, only £200K left to find - better get looking down the side of the sofas then :rotfl:!

My ridiculously priced ebay items have no bids, and few watchers - they end tomorrow so will have to relist with a lower price . And have had my second Ama$on buyer come back saying they haven't received the items :mad:! A big part of me really doesn't believe them, but all I can do is refund them and try and claim the money back from Royal Snail Mail.

On better news, work have agreed to pay this year's AMA fees = £120 .
And have made another OP of £1.31 :j:D!

This week have a few nights out with DD at mum's. Went for walk round Hyde Park with friend yesterday evening which was just what I needed. Out tonight to see surrogate mum and dad before they go away for a month.

To do this week:
[STRIKE]* order oyster statement[/STRIKE]
* claim expenses
* relist ebay sales once finished
* surveys
* unpack case
* repack case
* 2 x washloads
* 10 comps x day
* send dd package today
[STRIKE]* order nephew's 18th bday card[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]* send 1st bday card to great-nephew
* text sister for right address[/STRIKE]
* pack present for friend's bday
* finish crocheting blanket for other friend's baby
[STRIKE]* transfer money for new oyster card
* purchase new oyster card[/STRIKE]
* add one more thing to ebay listings
* and try to clear my desk of backlog of work at worky work
* night out Thursday with OH's work colleagues
* find out from Scottish Power end date of fixed deal
* research energy deals

Another quiet week in the MFW house then :rotfl:!

museumworker

URGENT HELP NEEDED!!!!

OH and I have seen somewhere we are considering putting an offer in on, as a second home.

What do we need to think about in this situation? Asking price is £100K, needs a lot of work, but we love it, the location, and think we could do it up, rent as holiday home when finished, use it ourselves, and look to move there once London mortgage paid off. Any advice from anyone, websites or book recommendations people can make would be much appreciated. Have never looked into this before.

gallygirl

Well, that was quick :rotfl:

My only caution would be that it WILL be stressful. Could that make your migraines flare up?

It is bad enough trying to arrange work locally (as you know!) - could you do this remotely?

What if interest rates soar? Could you cope with paying both mortgages?

Apart from that, sounds great

museumworker

Thanks for the note of caution, definitely things to consider.

Regarding the stress, my head says no - especially as have had another migraine today - but my heart says YES!!!

Monthly expenses we would need to consider:
Mortgage - c. £500
Council Tax - second home 1/2 tax? est. £60pm
Home insurance - est £20pm
Energy (not using much as not there) est £20pm
Water £50pm
Petrol to get there/back once a month £100

Anything I'm not thinking about?

If is estimated £750pm, we would still have at least £1k spare, which means we would have money to put towards refurbishing/building a larger contingency/ oping mortgage once back on straight and narrow.

Should I look at getting the equity out of the house to buy outright, or seeing if I can get my £8k OPs back from FD, and look at putting 10% deposit down and getting IO Buy 2 let mortgage with 90% ltv??

tootallulah

Heart is VERY important, however have you been to the area in the winter? It all looks so beautiful and idyllic in the summer. Also how often will you have to go and what is the journey like?

It can be stressful having to go somewhere regularly and you do lose touch with London friends because you are not there at week-ends. And it takes a long while to get to know people at the other end because you aren't there that often. If this is really about a holiday place rather than a second home that may be different. My journey is under two hours door to door so it is very easy. It has taken me seven years but I suddenly realised this year that my future life will be in the north not here in London and that is where I want to be.

I made the decision that one of my homes always had to be mortgage free as I couldn't cope with the "very slight chance" I could end up losing both in some financial catastrophe. I therefore kept the two properties unlinked financially in any way. I bought my house after I had paid off the mortgage on my flat but if that had not been possible I would have used the equity in my flat to buy my house outright and pay just one big mortgage off. This may be financial madness but it was necessary for me I am not a risk taker and need security.

It has taken me seven years to do the much needed work on my house that makes it more than a week-end place and it has been very expensive. But just getting there on a Friday night after a hard week at work and sitting in my oasis of a garden is a real delight.

tootallulah

Council tax on second homes is no longer reduced.
Insurance on houses that are largely empty is V expensive and completely necessary, I would assume closer to £50.
Energy, you need some usage in winter to stop everything freezing etc I would assume £30 year round.
You will need to budget for work say £200 per month, otherwise it will never get comfy and you won't want to be there! It is best to save and then have the important things done.

tootallulah

Also based on no knowledge whatsoever I would do it....................................

[Deleted User]

Ooooo mw exciting!!!

In terms of thoughts Id check out what the council tax would be as imagine this will be based on how you are letting it eg as a ll you would have 6 months exempt , not sure how it works with holiday lets etc...
I'll be honest I have found doing up a place 10 mins drive away for the last few months stressful as it took up all evenings /weekends if not doing, then thinking about it .... I imagine there would have been a different sense if it had been somewhere we were eventually going to live, but doing that on top of keeping everything going at home and full time work for both of us felt a lot - for me anyway! (and thats with mrtyo doing much of the hard/practical labour!!)
Finance wise Id consider how secure you would be/what protection would be in place in the event of either interest rises or redundancy etc..
At the same time, sometimes you have to go with your heart and if you feel this would be where you want your life to be in a few years time thats also important.... I guess as well presumably for that price there may be others in similar area's come up in the future at a similar price? so there is time to think about it and make financial /emotional decisions without rushing if thats what you need to do . what does OH think about it all?

sorry about the migraines

gallygirl

tootallulah wrote: »

Also based on no knowledge whatsoever I would do it....................................

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

OK, I've given the sensible advice already. Now for the other side.

We bought a holiday home in Spain 4 years ago. Financially not a good move as we bought at the top of the market, but that is offset by the fact that we sold 2 btl's at the top of the market here, and also got around €1.50 to the pound.

We rent it out when we can, on www.holiday-rentals.co.uk (property 83248 if anyone's interested :rotfl:) which costs around £280 a year but usually get around 5 weeks bookings on it, plus another couple to friends. We don't make real money on it but it pays for the upkeep and also our flights. We pay a keyholder €200 a year and extra for cleaning etc. Great, as he waters plants so it feels more homely when we are there, and he arranged for repairs etc. Even in the UK I think it's vital to have someone nearby who can do all this for you.

Psychologically, I'm fine with strangers staying there. It's a business transaction & pays towards my holidays. I can't BEAR it when friends are there, as I can picture them sitting on the terrace, in my favourite chair etc. Strange it should be that way round!

I always wanted to retire early, but had no specific plan or goals. However, what started as a holiday home very quickly became where I want to live, 365 days a year. It's having that which has 100%(ish ) focused me on paying off the mortgages. At present our daily interest on all mortgages is around £9. Whenever I want to buy something I ask 'do I want this dress if it means I retire a week later/ coffee if it means I retire 6 hours later (:rotfl:). It has really, really motivated me (in some ways I was maybe too focused but have realised I need to have a nice life in the intervening years).

I adore my house. I feel homesick when I'm not there. I can't believe how it has changed my life for the better.

Do your sums & your research (so maybe this present property hasn't come at the right time).

:T:T:T THEN GO FOR IT :T:T:T

Secret_Saving_Squirrel

Hello,

My parents have a second home in the countryside and it was great when we were small, but as we children became teenagers it was a cause of conflict as we wanted to be at home for school events , for example if one of us was in a hockey match on Saturday morning, the whole family had to stay at home, and as we got older we wanted to hang out with friends.

However, it was great when my own children were small and the teenage years are mercifullymshort. If you can afford it, go for it and enjoy it,

Squirrel:j