"Homeowners" who can't afford to be "homeowners"

nearlynew

PasturesNew wrote: »

One of the reasons I sold my house was because I couldn't afford to maintain/improve it... or even go out of the door. After buying it, circumstances changed and I was earning only 1/3rd to 1/2 of what I'd been on when I first bought it. So it was belt-tightening in the extreme. Most of the time I had no lighting on, nor heating. When the boiler packed up I went 6 months (winter) without hot water or heating (first bloke told me it'd be £200 to fix it, then another problem in the house occurred and the next bloke I got in said it was £30, so I had it done). Blocked drains - 3 visits from dynorod ... and a huge bill. The list of "minor things I'd like to get done because they're actually quite important really" was over 100 items.

Why didn't you just MEW like other people and just pretend you could afford it?

Thermidor

Pastures New, are you trying to tell me you had over 100 jobs needed doing? What rot!

In my experience maintaining one's property is quite simple and inexpensive, providing you attend to any jobs that need doing before they cause bigger problems. In just the same way you have your car serviced to prevent sudden breakdowns, so you should have your boiler serviced for example. Dripping taps and such like are very cheap to repair, anyway. We also have insurance which covers us for repairs, but we seldom have things going catastrophically wrong. In the unlikely event a tile blew off the roof our insurance covers that, and I can't really think of many other things that can go drastically wrong.

Of course, appliances wear out after time, but so they would do if you rented a place. Likewise decorating needs to be done every few years or so, but that's life. And part of the fun of having your own home and decorating it to your taste.

dktreesea

phil_b wrote: »

I think the costs of maintaining a property are way overblown by those who highlight them. They really arent that bad and you can get replacement stuff cheaply enough on ebay in many cases.

Also, a lot of general maintenance/decorating stuff can be done by the owner with a little effort, motivation and competence. Sadly many seem to lack those things though.

The only issue that would really catch me out financialy would be the roof caving in perhaps... but that doesnt happen often. I think I could deal with most other things without hammering the bank balance.

Maintenance costs can be considerable though, with or without a mortgage. We live in a block of flats built towards the end of the 19th century. When the roof sprang a leak, the scaffolding alone cost thousands to hire and put up. A slate roof, repaired with slate, - those kinds of roofers don't come cheap. And they had to "re-do" (whatever that actually meant) the chimneys. £61,000 later, and divvied up between the seven owners equally. One of the people downstairs, an older man, who owned his property outright but is now a pensioner, had to sell up, because he didn't have the £8,500 that was his share, and also had no way of earning it, being well into his 70s. He was heart-broken. Thank goodness we rent. The ONLY way I will ever buy a place is if it is detached and a house, not shared with anyone, and preferably brand new from a reputable builder with a ten year guarantee. That way, if the roof springs a leak, at least I can put a bucket underneath the leak while I persuade the bank to cough up a loan so I can fix it!

PasturesNew

Thermidor wrote: »

Pastures New, are you trying to tell me you had over 100 jobs needed doing? What rot!

In my experience maintaining one's property is quite simple and inexpensive, providing you attend to any jobs that need doing before they cause bigger problems. In just the same way you have your car serviced to prevent sudden breakdowns, so you should have your boiler serviced for example. Dripping taps and such like are very cheap to repair, anyway. We also have insurance which covers us for repairs, but we seldom have things going catastrophically wrong. In the unlikely event a tile blew off the roof our insurance covers that, and I can't really think of many other things that can go drastically wrong.

Of course, appliances wear out after time, but so they would do if you rented a place. Likewise decorating needs to be done every few years or so, but that's life. And part of the fun of having your own home and decorating it to your taste.

It's not rot. It was a big house, lots of jobs to do. I used to keep a list. All small stuff, not like dripping taps, but needed sorting out. I don't want to list too many here as it will be a bit depressing remembering how !!!!! it was, but LOTS.

At times, after bills, I had just £50/month left for food.... even the materials were out of the question - and I have 0 skills.

After my long winter without a boiler, I got the gas £12/month policy, that serviced it yearly and fixed it. Best £12 I ever spent... it paid for itself 4x over.

PasturesNew

Mozette wrote: »

Well I do speak from the position of someone who bought a house when they were affordable to normal people, but surely anyone buying should factor in some amount each month for emergencies and extras? I always have.

You can't do that if your job finishes - and every other job you have ever after is less than 1/2 what you were on when you bought it? And that happens 18 months after you bought it.

olly300

dktreesea wrote: »

The ONLY way I will ever buy a place is if it is detached and a house, not shared with anyone, and preferably brand new from a reputable builder with a ten year guarantee. That way, if the roof springs a leak, at least I can put a bucket underneath the leak while I persuade the bank to cough up a loan so I can fix it!

All the people I know who live in new or newish properties i.e. those under 10 years old have already had maintenance issues.

Don't presume that builders do things like extractor fans, guttering, drains or plumbing properly. In addition gardens and fences if you can't do it yourself can cost a lot of money of money to maintain.

And if you scrimp by not oiling/varnishing your wooden windows, fencing or decking every year then in 5 years you will end up with an expensive bill.

Thermidor

PasturesNew wrote: »

It's not rot. It was a big house, lots of jobs to do. I used to keep a list. All small stuff, not like dripping taps, but needed sorting out. I don't want to list too many here as it will be a bit depressing remembering how !!!!! it was, but LOTS.

At times, after bills, I had just £50/month left for food.... even the materials were out of the question - and I have 0 skills.

After my long winter without a boiler, I got the gas £12/month policy, that serviced it yearly and fixed it. Best £12 I ever spent... it paid for itself 4x over.

So if it was dripping taps what was it? You're telling me you had 100 jobs in the house that needed fixing? I don't believe you.

By the way, £30 to repair a boiler is very cheap! I also don't believe you went 6 months without heating or hot water all for the sake of £200. You're cuckoo old chap. Totally cuckoo.

nearlynew

PasturesNew wrote: »

........... and I have 0 skills.

I don't know about that.


I've heard that your value beans on stale toasted bread is to die for..

PasturesNew

nearlynew wrote: »

Why didn't you just MEW like other people and just pretend you could afford it?

LOL... you can't MEW when you've either no job, or a job of about £15k, when the mortgage is ... *shudders*. When I got the house, the mortgage was affordable, I then spent a lot of essentials (new windows needed throughout, it had no central heating, loft area was open/exposed, garage was dangerous, no rear security (even the back door was an internal door with glass in it). Then there were other problems discovered along the way, so in came the electricians, the flooring people.... then out went the avocado suite. It was all "basics" ... but then the job went.

Thermidor

olly300 wrote: »

All the people I know who live in new or newish properties i.e. those under 10 years old have already had maintenance issues.

Don't presume that builders do things like extractor fans, guttering, drains or plumbing properly. In addition gardens and fences if you can't do it yourself can cost a lot of money of money to maintain.

And if you scrimp by not oiling/varnishing your wooden windows, fencing or decking every year then in 5 years you will end up with an expensive bill.

Maybe you'd be better just renting a council property for the rest of your days? Problem solved. After all, if you can't be bothered to brush a pot of varnish on a fence every 5 years you must have what's called 'council house mentality'.