Poor house purchase decision

blizeH

Wow, so many awesome responses, thanks guys!

@ hazyjo - I'm currently living in Quedgeley, not a hugely desirable place by any means, but my house is in a nice location, and it is easy to commute to Bristol or Cheltenham I guess. I'm not working from home but I (deludedly) think/hope I could find a job doing something at least, since I've had some fairly okay jobs doing various computery things, and wouldn't mind taking a fairly substantial pay cut if necessary.

If I moved to London/Bristol I wouldn't be overly fussed on the accommodation I don't think, as I know it wouldn't be permanent, and I'd still have (potential) to move into a nicer place later on if I sold the two properties. I figure maybe if I just start saving towards a deposit now, I may have enough in a years time to get a mortgage, especially if allowing for the fact I'd have a salary and almost enough to cover the new mortgage just by rent from my current place.

@ sooz - I have some friends here yeah, in fact two live within a minute's walk of my place! But I actually haven't even moved in yet, still living with my parents whilst the work on the house is being finished off.

@ Renovation - good points, although Bristol was the place I potentially want to move to, not from! I too think renting would be a good idea to get a taste for it, but I'm hopefully going to be spending a lot of time visiting my gf over the upcoming however long, so that'll help me gauge whether I want to live there or not too.

@ Doozer - I bought the house about 6 months ago for £226k, and have (stupidly) spent around £18k on doing it up. My mortgage is £70k and I pay back just under £350 a month. Many thanks for the figures on renting too, seems like it's going to be a lot more work than I thought, didn't even think about how much the maintenance costs would increase that much if renting out, but it makes sense.

@ tawse57 - I'm sure you mean well and maybe you're right, but really, that was a little unnecessary.

@ pjcox2005 - I think I agree, I was just exploring my options really, and out of the lot d) really does seem to make sense on paper, but yeah in reality there's so much that can go wrong. The things you mentioned are actually quite likely too - house unoccupied for a few months would cost me thousands, and increasing interest rates could cripple me, although I guess I'd still have one or the other house to fall back on, maybe?

GillsMan7

blizeH wrote: »

Many thanks Gills - so does that also mean you'd recommend I start saving money (towards a deposit, potentially) rather than overpaying on my mortgage? Would probably (definitely) make sense I think, especially since my mortgage is about 3.5% and my current account gets 4% interest!

Just wondering though, assuming I did get £1k per month rent, how much of that could I expect to lose in fees, maintenance, tax and whatever else? Sorry to ask but I've Google'd it quite extensively and can't find anything useful

Cor difficult question. Generally, the advice is to pay off debts before saving. However, that's an overly simplistic view (although correct in the vast majority if situations). Personally, I'd save for a deposit, however my thinking would be coloured by the fact that I'd like to have easy access to my money if I needed it for an emergency.

As pjcox2005 mentioned, there are risks with being a landlord, void periods, dodgy tenants, all the rest of it. To answer your question, however:

£1000 pcm rent - if you had a full management agreement from an agency, I'd guess you'd be looking at paying a fee of around 15%. You'd also need to factor in a fee to your mortgage provider for changing the type of mortgage (mine charged around £3-400), insurance, agency fees, etc. I think you're doing the right thing in exploring all the options, and maybe D is the best option for you, though I would worry about how much you'd lose if you're selling soon after buying.

Simon_Pugsley

tawse57 wrote: »

Get a new girlfriend before she gets a new boyfriend.

Sorry to be so blunt but long-distance relationships just do not work. Two people living on opposite sides of London but working in the same office often find it impossible to keep a relationship going due to distance. Bristol and London - nah.

I don't understand what that has got to do with anything the OP asked..

Why say that ?

RenovationMan

Simon_Pugsley wrote: »

I don't understand what that has got to do with anything the OP asked..

Why say that ?

Because s/he has just been dumped by their long distance love interest?

blizeH

@ Gills - thanks again, I think my best option is to simply save what I can from now on (this was kinda my main reasoning for posting here - I won't be selling and moving in the very near future, but I do want to plan ahead so I have my options open for when it happens) and hopefully have enough for a deposit. If I am in a position I can comfortably do it, and get a job etc to go with it, then I'll have a go at renting my place out anyway - worst case scenario is it doesn't work out and I just try to sell it anyway, maybe?

@ Simon - Probably because in my second post I mentioned my girlfriend lives in London - I'm sure he meant well and yeah like I said the guy is possibly right, but right now we're both really happy and that's all that matters I guess! Thank you btw.

GDB2222

A couple of thoughts:

1. If you live in London and rent out the house in Glos you'll be reliant on the estate agents to manage it and see to any repairs etc. That can be a tad expensive. It's a bit of a worry, so I'd look to sell in the long run.

2. Unless you want to speculate in housing, one house seems the right number to own. So, I'd keep the house in Glos., rent it out, and rent a place for a while in London or Bristol. Once you know for sure where you want to live, I'd sell up in Glos and buy in the new place.

GillsMan7

blizeH wrote: »

@ Gills - thanks again, I think my best option is to simply save what I can from now on (this was kinda my main reasoning for posting here - I won't be selling and moving in the very near future, but I do want to plan ahead so I have my options open for when it happens) and hopefully have enough for a deposit. If I am in a position I can comfortably do it, and get a job etc to go with it, then I'll have a go at renting my place out anyway - worst case scenario is it doesn't work out and I just try to sell it anyway, maybe?

Heh, well worst case scenario is that you get some new tenants in, they stop paying rent from the day they move in, and you don't get them out of the property for six months losing all that money the meantime. But that's unlikely if you do the right checks and swot up on being a Landlord beforehand. So yeah, I think your approach is quite sensible. Whatever you choose, you're putting time and thought into it, which is the most important thing.

tawse57

blizeH wrote: »

@ tawse57 - I'm sure you mean well and maybe you're right, but really, that was a little unnecessary.

Actually, it might be amongst some of the best advice you ever receive. You probably will not believe it now but in 10 or 20 years, when you are older and wiser in relationships, you probably will be saying the same to others.

You have to work out which is important to you - your life, your house, your career, your girlfriend. Yes, this might be the woman that you settle down with, have 5 kids and grow old together walking on Weston Super Mare's prom in your 90s.

But the odds are against it.

You are in Bristol apparently out in the countryside where it is dull, boring and you may have that silly accent that some in Bristol have...

Meanwhile, she is up in sexy, vibrant, youthful, happening London where they make fun of the silly accents from elsewhere in the UK - ignoring that awful Sarf London shrill of their own - and before you know it you will begin, perhaps, to look very dull and not with it...

So you have to make that decision - which is more important to you? Your girl? Or you house, your job, your own life?

It is probably pointless in telling you that few women, at your age, are worth giving up your own life, your own job, home, etc, for. You are probably going to have to learn the hard lessons for yourself. Best of luck to you... but there is not truly just 'the one' for any of us... there are millions of women here in the UK for you and, as harsh as it might sound now, what are you going to do when your girl, probably, decides that she wants to try different types of men before she settles down and have kids?

You need to have some serious conversations with men in their 40s and 50s about relationships... you need to have the same conversation with female friends you can trust to tell you the truth... selling up and moving to London might be something that most of them would not advise you to do.

Sell up and go to London if that is your wish... but go so for your own reasons and interests and not just for a woman. Bristol is choc full of gorgeous women... and Bristol is a really lovely place to live...

People toil and slog in the dirt and noise and stress of London dreaming of getting out and living in places like Bristol.

Here endeth the lesson. Go learn it for yourself.

Have a great life.

hazyjo

Oh !!!!!!, are you a troll, tawse57? Ridiculous. This is a property forum, not a relationship one. You can't speak for everyone in London or Bristol - and obviously still have a lot to learn yourself, however old you are.

Jx

blizeH

Yeah it does seem a little off posting all of that here, seems quite cynical and honestly maybe a little bitter (even insulting) too. You may be right, I don't know, but right now I'm really happy (and optimistic, which is rare for me!) so couldn't care either way.

Not sure I should have to explain my reasoning here, but I was very close to moving to London (or Bristol) before anyway, since there's so much to do and I'm a huge Chelsea fan (would love to go to every game) but decided I liked my job too much to leave it right now, but without a doubt, if I lose my job for whatever reason that I will not want to live here. I need to prepare for that possibility.