Smeagold wants some advice/opinion/input

smeagold

Seeing as this is housing related I thought I'd ask the wise heads on this forum(of which there are many) for a bit of input/ opinion on a recently hatched plan.

I sold in 2008 and made a nice profit which I put into metals(hence the signature) as of now I could sell maybe 75% of that investment and together with other savings could raise over £200k.

The original plan was to wait until houses fall in value and metals to increase, which has happened, and then perhaps buy some land or maybe, in a few years, buy a large house with a few acres.

The missus is restless tho and wants to buy soon but I don't want to buy a house for say £350k and be saddled with a mortgage when IRs are about to rise and prices fall.

The essential problem is proximity. proximity to Mrs Smeas work. Bridgewater. Shes a consultant clinical psychologist, top pay. 3 days a week, but we don't want to buy in that area. prices are too high and we want to live in cornwall/devon where prices are much lower and discounts are getting better and better.

So the(new) plan is, sometime this year(once metals rise more and houses fall more) to find a place in cornwall/devon for maybe £200-250k, that gets you alot, 2 or 3 acres and 3/4 beds and buy it virtually outright while at the same time renting a place in Bridgewater, living there 3 days a week and then 4 days in the owned house in cornwall/devon until such time as mrs Smea gets a job in the area(doesn't matter if it takes 5 years)

Under these circumstances we don't need to worry about IRs rising(no mortgage) and it doesn't matter if it 'drops in price' as it will be a family home and 3 days in a town and 4 days rural seems fine to me

I'm a home based trader making between £1-2K a month on avg, so can work from anywhere, (its tax free tho not through the books) the only question is, is...

am I missing anything do you think? does this seem like a good plan or a daft plan? Mrs Smea seems, intially, quite positive. Any advice/ opinion would be welcomed.

Cleaver

smeagold wrote: »

I'm a home based trader making between £1-2K a month on avg, so can work from anywhere, (its tax free tho not through the books) the only question is, is...

am I missing anything do you think?

The only thing I can see that's missing is you paying income tax on your earnings.

PasturesNew

smeagold wrote: »

to find a place in cornwall/devon for maybe £200-250k, that gets you alot, 2 or 3 acres and 3/4 beds

It doesn't get you a lot in the nicer bits, or even the OK bits. It gets you a lot in the "miles from anywhere/nobody else wants to live there/there's nothing around/takes you hours to drive anywhere" bits.

smeagold

Cleaver wrote: »

The only thing I can see that's missing is you paying income tax on your earnings.

Its quite legal, I use a spread bet site to trade its classed as 'gambling' so no tax, no vat, no CGT. Not sure if i could put professional gambler on a mortgage app tho. hence any mortgage would have to be in the missus name. I don't want one tho, not with IRs going up.

Cleaver

smeagold wrote: »

Its quite legal, I use a spread bet site to trade its classed as 'gambling' so no tax, no vat, no CGT. Not sure if i could put professional gambler on a mortgage app tho. hence any mortgage would have to be in the missus name. I don't want one tho, not with IRs going up.

Ahh right, fair enough.

Davesnave

I live in Devon and I challenge you to find anything livable with 3-4 beds + a few acres for £200-250K. (Rightmove linkies, naturellement.)

You might find some Woolaway bungalow in the @rse end of nowhere down in Cornwall, but to get anything half-decent with land here, you're talking £325k +....and I'm talking selling prices.

There's Wales.....:D

Bridgwater (no 'e') is not exactly desirable/expensive, though one no longer smells it from the M5 since British Celanese stopped its foul pollution, so maybe it's improved a bit. Used to be regarded as a right hole.

[Deleted User]

If your aims are mainly financial then I would buy in Bridgewater with a small mortgage rather than rent. Your mortgage would be ~£150k based on your numbers. The rent would be far higher and it would require some truly massive interest rate increases to change that. In the unlikely event of rates being sufficiently high for this to happen the alternative rents would be rising anyway and your debt would be being destroyed in real terms.

[Deleted User]

smeagold wrote: »

Its quite legal, I use a spread bet site to trade its classed as 'gambling' so no tax, no vat, no CGT. Not sure if i could put professional gambler on a mortgage app tho. hence any mortgage would have to be in the missus name. I don't want one tho, not with IRs going up.

There is a rule from the revenue that states that if you live off the proceeds of something that is otherwise tax free than it becomes taxable.

I'd have to look up the rule or someone on here may know it but I'm pretty sure about that as I considered being a pro gambler a few years back.

PasturesNew

smeagold wrote: »

Its quite legal, I use a spread bet site to trade its classed as 'gambling' so no tax, no vat, no CGT. Not sure if i could put professional gambler on a mortgage app tho. hence any mortgage would have to be in the missus name. I don't want one tho, not with IRs going up.

If you derive a lot of your income from your 'hobby', then it does become taxable. Honest guv.

tomterm8

[quote=[Deleted User];40963454]There is a rule from the revenue that states that if you live off the proceeds of something that is otherwise tax free than it becomes taxable.

I'd have to look up the rule or someone on here may know it but I'm pretty sure about that as I considered being a pro gambler a few years back.[/QUOTE]

See http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/bimmanual/BIM22017.htm

It is wrong, by the way, to say that Gambling is not taxed, they have a separate tax for it.

smeagold

Davesnave wrote: »

I live in Devon and I challenge you to find anything livable with 3-4 beds + a few acres for £200-250K. (Rightmove linkies, naturellement.)

You might find some Woolaway bungalow in the @rse end of nowhere down in Cornwall, but to get anything half-decent with land here, you're talking £325k +....and I'm talking selling prices.

There's Wales.....:D

Bridgwater (no 'e') is not exactly desirable/expensive, though one no longer smells it from the M5 since British Celanese stopped its foul pollution, so maybe it's improved a bit. Used to be regarded as a right hole.

Thanks, the missus doesn't want to live in bridgewater cos of some nuclear power station. she's forever looking at house prices and has spotted some good houses for that price but yes very remote, some in the middle of dartmoor, yelverton 2 bridges etc and we would have to buy a 4x4 but thats what we want, some rundown but I was a builder for 10 years so no probs with that, we can afford to wait for a distressed sale