What have I done....

LauraJo

Wow what a beautiful Sept day! Not only have I saved money on petrol as working from home but I get to work in the garden too - lovely!
My tank of petrol at this rate is going to last me 2 weeks which is unheard of! Since starting this job I have halved my petrol bill which is all extra for the pot.
Maybe one lead on a new yard today which is reasonable and 4 miles away. They can't see my until the weekend though which is frustrating because I want to go and look!

Alchemilla

For that amount they will expect an indoor school and horseyoaks on telly i reckon.

LauraJo

Alchemilla wrote: »

For that amount they will expect an indoor school and horseyoaks on telly i reckon.

Maybe some would prefer 'naybours'

Alchemilla

I knew there was a soap opera one!!

LauraJo

Not sure what to do... I think this makes money saving sense but will knock me off my plan and with 5 months to go and with this dominating my life for the last 3 years or so, do I really want to do this....??

As some of you might have read I'm having to move livery yards. So the thing is, I've found some land to buy (with stables)
Its £75k (ouch!) but a lady also at the yard wants to buy it and has suggested we buy it together. She is a sensible older lady who I get on well with and can't image there would be any issues with that side of things (although there is a niggling concern about that in the back of my mind)

The payment on it would be approx £150 a month for a repayment mortgage (assuming it would be on my current rate) or less that a £100 on interest only. I would also be able to get a paying livery on my half of the land which would bring in about £100 per month. I currently chuck £120 a month away on paying someone else livery.
Financially it stacks up and I would have an asset but its feels horrible moving away from the plan!
Any thoughts from money saving peeps welcome coz I am stuck!

FloppyDisk

Hi LauraJo, well that is quite a stroke of luck really! Is it all it seems, is the ground good? It's not going to be unusuable come winter is it? Do you know anyone that's been at the yard a wehile that can give you some background on it? I'd also check the tax situation, as if you start offering livery I'm sure you will have to declare the income, although there might be agricultural use/equestrian difference to normal income.

There's the obvious concern with sharing it with someone else, is it possible to proceed alone at all? I know it puts you off your plan, but you can't plan life to the T, you have to live it! It might not be money saving but if it's money making that's a pretty good substitute, and in the long run it will be money saving over livery fees. And gosh, imagine being the boss and not having to dance to anyone else's tune! With great power comes great responsibility though, especially sharing with someone else, even offering just grass livery or DIY, you'd still need insurance etc.

You're right it's a big decision with lots to think about, but personally, I wouldn't let the mortgage free journey stand in the way for one second!

LauraJo

Good advice Floppy thanks (you have the same view as my OH!)
I've just been to see it and surprised how big 4 and a bit acres are!!
There are also 4 mobile stables, a shed and a feed bin all included. They are all less than 2 years old and the fencing is all new.
Biggest bonus is that its on sand. I'm currently on sand and it makes for a much more enjoyable in the winter due to less mud!
I wonder if I could offer grass livery in turn for them buying the hay or shoes or something?
Unfortuantely the lady saw it first and I wouldn't want to start to outbid her esp when she is happy to share. If she doesn't go for it tho I might try and finance it alone??!!
Thanks for the wise words. Sometimes I get very blinkered with paying off the mortgage!

Alchemilla

It sounds like an investment, they're not making any more of it...

If drainage is good, what is the planning status?

You need to know if it has equestrian use planning and not just agricultural. Also are there any planning restrictions about you making money from it?

LauraJo

It only has agricultural so we could only graze them on it but there is a lot of good hacking around. The stables are the mobile kind so guess we might need to move them around? We would try and get it moved to equestrian but would have to go into it presuming we wouldn't get it. I think it wouldn't be in our price range round here if it had equestrian use? It has good drainage apparently and there are horses in all the adjoining fields that also only have agricultural. I don't think I could technically make money from it (from a tax and planning point of view) but that wouldn't really be my aim. Ultimately I would like to sit with my pony and enjoy my land without the stress of a livery yard! Scary!

kirstypark

Scary indeed..what were your orginal plans once the mortgage was paid off? As you know we recently doubled our mortgage adding more years onto our ultimate date - but I feel we are so disiplined now with money that the benefits outweighed the risks. It does sound like fate coming along just when you need it. Would you have room for another horse to be another "lodger" and help pay it off even quicker?