Midlife crisis, want to be free!

Armoredbrummy

I don't really know how to put this all down into words, and probably don't want to bore the pants off readers anyway!

Brief history:- met wifey 16 years ago, rented council property for 8 years, had a mad idea, go right to buy, as it was much cheaper than the rent (1999). Had already carried 6 CCJ's and various defaults around with me from the big recession of '91, and being too proud, neive, and probably stupid by not telling bank and varioud creditores that I was working short time with my company and signing on.
Managed to pay off all CCJ's and defaults, started to rebuild credit history. Then things went wrong down the road, chavs moving in and ruining the road, etc, and decided to sell up and buy a house elsewhere, okay for a bit, but went silly with credit cards etc, racked up debts and decided to move again as we didn't like that area too much.
Downsized, and moved to another area, had a change of job, travelling much further now, moved again.
We're a bit closer to where I work now, but with my 40th birthday just over a week away, I've had a big stocktake on my life and don't like it. We have no children to leave our estate to, have realised that if we both die, the Gov. get the house (worked hard for nothing!) and have took 8 years to realise that we are just working to buy a house, we hardly ever go out, walk round in old clothes, and just want to be free completely from this giant millstone around our necks.
I know you'll be wanting a SOA from me, that will come later, as I am really busy working shifts at the moment, and hardly have time to do anything.
In a nutshell, what we want to do is sell our home (might have a little equity there, but not sure!), and rent somewhere closer to work, not bothered if it's a Park home, but somewhere nice in Warwickshire.
It doesn't bother me too much about the 8 years I've been paying mortgage for, and not having much out of it as we want to LIVE again!
I'd welcome any sort of advice at this stage, even to hear of someone elses similar experiences as I need inspiration at this stage.

Wannabesaver_4

You make a lot of sense. I am a lot younger but we are doing the same thing. Dont want a mortgage or the "mill stone" either. Renting a house seems like a idea of being FREE!

good luck

lynzpower

gotta agree with above poster.

I bought my flat on a mental interest only mortgage, with loads of debt and head firmly in sand. Found MSE then realised :eek: with interest rate rises we wont be able to afford this place. At the same time my health took a dive and I was on sick leave. Fast forward, sold the flat, banked the equity. Rent a lovely house in a cracking area, bigger than what we had and saving something like 550 a month, plus the interest on my equity.

Altogether we are about 670 pcm better off from selling up and thats without interest rate rises.

We can move whenever we like ( tenancy permitting) and if we want to disappear off round the world, we can.

Alllll gooood :beer:

cattie

My only advice is to give some serious thought to the fact that if you do sell to rent then you may not find the same security of a stable roof over your head that you have now.

Many rental properties are on yearly contracts & if the landlord decides not to renew for whatever reason then you could find yourself having to look for a new home every year or two.

WiseOldBird_2

An obvious question - but what level are your mortgage payments as opposed to the cost of rental in your area? Will you end up paying a lot less per month in rent? If so, I can see where you're coming from. I know interest rates go up - but so do rents. If there's not much in it, you could raise some equity from the house (eventually). Make sure you've used it all up before you 'pop your clogs'.

euaneggs

I agree with cattie, the people i'm letting with only do 6 months contracts, as fas as i know the landlord wants to sell the house after my 6 months are up, this is a massive ball-ache as i'm emigrating to Australia 6 months after that, so hopefully he'll let me stay in it for another 6 months otherwise i'm looking again for somewhere to live for 6 months... To be continued !!!

But it seems like lynzpower is alot better off renting !!!

nearlyrich

Another thing to consider is that one day once the mortgage is gone you own your home and your overheads are lower if you rent you will be paying for it forever. You can always take out an equity release deal if you have lots of equity and no cashflow in later life.

Tiger_greeneyes

Living in rented isn't really the key to feeling free. There's always the burden of knowing that your landlord may need to sell up in a few months or you may get a landlord who makes your life hell.

Why not sell up and buy a houseboat if you want real freedom! You can find them in all price ranges, you can buy them really cheap if you're good at diy and want a project. Either that or emigrate to somewhere that doesn't have the financial pressure of life in the UK, or seems to be driven by boom and bust house prices.

Being free in this country really doesn't seem very possible. If you live in a park home, you're paying a kings ransom for the rent your unit's on (if you own it, that is) otherwise, you're still paying rent to a landlord and have the same problems as in a brick built property.

If you're worried about the govt getting your hard earned, then make a will out to your favourite charities!

lynzpower

Living in rented isn't really the key to feeling free. There's always the burden of knowing that your landlord may need to sell up in a few months or you may get a landlord who makes your life hell.

I disagree!!!

Surely, living in rented you can take your choice. No landlord wants voids, you can get some bloody good deals if you play hardball.

One month I can live in london, if I want to move and my tenancy allows it I could be in Liverpool, or Las Vegas the next.

Even better if you rent furnished, you can sell your belongings- even less to hold you back!! and set off round the world with your belongings in a rucksack and your hard earned in travellers cheques and hasta luego landlord!

No prizes for guessing what new horizons renting is offering us! With 670 pcm more in the bank- we will always have more choices

franklee

lynzpower wrote: »

Even better if you rent furnished, you can sell your belongings- even less to hold you back!! and set off round the world with your belongings in a rucksack and your hard earned in travellers cheques and hasta luego landlord!

That reminds me of something I read once: Do we own our possessions or do they own us?

I think it was an article about people retiring in America where it's quite popular to sell the family house, buy a motor home and go touring, chasing the good weather. People doing this can't bear to get rid of all their possessions so they put them in storage. Then there's a common trend. Initially the person visits their storage once a month to check all is OK. The visits then dwindle. Typically after two years the person realises these stored possessions aren't wanted anymore and sells the lot!

kingkano

There are annoying pitfalls to renting too.... unless things have changed since I rented.

You can't hang a picture on the walls in most places (or even put up a poster!). Can't paint a different colour. Can't put a shelf up if you need storage. If something breaks down you rely on the landlord to fix it (I once had no heating for 2 weeks and no hot water for a week on different occasions). If you rent furnished they can impose stupid rules like your not allowed to move the furniture around....

I guess leases must vary but above are some of the things I had in my leases over the 10yrs I rented.