Stepping off the property ladder?

sortofok

lic wrote: »

2. Invest your 30K in a buy to let property, such as a 2 bed house.

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:


5. Why not get some professional advice, as your hubby works for the bank, there must be some expert he can speak to for free

This is a bit like asking Jeremy Clarkson if cars are a good thing.

devils_advocate

just think of my sig. (the second bit, not the typing!)

Flimsy

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

Forgive me if this is inappropriate, but I really cannot understand why you are trying for another baby if your present circs are so stretched that you are already overcrowded. However that is, of course, your business not mine.

I was expecting someone to bring that up As I said it is for health reasons, it may never happen but if it does then it really won't be hugely expensive. I have all the baby equipment I need and the baby would be in with us so the space issue wouldn't get worse for at least another year. Just after I had my eldest my husband lost his job (anyone remember ITV Digital? :rolleyes: ) closely followed by a car accident and as I wasn't working we lost our house and had to live with the in-laws for a year. Then we had a small rented flat for a couple of years till we bought this place. So compared to that things are just fine, we have cleared all the credit cards that we had to buy food on as there was nothing else and DH has a good steady job as opposed to scary door to door work he took so we could get by.

I'm not interested in making huge amounts of money, I just want to know we can get by without getting back into debt. As you can tell we haven't been the luckiest people in the world so I don't want to tempt fate.;) The house price thing isn't felt as strongly around here in my opinion. I had it valued when we were looking into buying the other house (which was 139k) and ours was valued at between 112-119k so the jump was just a bit too far.

The situ with my mom is very awkward, she tends to close her ears off to how unhappy we are. She does pay board but has since started ordering online supermarket shopping in lieu of board which is totally annoying as we never asked her to and she orders things that she just likes the look of :mad: and that I don't like my children to have. So that needs sorting out yet again, as you may appreciate an atmosphere in a house this size makes it miserable for everyone and though keeping the peace isn't sorting things out it is preferable to arguments and upsetting the kids. And I can understand why she is stalling as she doesn't want to face the fact her marriage is pants.

I will read over replies again later so i have a chance to think. Thanks

fatpigeon_2

Hi there

I recommend you find out how much net interest you'd earn if you invested the 30k from selling the house. Perhaps it's also worth finding out what places to rent are like in your area. There are so many landlords to choose from these days, it's more like they're competing for decent tenants rather than vice versa!
Where I am, it's certainly cheaper to rent (even including all bills) than it is for a interest only mortgage.
You sound like the kind of person who's already dealt well with life's ups and downs - I don't think you should be afraid of selling and renting a nicer place as long as the profit you make is kept securely.
One other thing. Kids don't care if you rent or mortgage but they do care about what other kids think of them.

Good luck in everything

Bogof_Babe

Oh well, I must admit I'm even more confused now. I assumed your mum was separated (officially) or divorced from your dad, but it seems she is just using your home as a bolt-hole. I know it must be hard, her being your mum, but if her presence is disrupting the family harmony then you need to ask her straight what her future plans are. What does your OH think of her being there, and presumably occupying a room that your youngest child could have when he/she outgrows their present bedroom arrangements?

You need to put a stop to the online ordering right away. Is she using your computer? If so you can set it up for password access only. Tell her that you are in charge of household shopping, and if she wants anything special then she has to pay for it. Up front.

Given that you intend to add to the family if you can, then within a couple of years you will need a separate bedroom for the putative new arrival. If your mum left, would that allow you extra time to sort things out?

As an aside, it appears that some home improvements like modest extensions will no longer require planning permission, if a new government bill goes through, so could you extend outwards or upwards to give you the extra space you will need?

Flimsy

Just a little update from me, things went a bit pear-shaped over the weekend and I fully lost my temper :embarasse mostly down to the online shopping thing (in reply to you BB, we all have a computer each here, I have a techy geek for a husband) and I ended up the proud :rolleyes: owner of 22 bananas :mad: with the onus on me to 'do something' with them (ooh the temptation!) I went mad and had a go at her for her interfering and not even being able to tell me she had ordered stuff until it lands in my fridge. Also my freezer is full of convenience food when I mostly make everything from scratch and now there is no room for me to do any batch cooking.

Anyhow, DH has spoken to her (as he is far more placid than I am ) and she says she was planning to go back to my dads at the end of the month :T So maybe with a bit of rearranging we can all have a bit of space to ourselves and it might not seem so bad here, we'll see.

pooranddesperate

It does sound as if a lot of your dilemas about moving etc.. are being driven by the fact that your mum is living with you, and understandbly causing problems.

If I were in your situation, I would wait until your mum has moved out (assuming she moves out at the end of the month as promised - if not you need to sit down with her and have a calm discussion about the future with her..) and then reasses how you feel about the house.

Nobody here has a crystal ball about what may/ may not happen with house prices, and whether financially you'll be better off renting or staying where you are - although it sounds like your dilema is as much an emotional as a financial one.

TBH, who cares that your house needs work doing to it, as long as you've got your husband, and your kids are happy and healthy? bet your kids friends couldn't give two hoots about whether your wall is plastered or not, don't let your hangups about the house affect them inviting their friends round - their friends will be more interested in what biscuits you've got in the cupboards than the cupboards themselves!

Flimsy

Thanks P & D, that's really sweet.

I do have a huge load of banana muffins as opposed to biscuits from my 'nana backlog.:p

I think once the house is a bit clearer and I'm able to do a bit of decorating it will be a lot better.