To London or not to London?

remorseless

I have been in the UK for a year and half in London and as established as I can be, I don’t know if I want to ‘commit’ to London or the UK long term.
While I have been here I have managed to save money, etc and I am now thinking about buying holiday home abroad where I can see myself retiring and also going on vacation pretty often (short flight away).
Am I crazy for wanting to buy properties abroad for the future rather than say using the money to secure a small flat somewhere in London?
Rents are high of course and maybe it’d make more sense to buy in London but I just don’t see myself committing to a 25 years mortgage in London or UK right now.

Are there any senior* folks (45/50+ years old) living in London because of work and renting whilst owning property elsewhere? Are you happy with the choice? Is it a bad idea?

*senior as savvy!!!!

robardsfan

In the 18 months youve been here have you travelled outside London?

As someone from the south east but not London I would suggest you try venturing out. It's way cheaper, less busy, and friendlier. Apart from for having roots there, which you don't, I don't understand why anyone would want to live in London.

AlexMac

If there are any 45 year olds out there I suspect you've properly p155ed em off by calling 'em 'senior folks', so just in case you don't get sympathetic replies, here's one from a real 'senior folk' in that I exceed your target demographic by over 20 years... But that means I have had time to buy and sell half a dozen homes, three buy to lets, plus, over the years, three holiday properties; two in the UK and one in Italy... obviouslt not all at the same time.

And my overwhelming advice would be...

Buy in London! No-where else has had the capital growth which we've enjoyed on our London houses and flats. In fact we were lucky not to lose money on the Seaside UK property and only broke even by letting it out for the last couple of years before selling it. Which we did because we'd probably underestimated the cost-effectiveness of a seaside flat; by the time you add up service charges, maintenence, utilities and Council tax, it makes little sense to have a place sitting empty for most of the year. And we were lucky to sell our little Italian place at more-or less waht we paid for it, as property in the south simply didn't appreciate in price over our 5 years there; we were lucky in that we bought when the euro was low, sold when it was high, so made a few quid on the rate, but better still, got out before the Italian economy tanked. Freinds with property in France have had similar experiences; they'll probably only sell for waht it cost, and our mates with a Spanish gaff can kiss their investment goodbye. And it gets a bit boring returning time after time to the same place- especially as we found that air-fare, car hire and restaurant prices were rising steadily there.

Similarly, friends who sold in London and moved out now find thay can;t afford to move back to anything like the same quality of London home...

And if, as I suspect, you are 30-40 years away from retirement, it's daft to think that at 65 you'll want to relocate to anywhere you'd currently want to holiday in...

But hey- you choose; it's a free country (as is much of the continent and a fair propeortion of the world!

remorseless

AlexMac wrote: »

If there are any 45 year olds out there I suspect you've properly p155ed em off by calling 'em 'senior folks'

Hopefully fixed now... was meant with no offence!

dinkylink

Just a thought, but aren't various 'experts' predicting London price growth to slow in the next 5 years and the real boom areas to be just outside London in the south east as people naturally look slightly further out for better value?


Obviously it's anyone's guess as to how it will all pan out, but if this is the case then investing outside of London, but still in commutable distance, could be the best option in terms of gaining value on the property.

dinkylink

To illustrate (taken from this is money);

remorseless

AlexMac wrote: »

Similarly, friends who sold in London and moved out now find thay can;t afford to move back to anything like the same quality of London home...

And if, as I suspect, you are 30-40 years away from retirement, it's daft to think that at 65 you'll want to relocate to anywhere you'd currently want to holiday in...

People in London now can't afford it much! :rotfl: it's like getting a shoebox at a really really really HUGE price! (Plus commute cost thank you)

I like to holiday in smallish town so that's where I was thinking... either south of France or Italy (I speak both French and Italian).
Nothing too fancy, just an average place, equivalent of whatever it'd be in say - South East!

My main worry is that I am building equity not in the UK, I suppose if I don't plan to stay it won't matter :eek:

GoldenShadow

robardsfan wrote: »

In the 18 months youve been here have you travelled outside London?

As someone from the south east but not London I would suggest you try venturing out. It's way cheaper, less busy, and friendlier. Apart from for having roots there, which you don't, I don't understand why anyone would want to live in London.

I completely second this. We are in the process of buying in Essex. Prices have shot up the last six months and I don't believe that has been the case in London, they had theirs last year. I dislike London. I will work there if I have to, I wont live there nor visit for fun very often. I don't fit the Londoner mould too well.

remorseless

robardsfan wrote: »

In the 18 months youve been here have you travelled outside London?

I went to few places (not too many I admit) and yes, out of London it is nice. I like Leicester, smallish, nice and well connected.

Also makes me think about between say Leicester and Montpellier, similar size, I speak both languages fluently, where do I see myself more long term, etc

I wonder about work though. London 'always' has work... I don't mind London, but I don't love it. Too crowded, frantic, etc

teddysmum

Beyond London , you can buy a beautiful 4 bedroomed detached house with huge gardens for the price of a 'cupboard ' in London.

Davesnave

remorseless wrote: »

I went to few places (not too many I admit) and yes, out of London it is nice. I like Leicester, smallish, nice and well connected.

If Leicester is "smallish" I dread to think how you'd describe my local town.

Recently, I managed to drive right through the centre of it at 13.30 on early closing day and I didn't pass a moving vehicle or see another human being!

I think if you are confident and at ease in the countries where you holiday, they offer better value and climate than many parts of the UK. Whether they will be more economically and/or politically stable in the long term is something you should think about. That's a hard call.