Quit everything , and start again over 50?

Smodlet

Gods, AC, if you must buy a flat (why?) of course upstairs is better. Noise coming at you from above is the worst. Coming at you from the other side of a party wall is hell, believe me!

I still think you are nuts to want a flat at all, houses are so much better and, who knows? You might get decent neighbours... We had them once... Just don't buy a semi next to a rental; I will never do that again.

Dude, you have one chance to get this right unless you are happy to pay multiple lots of fees and move more than once more... Figure it out and do what is right for you but I will never understand your choices, with the money you have. You could get a really decent house in a nice area, just not in the south.

another_casualty

Yes..houses are best ! Totally hear you
I looked at a one bedroom house in the window of an estate agent .sold .
Just in my price bracket .
That's the problem with the south . Too expensive .
However , TBH I cannot go anywhere else on my own , so I'll just have to hope to be lucky .

enthusiasticsaver

AC you need to do a monthly budget for everything, not just service charges. Once you are in the right frame of mind to look for work then that will help with your monthly outgoings.

Hopefully you will find somewhere to suit in your preferred area. Just leave yourself a decent buffer. Prices in the South are extortionate but we have always lived down here too and would not move so I understand why you want to stay down here. When it comes down to it you need to sort out your priorities. Is it to get a house a bit further out or a flat in your preferred area. It is your decision and you have to live in it so trust your instincts. Take your time though as moving is expensive so you don't want to do it twice.

My DD has just bought a lovely 2 bed flat in Bristol (same problem there, no houses within her price range) and service charges around £60 per month which is not bad. At least heating it will be cheaper than her 3 bed house up in the Midlands was.

lessonlearned

I am saying nowt because I am fed up of doing this. :wall:

Nothing about houses -v- flats and zilch about the beauty and affordability of the north, the midlands, the west, the east, north of the border, the Highlands and Islands, Wales, Eire, Northern Ireland.

Nothing, nada, niente.......

To those who can't see further than your nose and who seem to think that anyone who doesn't live in the south is a woad covered barbarian I will say you are a bunch of narrow minded, blinkered, ignoramuses (should that be ignoramii).

So there.........ner, ner, ner, ner, ner. :rotfl::rotfl:

Museums, art galleries, grand country houses, theatre, opera, concerts, pubs, restaurants, gourmet food, fashion - guess what - they don't all just exist in London - we are not savages.

Throw in all the country pursuits and opportunities for sport and we actually have far more cultural opportunities than your average Londoner.

Smodlet all I can say is you must have chosen the wrong part of Nottingham - not St Ann's by any chance??

All areas have their rough bits, and all areas have fashionable and desirable posts codes. Perhaps you were just very unlucky to get such bad neighbours. But, although I might ruffle a few feathers here by saying this I do tend to agree with you about living next to rental properties.

AC that is a serious risk when buying a flat.

Of course not all renters are the neighbours from hell. We have a fabulous family from Lithuania who are renting next door. You couldn't wish for nicer neighbours.

But I agree Smodlet, generally renters do not have the same commitment to their properties. They are not stakeholders so they tend not to take quite the same care and pride in their neighbourhoods as owner occupiers.

I have travelled up and down this lovely sceptered isle of ours and I could live anywhere. Indeed although I have come back to the city of my birth, I have lived in several other areas. They were all wonderful. I just do not get this obsession with having to live in the south. Anyone would think that the rest of the UK was the dark side of the moon.

But hey.....you stay down there in the expensive overcrowded south and pay through the nose for a rabbit hutch amid a sea of concrete. Leave the best to those of us who know how to appreciate "gods own country" and who value, space, peace and beauty and the chance to buy good quality attractive housing at prices you can only dream about.

Ask yourself this. Why did you decide to make the move. What do you actually want to achieve.

One of the primary reasons for anyone to downsize their lives is for the golden opportunity to forge a new destiny. To try something different, a new way of being.

If you are just going to do a sideways move...i.e. One flat to another then aren't you rather missing the point.

AC I can't see that you will be materially improving your lifestyle.....you will need to look for work and you will soon need to be a wage slave once more. Why???

Same old, same old.

Why not shake things up a little.

Try to think "outside the box". Yes I know dreadful phrase but you have a wonderful opportunity to build a far more exciting and enjoyable life. Instead you will be going back to the same old daily grind before you know it.

Harz has pointed out that if you played your cards right you could buy a fab little property for cash, no mortgage, no large bills, no service charges. You could live off the rest of your capital until you reach SP age if you had to.

This would remove all that unnecessary pressure. Then.......when the time is right, if you wanted to, you could either find some part time work or maybe set up a little sideline business.

Can you really not envisage a different way of life. Do you not have passions you would love to indulge, do you not have something you have always wanted to try but never had the time.

Well now could be your time.

You dont have to go so far afield as South Shields but I do think you should widen your search area.

And really .......are you actually ready for "Gods Waiting Room"

Phew.....didn't mean to write an essay.........

candygirl

Yet another brilliant post LL! I live ooop Norf, an hour away from the Lake District, and half an hour each way to beautiful beaches.We have countryside all around, as well as being close to a city.
My neighbours came up here to uni from London, and have stayed, cos they prefer it up here
My Cousin lives in London, n is dying to come back here, but her partner doesn't want to leave London
AC I hope you find your forever home asap

Smodlet

LL, if that is your idea of nada, niente, etc...

I did not say I lived in Nottingham, only that I live in Notts; a back of beyond bit of it. Apparently there are worse places than here, plenty of them but it all comes down to money again and yes, when we had decent neighbours that side, life was infinitely better. We have some lovely neighbours the other side and opposite, it's just the ones in the other half of the semi that are unspeakable chavs. If we had the kind of money required to live in a nice bit of oop North, we would have enough to live in our preferred bit of the south. That's it. Our choice. I am glad you love where you live. We used to love where we lived but can no longer afford it. There you go. Not everyone shares your tastes.

OH would actually quite like a bit of Wold but again, too expensive... A Wold away, you might say.

Candy, where you live sounds lovely. I still hanker for the south, though. The accents alone...

Good luck AC, I get wanting to stick with what you know and it is your decision. I just hope you are happy with whatever you decide to do but if not, am sure you will get it right the next time.

Verbatim

I know AC's neck of Dorset and it is stunningly beautiful. Poole harbour is lovely and the largest natural harbour in the world apparently. There is also plenty of lovely countryside in easy reach.
I have lived in the north and used to visit a different part of the north and the East Midlands regularly. As I drove up the M1 in Spring we went back to winter as we travelled north and in late summer we moved into autumn. It's much warmer in the south!
I'm listening to R4 now about dire educational outcomes and lack of opportunities in many areas of the North. This is why the Northern Powerhouse idea came into being to try and improve such areas and why property is so cheap. Of course rural areas have beauty, peace and quiet but they can be dull. I remember aching to get away when I was young and when I returned to my original town later I knew I'd made a mistake when I kept meeting the same few compatible people at parties and events. I returned to London asap and while I love weekends and breaks away I am a Londoner! But horses for courses:we're all different, thankfully. I completely understand AC's move and think he's done well getting out from a commute, job and area he hated.
AC, do you act impulsively without thinking through the consequences of various courses of action? I still don't understand, for example, why you rented a 2 bed flat when all your furniture is in storage? To me it's like throwing money away. Do not think buying stuff is "investing"; it isn't. It's wasting your precious, scarce capital. You need every penny for your property purchase. That's investment.
Gally repeats the point I made that planning only 10-15 years of being able to pay service charges sets you up for constant worry from say year 5 about how you'll manage thereafter. I don't know how old you are but in your fifties. In 15 years will you feel more able to deal with inability tp pay your service charges, moving again, selling because you have to?
It's great that you're getting fitter and walking and starting to eat regularly and sensibly. No doubt your health will improve because of it. I do hope you manage to secure your future happiness and wellbeing. As LL says you have a wonderful opportunity, as long as you act cautiously and only after careful thought. No more impulsive "just do its" like with Payplan!
Congratulatins on all you've achieved so far. Keep going.
V

lessonlearned

I too think the south coast is beautiful, it's just that it is sooooo so expensive.

Who wouldnt want to live in Dorset, its gorgeous. And who wouldnt want to live in a nice elegant part of London. :rotfl:

But......sometimes you do have to be realistic. As the Rolling Stones put it so well....."you can't always get what you want".

I was not just defending the "norf" but rather trying to point out there are other opportunities for those with limited means.

And........

Sometimes, you just have to cut your coat according to your cloth.

I take your point about the weather though. Having said that my sister lived in Surbiton and my son went to Greenwich University. Both places felt chilly and damp in the winter.....probably due to the close proximity of the river.

What I was trying to say was that if AC could just look a little further afield, maybe slightly inland then he would find good property for a Lot less than Poole.

AC I am concerned that you might be overreaching yourself and that you will end up returning to work too soon. I am concerned that your health will gIve out and I am also concerned you are not thinking about your retirement.

I think you need to take a step back now and ask yourself what you want - what you really really want:rotfl:

Do you want to return to work full time
Do you want to work part time
How long a sabbatical would you like
What else what you like to do

Obviously getting fitter is your top priority but what then.

Do you want to travel a bit, take up some new interests, start a little business.

All this angst about whether to buy an upstairs flat or ground floor flat is really just window dressing......there is much more at stake here.

What you should be asking is "what kind of a life do I want"

You have a fantastic opportunity to start again and reinvent yourself.

Isn't that what you wanted at the outset. A fresh start and a new different kind of life.

I just get a feeling that you are in danger of slipping back into your old one.

Of course that is Fine if that's what will make you happy.

You know I only wish you good things.

Cold and foggy today. Real winter. Off to Physio in a bit, then a bit more Christmas shopping. Almost done.

lessonlearned

Smodlet.......there is a quite a bit of Nottinghamshire that is "Back of beyond" - some of the ex mining towns and villages in particular are still economically depressed.

There are areas of the York/Derby/Notts coalfield where Time seems to have stood still and not in a good way:(

Nottingham was historically called "The Queen of the Midlands" and Derby was always the plainer, poorer sister. You can still see the remants of Nottingham's former glory in the historical city centre, especially round the castle and the various "gates". Some nice shops too but yes I agree that Nottingham and some of its satellite towns do seem to more than their fair share of deprivation.

I believe that The afore mentioned St Ann's enjoys the dubious reputation of being one of the worst crime areas in the country.

Shame but there you go......I think most cities have their no go areas.

lessonlearned

ENthusiastic saver is right AC - you need to work out a budget. It will help you plan ahead.

My circumstances are different from yours of course in that I am already retired and have a guaranteed passive income.

I have worked out an estimated budget for when I buy my next property.

I aim to ensure that my basic monthly outgoings, i.e. Regular bills, food etc will come to no more than 50 per cent of my guaranteed passive income. This figure will include a £1k contingency.

This will leave me 50 per cent to continue saving and investing and spend on travel, so probably a 60/40 splt, the 60 being savings.

Some retirees work on a draw down figure of 4 per cent of their capital to supplement their pension income but I would prefer not to do that.

I would prefer to keep a reasonable capital sum and live within my means, just spending actual income rather than dipping into capital.

Do I think it's necessary to continue saving into retirement?

Yes I do. I think it's unlikely that my passive income will increase very much So that I will need to hedge against inflation. I would prefer not to run out of money when I am a decrepit old crone. ......:rotfl:

In addition to that I shall be looking at ways to increase my income by setting up a couple of sideline businesses, preferably with at least one of them generating further passive income.

I still feel engaged enough to want to carry on working a bit, as long as it's on my terms, but I'm sure there will come a time when I no longer wish to work.

The point is.....no one knows whats round the corner, but......you can bet your boots it will always come at a price.

Money may not the be all and end all but we can't get far without it.

So yes AC. Think carefully about your budget.