Quit everything , and start again over 50?

lessonlearned

AC. Ok I too run the risk of getting banned now but I don't care.....I can't contain myself.

Are you crazy.

Walk away now, in fact don't walk .........run, run, run .........as fast as your legs will carry you.

This woman has used and abused your good nature and taken advantage of you at every turn.

Yes it might seem like an "easy option" because you are tired and sick and probably can't face the effort involved with striking out on your own and doing the legwork to find a property but please please please ............trust us......you will rue the day if you go ahead with this madness.

Thats all I'm going to say on the matter.

JUST DONT DO IT.

Well dads funeral went well, we gave him a great send off. My sister and I got all dolled up in the old boys honour, apparently we looked "stunning" and "very glamourous"

His old regiment sent a couple of representatives,. The dashingly handsome Young 6ft 5in highlander looked resplendent in kilt and full regalia helped carry the coffin And the older retired soldier also in full dress uniform but trews instead of kilt laid a wreath of poppies on dad's coffin and gave a moving eulogy. It was a proud moment but no more than the old war horse deserved for serving his country.

It was an emotional day and I am absolutely drained and shattered now. Time for a rest now.

another_casualty

LL, glad the send off was fitting . It all sounds like it all turned out fine which we knew it would . Your batteries need recharging now obviously.
You have a great family .

Thanks again for the great advice . ( and Wendy etc above ).

I've put myself in an awkward situation I suppose.
I think I will pass on this one . I have viewing tomorrow and Tuesday .
Not sure what I will tell landlady . I might be better to look anyway,( with no intention of buying. ), just to put the issue to bed so to speak.
It's probably better to think of a white lie , but she knows I'm here for another 4 months at least.

It's obvious now , that I should heed all your advice again.

I've got this far, and am feeling at ease with the area. Just gotta tread carefully.
Where would I be without you all?

another_casualty

Debsnewbudget wrote: »

Just say budget is up to £180k dont give them a top figure otherwise they will start at that rather than the bottom

Actually, that might be the way forward . It means it could be too low , and she could say ,' sorry but ..'

Ironically , the flat I'm looking at on Tuesday is for £170k, if I like it I'll offer around £157k . It's only around the corner from where I'm at now. Hopefully, there should be more property for sale soon.

Slowdown

Hello there everyone,

I have read every single post on this and the previous thread, followed the ups and downs of selling, renting, now buying again. I feel like I know Poole even though I have never been there. I've looked at maps, viewed online houses and flats, looked at town images and agreed, disagreed,shaken and nodded my head in agreement and disagreement. Now 'this time to speak as the frustration is creeping in.

Everyone has been very helpful and supportive, full of sound advice and with no other motive than to help you out, AC.
But, as the saying goes, "There are none so blind as those who will not see."

You are quietly being railroaded into a decision about the Land lady's flat. She is cleverly making you believe you have control when actually you are a puppet on strings and she's pulling them. If you buy that flat she has no estate agent fee. How convenient! If you buy it and there is something amiss, she knows you are less likely than a stranger to make a fuss. How convenient! She can drag her feet, mess about on the price, push it through, in fact do whatever she's likes. Because she knows you're ripe for the picking.

And that's why I'm speaking out. Because I detest bullies and hate seeing people taking advantage of those who are in vulnerable positions.

You have a wealth of choices about your future. In fact you're a lucky man. Choices mean freedom. You can choose an area ( instead of blindly sticking to what you know), you can choose a house or a flat, garden or no garden,( not blindly sticking to what you know), you can explore, broaden your horizons, lengthen your list of requirements, (not blindly sticking to what you know). So many smashing suggestions are being presented and yet you are closed to them. You make all the right noises when people speak out but actions speak louder than words.

My intention here is to shake you up, help you take notice of advice you're given, help you stand up for yourself because frankly you have no reason not to, make you open your eyes and see things for what they are, broaden your view and most of all to keep reading this thread hoping that you make the best decisions based on level headed, visionary thinking.

If you believe I have over stepped the mark then so be it.

Open your eyes. You might surprise yourself.

Kind regards.

wendym

another_casualty wrote: »

Actually, that might be the way forward . It means it could be too low , and she could say ,' sorry but ..'

Ironically , the flat I'm looking at on Tuesday is for £170k, if I like it I'll offer around £157k . It's only around the corner from where I'm at now. Hopefully, there should be more property for sale soon.

Please don't offer a figure.

If you feel yourself weakening, just say you won't know until your affairs in London have been finalised. Which is true, as you don't yet know about your debts settlement.

And your estimate of £180k to £200k is so vague that I suspect you have not yet done your sums. The £20k difference is huge, and would provide the comfort blanket you may well need.

LL - thanks for finding the energy to post. I hope you slept the sleep of the just and the exhausted.

Perhaps a new voice (Slowdown, above) might help?

enthusiasticsaver

AC- have you yet done a statement of affairs and if not how do you know how much you can afford? Before you can offer to buy it is no good picking a figure out of thin air. I am going to put this in black and white.

Amount you have left in your bank account
Less settlement for payplan
Less moving/storage/legal costs
Less living expenses for next 6-12 months minimum

Going forward you need to find out how easy it will be for you to find work and whether you are entitled to any benefits. My brother has applied and is entitled to pip because of his ms even though he is working full time so it cannot be means tested. Surely your health condition would entitle you to something?

Do your sums properly and then compare whatever you look at to others in area, build in any essential works you need to do and offer lower than the maximum you will go to. This is the only cash buffer you will have so be careful with it.

another_casualty

Slowdown wrote: »

Hello there everyone,

I have read every single post on this and the previous thread, followed the ups and downs of selling, renting, now buying again. I feel like I know Poole even though I have never been there. I've looked at maps, viewed online houses and flats, looked at town images and agreed, disagreed,shaken and nodded my head in agreement and disagreement. Now 'this time to speak as the frustration is creeping in.

Everyone has been very helpful and supportive, full of sound advice and with no other motive than to help you out, AC.
But, as the saying goes, "There are none so blind as those who will not see."

You are quietly being railroaded into a decision about the Land lady's flat. She is cleverly making you believe you have control when actually you are a puppet on strings and she's pulling them. If you buy that flat she has no estate agent fee. How convenient! If you buy it and there is something amiss, she knows you are less likely than a stranger to make a fuss. How convenient! She can drag her feet, mess about on the price, push it through, in fact do whatever she's likes. Because she knows you're ripe for the picking.

And that's why I'm speaking out. Because I detest bullies and hate seeing people taking advantage of those who are in vulnerable positions.

You have a wealth of choices about your future. In fact you're a lucky man. Choices mean freedom. You can choose an area ( instead of blindly sticking to what you know), you can choose a house or a flat, garden or no garden,( not blindly sticking to what you know), you can explore, broaden your horizons, lengthen your list of requirements, (not blindly sticking to what you know). So many smashing suggestions are being presented and yet you are closed to them. You make all the right noises when people speak out but actions speak louder than words.

My intention here is to shake you up, help you take notice of advice you're given, help you stand up for yourself because frankly you have no reason not to, make you open your eyes and see things for what they are, broaden your view and most of all to keep reading this thread hoping that you make the best decisions based on level headed, visionary thinking.

If you believe I have over stepped the mark then so be it.

Open your eyes. You might surprise yourself.

Kind regards.

Thanks for the excellent advice here slowdown. Thanks for your persistence also. A lot has gone on ,and you've seen my ups and downs from the start. It is true. I am very lucky .
My only concern is that I am on my own, know nobody and would be too isolated and lonely if I were to go anywhere else other than South Shields where I would know a few people.
It may seem like I'm blinkered in that sense, but I don't know if I'm up for more upheaval, where I feel at ease at the moment .
Life is down to money imho . It tells me where I can and cannot live.

Thanks

another_casualty

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

AC- have you yet done a statement of affairs and if not how do you know how much you can afford? Before you can offer to buy it is no good picking a figure out of thin air. I am going to put this in black and white.

Amount you have left in your bank account
Less settlement for payplan
Less moving/storage/legal costs
Less living expenses for next 6-12 months minimum

Going forward you need to find out how easy it will be for you to find work and whether you are entitled to any benefits. My brother has applied and is entitled to pip because of his ms even though he is working full time so it cannot be means tested. Surely your health condition would entitle you to something?

Do your sums properly and then compare whatever you look at to others in area, build in any essential works you need to do and offer lower than the maximum you will go to. This is the only cash buffer you will have so be careful with it.

Thanks enthusiastic .
The only thing I can say, is that I am not sick enough to claim anything. When it comes to another 4 months, then I will think about everything on that side of things. Who knows? I may look for a job in a months time . I'm focusing on a place to live first. If however my doctor wants to see me, I may discuss the issue with him/ her.
We'll see
Thanks

lessonlearned

another_casualty wrote: »

My only concern is that I am on my own, know nobody and would be too isolated and lonely if I were to go anywhere else other than South Shields where I would know a few people.
.
Life is down to money imho . It tells me where I can and cannot live.

Thanks

Alleluia!!!

finally!!!

Now you have finally admitted it we can get down to brass tacks.

YES IT IS ALL DOWN TO MONEY.

By George I Think He's Got It. :rotfl:

Sorry AC to be so facetious but I have been waiting for you to wake up to this one salient fact. ........

..........it all boils down to money.

(I'll deal with your first paragraph and your fears separately).

But back to money. The simple unvarnished truth is .......You. Me, all of us .....are constrained by budgets.

Whether we like it or not.

I would love a cute little mews house in Chelsea or a luxurious Hollywood Style cliff top beach house in Cornwall or a fabulous country pile in the wilds of Derbyshire or better still - all three!!! But each of them is out of my league and I know it. So I will have to do what we all have to do - COMPROMISE.

AC - you too need to compromise. You have dreams beyond your budget. You are trying to punch above your weight and it could end in disaster. You are in serious danger of running out of money and starting that debt spiral again.

Seriously, your desire for a fancy pad in a posh postcode could be your downfall. Take off those rose tinted spectacles. You can't afford it.

Once more.....you have health problems and even without that issue at 56 you probably have limited work options. Even if you were in tip top physical condition there is still ageism in the work place and in all probability you will struggle to find decent full time employment.

I am sorry to be so blunt but at your age and with your health record employers are going to be wary. The best you can hope for is fairly low paid part time work.

Therefore.......you have to budget for this. You need to keep your living expenses as low as possible to maximise the capital at your disposal.

This means not stretching to buy at the top end of the capital you have available and not taking on a property with high outgoings.

Put simply This means low council tax and NO SERVICE CHARGES. A property which is easily run and maintained........SO NO MONEY PITS. A property which is well insulated and easy to heat and so on.

I have outlined before what I think would be an achievable scenario......

Part time work ........20 hours a week @ £7.50 would give you a pre tax income of £7800. You wouldn't need to pay income tax on that.

A day to day living budget of roughly £6k (no service charges) for all essential spending including food. This would leave you plenty to spend on fun stuff.

This would be the worst case scenario and does in fact roughly correspond to the current State Pension.

Of course it is likely that you could and would probably earn more but I think you do need to Plan for that "WOrst case Scenario".

If you couldn't work then your sickness benefits would probably be around the same level as the part time wages I have quoted.

Then of course, if you were working around 20 hours a week, keeping the roof over your head and food on the table, you would still have both the time and energy to be looking at some form of additional income.

You have a marketable skill ........your musical ability. This can be monetised to give you a nice little second income, doing something you love.

Do you realise that this would be most people's dream........turning a much loved hobby or past time into a moneymaker.

You are indeed a very lucky man, you have a decent capital sum behind you and you have a marketable skill........the world really is your lobster.

Yes you have a limiting condition.......but (sorry to be blunt) ......it is not terminal. My poor late husband was not nearby as fortunate as you,........he was handed death sentence when he was just 49. You can still have a rich, rewarding and fulfilling life.

AC you have a golden opportunity here to design yourself a wonderful future, living mortgage free, earning enough to pay your way and the chance to pursue your passions and just possibly make a handsome income from something you love doing.

Just How many people do you think get such a chance.

Very few.

Don't blow it.

another_casualty

Thanks LL sound as always
That's the thing about my condition. Believe it or not, I could be in remission soon.
Well, within the next couple of years . Age is against me employment wise.
That's why I persevered the last job . One of the reasons I contemplated the move, was because I am very realistic. I believe part time or temp work is my only way forward..medical condition or not . We have seen massive changes. Immigrants cutting the wages I would expect to get etc. I'm not stupid, and the one thing that always stuck out when deciding was to just get a place to live , get fit again and the rest hopefully should happen .
I just got caught up in the moment with the flat I'm in . There would obviously be service charges, despite landlady buying the freehold. They would be too much.
The only pluses , are that the upkeep is good here unlike some places where people have to keep on to the mgt co to get things done.
still, I'm looking forward to tomorrow , and Tuesday and see what pans out there.