From Flat to Farmhouse

FloppyDisk

I can't say I am keeping up with riding much anymore, although I did manage to get out for a canter last weekend which blew the cobwebs away!  I am still paying my monthly membership to compete although haven't even managed to train in a long while so maybe that's something I need to give up on - it is a pain to switch it off and on and I am hoping when the days get a bit longer I will be able to start up again. 

I am starting to feel as if we are coping ok moneywise at the moment, all the accounts are going in the right direction (except maybe my S&S ISA!)  The BTL is at £5k but at least I have paid the full tax bill for the year including the payment on account for next year so that's out of the way.  No issues there except tenants moaning about condensation from their own washing being hung out inside. 

My account is at £13,200 plus I now have £3.7k's worth of company shares as part of my plan to be a bit more tax efficient with where my cash is stored (tax free after 5 years type).

Joint account will be £13,600 once the bills are done so we are in a good state to do some little projects.  Mr Floppy has been very busy building more furniture for the house and it is really starting to look very homely, should hope so too after nearly 4 years here.  Now that sprog is toddling we have another round of additions to make, including a much longed for gate between the driveway and the front garden.  Child related safety is of course just a guise for me prepping to put chickens in the front without Mr Floppy noticing.

I obviously had an error in my CGT calculation last time I posted it as our numbers are significantly different - maybe in a year's time when I get around to posting again it will be back down again but for now I am going with it!  House value approx £550k, BTL approx £275k (doesn't change or I overestimated previously - some big re-development works nearby have got a step closer to happening so I'm hopeful that these will have a good impact on the area in a few year's time).  Total value = £825k - £378k - £162k mortgages = £285k equity -  CGT = £275k in the farmhouse fund.  By the end of our fix that is projected to be £534,592.  By which point we will have probably just finished this house and will collapse in an exhausted heap vowing never to move again. 

Otherwise life continues as per new-norm - working from home, constantly battered with bugs from nursery and lack of sleep, badly in need of a holiday - must actually book something to look forward to! 

Watty1

Good to hear from you with your update   And love the slipping in of the chickens. I'm sure he wont notice

FloppyDisk

I spent yesterday evening painting my chicken house so it's probably time for an update.  Slow and steady progress, prices going up but new job for OH so we are keeping balanced. I'm on another year long 'holiday' at the mercy of a tiny human and ruminating a job change when I go back so I need to focus on some extra qualifications while I have some spare time..... as if. 

The big change is the need to sell the flat as it is coming to the end of the fix and the cost of a new fix is unsustainable. Plus changes to CGT, eviction etc, it just isn't worth the risk of a bad tenant.  So my lovely ones have been given notice, which of course they were lovely about and admitted it was on their to do list anyway.  Hopefully everything goes smoothly and I can get it on the market and sold quickly and then I am left with the "problem" of what to do with the proceeds.  

Round ere I expect the advise is to put it on the main mortgage or pension but the house is fixed at 1.62% and the pension already gets 20% contributions. It is likely to be around 100k and I don't want it to get swallowed up in the day to day finances like new bathrooms or cars which are already being saved for separately.  My mind flits from a business start up fund to buying land for rare breed sheep so I really need to narrow it down but it could tie in with the timing of new job aspiration.  Long term I still dream of a farmhouse, old barns to convert and a bit of land and I'm not sure it is getting any closer unless we do something quite different (sheep probably not the right answer).

Anyway, there's my brain dump, we have worked hard but we are very fortunate and appreciate our lovely home. 

Watty1

Having kept sheep for a while I would counsel against them.  Watch Clarkson's Farm episode "sheeping" over and over, every day. They really are like that!   Great way to get to know the neighbours, when they escape which mine did daily for a while, the seem to spend their lives thinking of creative ways to die.  They really do.

castlelough

Hello Floppy Disk,
How are things going? Did you sell the flat and buy the sheep? I enjoyed reading your updates!