Regret buying a house at 28 - what do I do?

MysteryMe

pineapplepink wrote: »

I’ve definitely considered this but I wouldn’t know what to look for in terms of job roles (apart from an air hostess maybe? But I’m 5”2 so too short for the majority of companies!)
I’ve got loads of experience within the banking industry and customer experience, but that’s about it.

I'm not sure if a work visa would be achievable but with your CS skills have you thought about a call centre job abroad in somewhere like India? Do any of the UK banking institutions have them?

Cakeguts

rosieflowers wrote: »

Cakeguts that's a load of crap, I've rented in Germany, France, Italy and Portugal for periods of as little as 3 months and as much as 2 years and they were always furnished :rotfl: renting in Europe is loads better than renting in the UK, and there's none of the stigma around renting vs home ownership. I've also had jobs in three of the four (bar work, waiting, hotel reception, administrator for a UK company) and in France and Italy only had to speak English, but I learnt some of the language anyway just for day to day living... which is a great experience.

The fact that it's a challenge - working a low paid job, finding accommodation, learning a language, making friends, broaching cultural divides etc - is what makes it worth it... broadening your horizons, building resilience etc

I for one am so so glad that I travelled, lived in foreign countries, lived like a local etc from the ages of 18- 25 (before, after and in between getting a good degree from a red brick as well of course) as then when I finally moved back home at 25 and got the corporate job, I was ready for it. Just bought a house at 28. Basically you can have it all in this respect. I would say go for it 100% OP.

I am really pleased to know that you know more about renting property in Europe than I do when I have two rented properties in France that are let on French leases. Neither of them are furnished. It is extremely unusual to get rental property in Germany or France that is furnished. In France you put in your own light fittings, sometimes your own kitchen and your own furniture. Thank you so much for telling me that my very experienced French managing and letting agent has got his job completely wrong.



I suppose that we should take the rest of your post as being inaccurate as well?



So now you are the same age as the OP and owning a house except the OP got there quicker and without a degree.

DD265

I can't help you with the housing situ OP, but did think of a couple of other things that you might consider.

Firstly, I'd recommend reading the 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss. I read it recently and it gave me a lot to think about. Personally I'd like to retrain into a much lower paid industry and can't afford either the retraining or the salary cut at this point. Whether I can achieve it through finding some form of automated income.. food for thought, anyway.

Second is whether you have the opportunity to go contracting in the UK. Not all roles are suited to this, but in my industry, I could earn more as a contractor. The lack of stability would not work for me, but if you were able to work 6-9 months in the UK as a contractor and then spend 6-3 months abroad that might work for you.

Both of these might take time to achieve, but I think they'd be worth a quick look. Good luck

ThePants999

"I've rented 4 properties so I'm an expert!"
"Well, I let two of my own properties so I'm an expert!"

Maybe, just maybe, neither of you are experts. (See also Adrian's point about Europe not being homogeneous.)

the_mandarin

Just a thought - but is it an option for you to "try for 6 months" whatever it is that you intend to do? For example, work in Thailand or wherever for a short while to confirm whether it is what you think it is?

7 years is a reasonably long time and you would be losing out on the head-start that 7 years of experience can give you in a newer job profile. If you absolutely hate what you are presently doing, that's fine. But do take into account that your present quest for an exciting job may soon be replaced by a desire for a stable job that pays the bills.

mdury

With a mortgage of less than 105k you’re monthly payment must be pretty cheap. Sub £450 on an average deal. Seems mad to pay £5k to exit early. Is there not a family member or friend you could ‘rent a room’ to? Even if you leave it empty you could be gone for a year and still be better off just paying the mortgage!!

pineapplepink

the_mandarin wrote: »

Just a thought - but is it an option for you to "try for 6 months" whatever it is that you intend to do? For example, work in Thailand or wherever for a short while to confirm whether it is what you think it is?

7 years is a reasonably long time and you would be losing out on the head-start that 7 years of experience can give you in a newer job profile. If you absolutely hate what you are presently doing, that's fine. But do take into account that your present quest for an exciting job may soon be replaced by a desire for a stable job that pays the bills.

Yes this is an option, i can apply for a career break at work for 2-12 months but it’s obviously unpaid. Problem is I’d still need to keep up mortgage payments a month and I don’t have any savings to fall back on.

pineapplepink

mdury wrote: »

With a mortgage of less than 105k you’re monthly payment must be pretty cheap. Sub £450 on an average deal. Seems mad to pay £5k to exit early. Is there not a family member or friend you could ‘rent a room’ to? Even if you leave it empty you could be gone for a year and still be better off just paying the mortgage!!

Yes my monthly payment is £480. All family members already have mortgages so i would have to rent to a friend, but if I did this without informing my mortgage company I’d be breaking the law.
Id happily leave it empty but it’s the cost of paying the bills while it’s empty

AdrianC

pineapplepink wrote: »

...but if I did this without informing my mortgage company I’d be breaking the law.

No, merely the Ts & Cs of your mortgage - which may see your lender calling in the loan.

mdury

Might be worth seeing what the bank says about renting a room. You could technically still ‘live there’ for I’d imagine half a year without being there!?!

In any case if you can’t find a way of keeping it get rid. Go and work abroad, you may regret it but you’ll almost certainly regret not doing it. Sounds like you have a nice family to stay with if you need to also 👍