Babystep 6

ruby_eskimo

Oh wow, here's hoping that the firm agree to pay some of the costs if they're the ones "making" him move all that way.  Hope you get some clarity soon.  

DrSpendingLittle

Hi Babystepper! Long time no speak, I hope you are keeping well. Things seem to be moving along well for you! Well done on still being solvent and having a decent emergency fund. 

Moving house is very expensive, you're right - we had £2K of abortive legal costs last year as our house sale fell through twice. But, such is life.

We are also thinking of trying to move again (early next year) but I'm nervous of being in a chain again after ours collapsing twice, so we might end up renting for a wee while between selling and buying. I do think I can cope with the stress again. 

I think we budgeted for about £5K in moving costs (solicitors fees inc. searches, estate agent fees, movers) and then we planned to use equity topped up with savings for the deposit and savings for stamp duty. Now is a good time to move as there is no stamp duty, so you can save £000s. If we had moved, stamp duty would have cost us £17.5K!!!

I had been wondering whether to start overpaying the mortgage like you have started to do. But I've now decided against it until we move house, mainly because I need to rebuild my house move fund (I spent what I'd saved last year on two lots of building work on our existing home, a mobile phone handset and a desktop computer). I then want to save for a start up fund for the new house (decorating, gardening, new furniture etc). I decided it would be best to pile cash into those sinking funds whilst we wait to move, then when we are moved and settled financially (we've got used to the higher mortgage payment etc), we can begin to start overpaying the new mortgage. 

Hope things become more certain for you soon and I look forward to cheering you on!

BabyStepper

ruby_eskimo said:

Oh wow, here's hoping that the firm agree to pay some of the costs if they're the ones "making" him move all that way.  Hope you get some clarity soon.  

I think the company should pay something at least, but this is also part of a reshuffle that might end up with a few redundancies, we don't know yet. It's a bit tense in our house this week, I'm hoping we don't have to move at all but just need to wait and see.

BabyStepper

Hi again DrSpendingLittle, good to see you too.  Ouch on the house chain situation, that sounds terrible. I don't think I could cope with that right now, but may not have a choice. And yes, good time to take advantage of the stamp duty freeze.

This move (if it happens) could mean a step up in house a bit sooner than we had planned (actually we hadn't planned it at all, we have enough space where we are) but if you have to move anyway, why not make it to a nicer area, with a bigger garden, and a kitchen that does not need replaced? (My kitchen was definitely on the list of things to change after the debt was gone.) After all that time in lockdown and with local lockdowns continuing, suddenly I want to be much more comfortable at home. Not that we were uncomfortable, but it has certainly changed my perspective on everything. But 2 years of paying off debt has left me reluctant to spend a penny more than I have to, ever, and buying more house seems... wasteful. But if we have to move anyway, maybe we should make it count, step up the ladder rather than sideways? So there's not another move in 5 years?  

If anyone has any thoughts on the house move situation I'd appreciate hearing them. I'm getting a bit confused with it all. 

savingholmes

Hi - when we moved into our current house - we stepped up after a previous step down. I looked at all the jobs that needed doing in the house and mentally costed them. It became clear that the moving to a home where the work was already done would be way cheaper for us than staying and doing the work - and we would be more comfortable. I think as long as you make sure what you are moving to is affordable - and preferably have an EF it is logical to step up if you can.

enthusiasticsaver

Sounds like a move may be on the cards for you and I agree with SH that making it affordable is a priority. At the same time though making it a move you can stay put for minimum of five years is sensible given the costs involved. At least no stamp duty for the time being would be a bonus and I don't think you have children so it would not need to be huge. I always think area is the priority when choosing a house. You can change the house but not the area. You seem pretty sensible and like Dr Spendlittle have it sussed on financial priorities. Not sure that helps you much though.

If it were me I would be choosing a house for the foreseeable future and if it needs work make sure you allow for that when doing affordability checks. I definitely would not buy a house I knew I would have to sell within the next few years given the size of estate agents fees and solicitor and moving costs and stress of moving. I would rather wait until we could get a house we were happy to stay put in. Possibly look for one you could extend at some later point should you need to as that is cheaper than moving usually?

BabyStepper

Thank you all for your comments. The latest news is that any move will now be delayed until April, if it happens at all, and that we will be notified by February whether or not it's going ahead. OH's company are also talking about £2k relocation fee, nothing confirmed yet, but they are being very good at keeping everyone informed and trying to help as much as they can. All of this helps me to make plans and get us ready, but I'm secretly hoping we don't have to go. But times are hard, so we'll just need to keep waiting. 

In the meantime, I'm still stockpiling cash and the EF is now £6,500. I am considering reducing our target from £10k to £8.5k. The reason for this is that our true costs for 6 months at the moment are £8.2k. Also, we are currently in the biggest crisis I think any of us could ever go through and we seem to be doing alright. I'm looking ahead to mortgage overpayments and longer term savings/needs goals and think it's a waste having so much EF cash in an easy access, low interest account. I'd rather move on to other savings plans and lock our money away to at least get some return. The EF can just sit there providing security, and it really does, already. 

I know I say it in every post almost, but I am just so glad we got rid of the debt before this pandemic happened. It's almost unbelievable what a close call it was. Who knew when I was setting those goals years ago that this would be the situation? 

I hope everyone is staying safe.     

ruby_eskimo

Good to hear that they're keeping you reasonably informed and offering a bit of money towards the possible relocation.  I have so many different savings pots that when I get extra money I don't really know where's the best place to send it, but agree that the EF is there as an easy access thing and then everything else is in higher interest (not that 1.4% is particularly high!) accounts.

BabyStepper

I have some good news - OH and I had an unexpected windfall from my side of the family, pretty much out of nowhere and due to my worried parents wanting to make sure we are financially ok. I have managed to complete the EF, now at £8.5k, and we have another £500 free that I'm going to use to start a 'house move' fund. I need a better savings account for the EF as NS&I will be reducing their interest to practically nothing next month. Martin recommends Principality Building Society at 0.8% but I've never even heard of them. 

As you can see, I've not done a single thing about overpaying the mortgage. I would really rather save up some cash to move house if we have to and if we don't, then I could overpay a lump sum. All this uncertainty does my head in. I've done a quick costing and it looks like the move could cost £4.5k - £5k plus early mortgage repayment fees if they don't let us take it with us. Even with £2k from OH's employer, that's still a hefty chunk of cash to find. Now that I have a fully funded EF for the first time in my whole life, I don't want to have to spend it on a move, especially one that is a necessity and that I'm not overly excited about.   

Anyway, I'm off to change my signature. Hope everyone's staying well. 

DancingInTheRain

Oh how kind of your parents, great plan to complete your EF and kickstart the move fund. Makes perfect sense not to overpay the mortgage for now until everything settles down.
Love the new signature 🤩