Dream Retirement Property - but can we afford it?

GunJack

TBC15 said:

£700,000 move to Scotland you could get staff at that price.

forget it, you'd be stuck with fish-woman

fred246

TBC15 said:

£700,000 move to Scotland you could get staff at that price.

I think DQ was hoping to have a nice retirement. We keep talking about the time we went to a Scottish campsite in August. It was 10 degrees. The rain was driving horizontally across it. It was virtually empty. The campsite owner said that that was the fault of the English.

saucer

fred246 said:

TBC15 said:

£700,000 move to Scotland you could get staff at that price.

I think DQ was hoping to have a nice retirement. We keep talking about the time we went to a Scottish campsite in August. It was 10 degrees. The rain was driving horizontally across it. It was virtually empty. The campsite owner said that that was the fault of the English.

😂

[Deleted User]

I live in a large-ish old house. These are the things that I worry about
How good are you both at DIY? In a few years when those knees creak?
Are you good on ladders? Clearing those gutters and taking birds nests out every spring isn't fun
Oil or Gas? How old is the tank if it's oil, how old are the boilers?
4G and Broadband speeds? 
Are the electric on two separate circuits (happens a lot) - thick walls and two circuits means WiFi problems (and you can't use ethernet over mains to solve it)
Cleaning - it's continuous, once you finish you need to start again
That garden size.. (personally I would invest in a ground heat pump if I had the cash)
Hedges, trees, garden waste.. how far is the local tip, can you drive with a small trailer
How good is the pointing on the chimneys.
For me, old houses are money pits unless... you are good at house and garden maintenance.
Local tradespeople will help out, even at mates rates, but you are putting down thousands a year doing this

kangoora

How about this, you'd have to move to North Yorkshire/Co. Durham though

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-81186601.html

cfw1994

OldMusicGuy said:

DairyQueen said:

Having said that, we have discovered much about what is really important to us. The situation of the house far outweighs the style, vintage, size, or anything else. We have our minimum criteria on size but we will consider anything that sits in a tranquil and private location. It must overlook fields at the rear and it must be sufficiently distant from neighbours to give all parties elbow room.

Thanks for the update. I think you are right - it's the situation of the property and the lifestyle it enables that is more important than the exact style of property. Best of luck in the search. 

Yup...thanks for the update.
That bold bit......sounds slightly like "location, location, location", eh!
The couple of times we've moved, we (well, me!) have had a scoring system.   Room sizes - anything over certain size gains a point.   Bedrooms - eg, min 3, point for every extra.  Nice garden +2, big single garage +1, double +2, etc, etc.   Sounds daft, but helpful if you are comparing a few along the way.   Also have that 'showstopper' list - for us, main road or 'rat run', electric pylons.....
The search continues, eh.   Good luck!

TBC15

fred246 said:

TBC15 said:

£700,000 move to Scotland you could get staff at that price.

I think DQ was hoping to have a nice retirement. We keep talking about the time we went to a Scottish campsite in August. It was 10 degrees. The rain was driving horizontally across it. It was virtually empty. The campsite owner said that that was the fault of the English.

Geordie T shirt weather ye soft English …………………….

enthusiasticsaver

I see that you have taken this property off the drawing board anyway but my view is if you have a health condition meaning you are unlikely to survive past 75 then I would be looking to retire now and with as little stress as possible. I do not understand why you are going to leave it another 3 years until your partner is ready to hang up his boots when it sounds like he loves work and will work until he drops. Do you love work too? 

I think being locked down together in a tiny house for months has probably coloured your vision re property and undoubtedly you need something bigger and quieter but going to a property costing £650k (or similar) from a current properties worth presumably £200k sounds like a big chunk of your assets (whether cash, TFLS, or SIPPs) will be in property leaving you less liquid disposable income.  Not an option I would be going for but I guess if you are intending to spend as much time as possible in the house and are not planning on travelling or doing much else with retirement then that is your choice if the figures add up.  I cannot help thinking there is a myriad of options between a Grade 2 listed property at £650k and an affordable 4 bed bungalow on a small housing estate.  Don't rush into this as property is not liquid and mistakes made at this stage of your life can be expensive and difficult to rectify.  I have friends who bought their dream house which is huge and now it is just them in retirement it is too big and they cannot sell it.  Unfortunately the equity in it was intended to subsidise their pensions and they are now property rich but cash poor and bigger properties cost more to maintain in terms of council tax, utilities and insurances.  Another friend of mine who bought their dream house in the countryside which needed doing up is taking every spare penny so they cannot afford to retire even though they are early 60s.  That is surrounded by fields but they are also now locked in boundary disputes and planning permission has been sought to develop the fields.  All added stress and it is affecting both of their health. There is a reason you were struggling with this if you are normally sensible. 

I would take the £300k from the property under offer and maybe add some of your unwrapped cash and look for something you will both be happy with but if you are both still working that limits where you can buy as presumably you still need to be close to your office unless you are going to be working from home. If you are both retired you can move anywhere. 

DairyQueen

Notepad_Phil said:

DairyQueen said:

It must overlook fields at the rear

Just be careful with this - a friend bought a house with lovely views.   ten years later they were building houses on it.

Very aware of the danger of this. It's the reason we avoid edge of village properties. Our council has form on this. 

DairyQueen

kangoora said:

How about this, you'd have to move to North Yorkshire/Co. Durham though

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-81186601.html

Gorgeous location. Only issue with the layout is the open plan living area. I'm old school and hate open-plan.

My sis-in-law (born in the south of England) has lived in Co Durham for 30 years. She yearns to move back south simply because of the weather. Shame as it's beautiful.