Dream Retirement Property - but can we afford it?

DairyQueen

enthusiasticsaver said:

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. 

Thanks for your post.

Mr DQ is happy working and that's fine by me. He works mostly from home and so do I. He has the option to work as little/much as he chooses so is in the lucky position to pick/choose his clients. He will retire fully in his own, good time.

I have a life-limiting condition but it doesn't impact daily activities (yet). We live a normal life and that's how I like it. If/when my condition impacts daily life then we will review the situation. In the meantime, it's business as usual as he is enjoying working and I work (and volunteer) because both add to the quality of my life. The rest of my daytime is spent helping care for disabled mum. I love her to bits but if that was my sole responsibility I would go nuts. I have the utmost admiration for those who care 24/7.

We currently have £500k invested in property plus an additional £200k of our cash to add to the future property budget. That leaves us with OH's £30k p.a. DB pension, 2 x full SPs within 5 years, £600k in SIPPs, another £100k in cash and £57k (and increasing) in retained company dividends. If we can't enjoy a decent retirement on that then there is something wrong with the pair of us.

Yes, we are currently holed-up in the tiny 2-bedder but it's temporary. We will find the right property, and if we don't this side of winter then we will rent until we do. Always good to have a Plan B.

atush

fred246 said:

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.

The first time i went to England i was in Devon in August.  It was around 55 and raining an i was freezing lol

badger09

@DairyQueen
I've been following your thread with great interest and am SO pleased your 2nd viewing has crystallised your thoughts and taken your dream (nightmare?) home out of the equation.

We're currently living in what was my husband's dream home when we bought it 20 years ago. In many ways it was, and in some ways it still is, idyllic, but so much has changed for us in those 20 years that I'm now almost desperate to sell. We tried in 2017 but didn't get offers, so took it off the market. Don't want to tempt fate as its just  back on, with much more interest this time.

Suffice it to say that several new build estates within a mile or so have completely changed the volume of traffic in our country lane, making walking into town dangerous. Health issues mean the garden, swimming pool (marmite anyone?) and carp pond are now a millstone. When we sell, we have no ties to any particular location so will start with a blank sheet. BUT practicality will be the major factor, so we can relax and enjoy the rest of our retirement.

Hope you find somewhere soon that you both love.

DairyQueen

atush said:

fred246 said:

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.

The first time i went to England i was in Devon in August.  It was around 55 and raining an i was freezing lol

Every time I have visited Devon or Cornwall it has chucked with rain. Mr DQ and I have a sardonic saying '15 feels like 8'. That was the temperature during a memorable June trip to the West country.

I'm an East Anglian. It takes a lot to tempt me out of the driest part of the country. I could, however, be tempted by the Scottish landscape. Of course, that presumes that Ms Sturgeon is prepared to accept English people as much as she is our tax revenues.

If Scotland wants independence then that's fine with me but don't expect any subsidy from the rest of the UK.