Mortgage Free now aiming for FIRE

daisy_1571

Its really easy to overthink house selling/buying but the way we have looked at it:

Do we have more need of absolute highest price, literally every single penny OR do we have a date pressure?

If we need highest price but have no date issues then put it on at offers over and wait.  This runs the risk that if it sits too long folk will start to think there is something wrong with it and you are likely to have to reduce price.   Stress if working to a date, no stress if we can live there for years waiting on a buyer with the money we want.

If it's more important to get a house sold by a certain date, price it sensibly, consider a fixed price then you will only get people coming that can afford it and tell them up front we want a date of entry of x, in your case around beginning August.   Yes, you might get less (but equally you might get more) but most important thing is to get it sold so you can get on with your life.


Most of us want the best price possible however there's being sensible then there's being silly and cutting nose off to spite face type of situation.  Over the next 30 years of life, getting an extra thousand pounds doesn't matter much.  Its all about whatever is most important in our lives at that point.  If you focus on that, it will help cut out all the extra what ifs and calm your thinking.   Your most important sounds like is to get sold and get over to Denmark. 


We sold a house at a time when the offers over were going a bit mad, people didn't know what to offer, lots of uncertainty around mortgages etc.  We knew what price we wanted (as we knew the price we were paying for the next house) so we put it on at fixed price.   We got it sold immediately, like within hours.   We had people ring the bell wanting to see it, a couple of folk offered us more money to rescind and sell to them but you just don't do that under the scottish system, very bad form indeed!, we got offered cash in hand back handers but we dont work that way so stood firm and told them all its sold and to get lost lol.  Thinking back, you get a bit greedy and think oh we should have put it on at offers over since we had so much interest, we might have got a fortune for it, oh regret regret.  However, the sensible part of my brain says it only got that level of interest as it was one of the few at a fixed price at that time.   If we had gone offers over, its likely it would have sat on the market for months like others at that point.   As it was, we got it sold, we got the price we needed for our next house, we got a date that worked for us, our buyers and the house we bought.  Everybody happy.

Its up to you but I would focus on your priority and work to that.  Evrery house will sell if its priced right for its own circumstances. 

Good luck, keep calm, houses get sold all the time and yours will too

Daisy xxxxxxxxxx

TallGirl

Thanks for your comments Daisy you are right maybe I am overthinking it but this is a money saving site and if I could cover the cost of the renovations and the money I bought it for it would be ideal. I am not expecting to see any other increases although everything has gone up around here since Covid. I have had the joy of living in a house done up as I wanted it which has been worth paying for. I am glad you got yours sold and found the one you wanted and the chain worked out. Last time we bought and sold it was really easy I am definitely hoping for the same worth more than getting an inflated price.

I would not let the house sit at too high a price that is just silly and makes it look like there is something wrong with it. The people who had it before put it on the market the summer before we bought it then took it off and relisted the following summer which is when we saw it fell in love and bought it. I am thinking that would work for us. 

THE PLAN AS OF TODAY
List in Aug 24 at £10K more than I have spent on it 
If it sells at close to asking price hope the buyers are prepared to wait at least until after Christmas
Give the agent 12 weeks to market it if it is not sold then take it off Rightmove
Relist in March/April 25 for £10K less and see what happens

It might end up taking longer to sell it won't hurt us to wait until that autumn to move to Denmark. I actually think I would prefer rather than go into rental as it would give me time to sort the finances. By that I mean the pension lump sum and maybe even get the proceed from the sale of the house into the pension before taking it back out. It would also let me earn more money from current job sort out sabbatical etc.

Our original plan was to move in 3 to 4 years this will make it just 3 years so still on track. 

I did go to the gym yesterday DG did not go so I am now 2 counts towards by 15 for a free day pass. My legs ache something bad after pump but good to have done it. I have my pattern making course tonight so no gym and then back Thursday. DG is going to see some clients and staying with a friend so leaving tonight and coming back Friday night. I can do some sewing which I actually really look forward to. Right now I need to sort some work out just picked up another project in Essex so that is handy for staying with DGs friends if needed. I am working with a colleague so will learn a lot about this type of project so that is good too. She is not the easiest to work with so we shall see. 

I did message with the Moneyhelper site about pension lump sums. I think it depends on what my provider can do and it sounds like I want to take the full 25% tax free lump sum and then put the rest into draw down. I will wait until I have my pensionwise appointment to ask more questions before contacting the provider we know how annoying they are. 

Also found 2 x £5 gift cards in an app which I have converted to two Costa gift cards. I also have a £3 one so that is £13 to spend in Costa might save it for the airport in July. Also queried why a £20 Quidco bonus has been turned down we shall see does not cost anything to ask. 

Things are picking up on my Essex project so that is exciting. I do now have 4 meetings this afternoon. 

TallGirl

Morning quick message as I cannot log into MSE on my laptop even after resetting the password. So annoying so this is on my phone. 

Spent on some Danish goodies online as they were half price and saved us logging them back in the suitcase. Did my course it was really good next week is trousers which is what I really need. 

Dg away she’s now got 3 stamps towards the 15 for a free pass. No idea how. My legs are still hurting plus I have work so cancelled my session. Will try to get up there tomorrow at least. Maybe spin. 

No decision made as of yet on the house but I l will email to ask for prices if we do the 12 weeks. 

TallGirl

Managed to get into my account so much easier with the proper keyboard. Waiting for a meeting to start so can jump on here for a bit. I did also spend £2.50 in a wheel thing for making patterns. I did use to own one but never knew what it was so chucked it I think. I am going to do some sewing this evening to see if I can salvage that skirt I start that is too small. 

Looked up how much I would get for my 2017 MacPro laptop and my Beats headphones £150 and £17 for that price I think I might as well keep them. If I have to give up my job I would at least have a laptop to work from although I never got on with the Apple one I would have to buy a non apple one to work from. This was on MusicMagpie if anyone has any other suggestions I would be grateful. 

Spoke to a colleague in the same sector they are likely to lose their job as their organisation is making 20% cuts all over. She does need her job and is having to make plans. Talking to her made me feel like it is all coming together for the move in August 25 as that is when my job would most likely end. Talking to my manager late last night confirmed this she started talking about plan B etc but not to do anything right now. 

Still unsure about putting the house up for sale in August but have emailed the estate agent but forgot he is away for a few days. 

TallGirl

Spoken to DG she is up for testing the market and putting it on in August so estate agent will get back to me early next week to work out costs etc. I am going to barter him down on his commision as he bought my house and so I think he owes me slightly as he got full commision on that one too. 

Estate agent in Denmark came back he is quite sure I can get a viewing in whenever I want if I can get over so that is positive. This is for the house that has been on the market already for 455 days already. He has also sent me a link so a conveyancer that helps with house buying so that is cool they do a package for about £600. The process is so different over there so I will need handholding I think. It is more straight forward than here but they do check the documents etc. Not sure if they offer help with negotiations etc. I will save the link obviously. 

DG is still away but back later tonight about 9pm. We were going to play golf but she will not get back in time. I had signed up for gym but forgot to go. I could do spinning tonight but I would rather sew after work to be honest. I have still done 4 clases and will be playing 9 holes tomorrow and 18 on Sunday. 

I am thinking of joining that Danish association. The prices of membership has rocketed but I feel I could get so much help from there on moving, pension etc. Makes sense to pay for 2 years but it is nearly £100. I will have a think. 

Went to Lidl last night £20 spent they had our favorite chocolate treats in so that to get 4 packets. Not good for the diet but so nice and they satisfy your chocolate craving. We can share 1 even. Sad the fruit spins has ended but I got my raspberries so happy with that. 

Turned down for the Quidco £20 bonus ended 9th Feb we booked 15th Feb shame but there you are not sure why it even tracked. 

Got lots of work done so that is good. So glad it is Friday 

TallGirl

Been to get the car chip sorted and also visited DGs mums memorial tree which was nice you can get close to it once a year. 

Done some gardening sown some zinnias very late but looking at the prices at BQ for plants no thank you and as I have not sown any veg I do need something to fill my beds in late Summer. Also rescued one of my Dahlias which for some reason was in a waterlogged pot not draining. Also filled up the slug traps as we had rain. Realised why my seeds were not taking no holes in the bottoms of Lidl's seeds trays. Why sell them like that who use is that!! Glad I spotted it. 

Also found a 10 week course on setting up a business and digital marketing for me to do. I do not want to start on Tuesday so I hope I can sign up for the next one. This is our long term plan for me to support DG in the business. It is quite complex but I will try to explain. 

She does those long cases that can take years but pay really well. To get them she has a facebook business page which she currently does not really use but she also pays for leads. She also gets them via others so that is kind of covered. The other side she does she gets the clients via the company she works as a consultant for. They take 50% of the fee but it is quite quick work and I can with my skill set easily assist her and speak to clients, chase etc. The two sets of clients quick ones and longer terms ones are on opposing sides but there is no conflict on interest. Hope you are with me so far. So she cannot use the facebook business page to advertise for clients from the other side (the quick ones) and she cannot really set up a page to attract the quick clients as they long term ones could google and find out she does both sides. It is totally legal to do both sides but ideally you would not. So the idea (if you are with me this far) is for us to try and get the quick clients ourselves and only pay 30% fee. I need someway of advertising on local facebook groups via a business page so it does not link to Dgs other side. I kind of want help setting myself up in the best possible way as we can start finding the clients now while we are local and then when we move as long as we do not get chucked out of the local facebook groups we should be ok. I know nothing about facebook advertising but we have a USP and we can put lots of wins out there so I think it would work. This would be instead of my day job and only once we move to Denmark. Hopefully we can work at that 3 days a week together and make enough to cover bills so we only have to eat into our savings for big stuff. So lets see what happens Monday I will try to get on the next one so much going on otherwise still have my pattern course. 

Just checked the Danish Association is £168 for two years or £95 for 1 year so not sure if it is worth joining for 2 years it is only a £22 savings but if it is helpful then we can always join nest year. They have lawyers that specialise in people returning to Denmark so that could be worth it obviously. 

We were going to play golf this afternoon but the weather is really horrible. I have cooked some ham hoping to have ham and new potatoes but they are not quite ready in the garden sadly so might try and turn it into carbonara with ham later.

Diet not going great but not as bad as DG at least. I have lost what I gained so nothing else. At least some golf tomorrow first day I have not had the doms since that pump class. 

In other news hottub is flashing error code so bought new filters £158 coming soon. Hopefully that will fix it so we don’t need it repaired. So annoying when things don’t work but you need to replace them every two years so about right. 



 

TallGirl

Morning we are up early to make up for going to two gym classes later. Planning to do the same 4 this week but will try to get one in for Thursday. For some reason I now have 3 stamps the Summer Challenge so that is handy I am still on track. 

Got the new filters delivered for the hottub but it has still got an error message and is not heating up so we need the engineers out. I have put a message through to them so hopefully they will get in touch. 

Golf yesterday was lovely in terms of the company but I hit far too many balls in the water and my handicap has now gone up again. It was really windy but nice day and DG did not have any meltdowns so hopefully moving in the right direction. 

We did not eat at the club but went to Lidl and then ate at home. Much much cheaper and it was really nice too. We did watch both Denmark and England on the telly. Denmark should have won but they got a draw and the England game was just so boring. We did watch an episode of Bridgerton somehow we missed I was so tired last night but my hips were hurting so took ages to go to sleep. I have the sewing club tonight and tomorrow its gym then Wednesday it is pattern course so busy week. 

Right off to do some work then before gym in 2 hours. Really hope the weather improves we need some Summer back. 

TallGirl

Morning not a lot of write about more money spent as the pool man contacted us yesterday asking if we wanted him to visit and do the pool. It had not been done since May and with the nice weather coming up it kind of made sense to do it then. I did get him to look at the hot tub but he thinks it is an airlock or something so I have asked if we can get the hot tub engineers in the earliest they can do is 24th June so that is another week without it. He said the filters are fine so we did not need to change them but at least now we have some for next time I just need to clean them up. 

At least we are saving some money as the cleaner is on holiday I do look forward to her coming back though. 

I did go to the sewing class which was nice I have nearly finished the skirt just a bit of hand sewing to do and make a button hole. Now I need to think about the next project to start that will be free as I have a lot of fabric already. I have got the pattern course tonight it is all about altering of trousers so very handy for me. I am just about to do the homework so my pattern pieces are ready for tonight. 

TO DO
- Silicone around the front door surround 
- Change my address and marital status on DK site
- Paint the 2 back fence panels 
- Sort will out to include civil partnership
- Find all documents for Civil Partnership appointment DONE app booked
- Start process of registering business premises in my name got title register and title deeds STARTED
- Sort out chip in windscreen - booked with Halfords £35 insurance wanted £115 no thank you! DONE
- Find out how to take 25% lump sum from pension. Booked PW app 10/7/24
- Book cats in for free health check
- Decide when to list house -estate agent is calling today 

TallGirl

Some good news our hot tub is still under warranty so free to have them come out and look at it. If we want extended warranty then it is £500 a year which is a lot but it does include a service and free call outs. Might have to consider it as it needs to be working if we are to sell it. 

Paid £60 for the pool service which was a lot but at least its ready to use now which is great and all in working order. 

Work slowly progressing spoke to a lovely lady just now and who I have definitely helped already so pleased about that. 

Still on for gym tonight but a ton of work to do beforehand.

Joined the Danish association finally so we now have access to all their advice and library. You get 30 min free advice so we will need to use that wisely. It is also in English so DG can take over some of the reading.  

TallGirl

Traffic was such a nightmare last night it was going to take us 40 min to get to the gym and by that time we only had 20 min (it usually takes 10min) we had to turn around and go back home.) DG decided not to go to the next class but I went and it "only" took 30 min to get there but I had enough time. I do hate that road works and it is here for the next 3 weeks. Who shuts the road at 5pm how does that make sense? No gym tonight I am going to be at the pattern class it is trousers tonight so really looking forward to that. 

I do have a lot of meetings today including one with the lady I met yesterday. That one was quite a strange coincident but I believe it was meant to be. I had reached out to say I was happy to mentor someone and she messaged me. I got the idea from the course I did pre Christmas and turned out I was quite a good match to help plus she really needed it. She was 7 weeks into a job that just did not work out and now she has an interview for a job tomorrow so I will speak to her again tonight to hear the presentation for the interview. Going to be a long day but no gym at least. I think DG is going to go and hit some balls that is if the traffic behaves. She also had PT today. 

Got British Gas coming today to service the boiler should be fine as it is quite new. I am also expecting the estate agent to call me but not sure when I will get a chance to speak to him as I have so many meetings. 

I have also been paid I got £124 more this month I was not sure why but when I checked they had not taken my holiday pay out. I will have to message them. The back pay has not been paid so that must be next month. Still very handy as the joint account is looking really sorry for itself but I will have to pay it back. 

Anyway best do some work now.