Mortgage Free now aiming for FIRE

badmemory

I can see why you are struggling to decide which.  I wouldn't worry about the smoking, it discolours the paintwork, ex & I used to smoke & I was home the most & you could see where I sat.  Once I stopped it didn't take long plus a coat of paint for the smell to go.  House 1 is a larger house in a larger plot & a private beach.  You have around £50k to make it into exactly what you want.  I can really see the appeal of house 2 though.  You could make house 1 really yours but house 2 may already be that for you.

Is this a place you are planning to make your forever home if so - the odd thing to think about.  How easy would it be to have deliveries if neither of you can get to the shops.  To get any transport/taxis if you are no longer allowed to drive.  I confess I like a garage as I can no longer face standing out in the cold scraping ice of the screen.  There are lots of other things you can probably think of too.

Sorry I do always have an opinion!!  But I hope it helps you think it all through as house buying is an expensive business.  Looking forward to hearing how your viewings go.  Some estate agents are absolute geniuses at taking the right photos & should come with the buyer beware warning.

LadyWithAPlan

Just catching up 
I really like house one - the beach, the style and the price 

48 crème eggs in a box wow 

well done on the years round up and finances 

savingholmes

All caught up. You've made huge progress this year - and more to go before you up and leave for Denmark. You are doing great. 

Your gut will tell you what to do on the house. 

On the smoker's house - as a non-smoker - I doubt just slapping paint on will be enough - but I suppose it is how sensitive are you to odour... ?

TallGirl

Thanks Daisy, badmemory, Savinghomes and LWAP really really appreciate it. It is really hard to make such a big decision as we are also moving countries. We should really rent when we move over but having moved so much as Guardians in London we just cannot face it. 

The older unmodernised property has no ensuite in fact it only have 1 bathroom which is a total no from me. We want to have people over to stay from the UK so I need my ensuite. I did not get it here and I have missed it. Yes it will not costs a lot just to change the cloakroom to a bathroom 
 
However the electrics have not been changed so they would need doing and the 3 bedrooms at the back would need reconfiguring to make the existing bathroom connect with a master bedroom so moving some walls. I will take a look again at how dark it actually is but our current house you have to have the lights on in the kitchen/dinner at lunch time. 

The other layout is as near to perfect for what we want and there is 4 bedrooms so we can have two for guests with their own bathroom an office and a master. Main advantage if we got something like this it is 20 years newer than the one above and it was completely renovated last year new everything so you can just move in. If we go for the older one we would need to live in it while renovating and both working from home which is not doable. I cannot see how we can renovate while we live here as we would never have lived in it so do not know what we really want and you cannot supervise any trades people and have to make big choices via zoom. There is obviously the private beach at house number 1 which is a major attraction. The other one is close to a really good public beach and in terms of amenities they are same distance really.  


 

House two is also so light you can really see the difference on the pictures and the garden is not that small and has a patio although it is not as developed as garden 1. 

In terms of renovations Denmark is more expensive than here as the wages are higher and the VAT is 25% so it all adds up. I looked on a Danish site and they recon £1329 per m2 to renovate to a high standard and £775 to a basic standard. That includes bathrooms and kitchens so working on that say in the middle for £1000 per m2 house 1 would cost £160K to do up. Sounds a lot but we spent £110K doing up 110m2 in this house. Makes the £55K difference quite small if the cost of renovating is this high. More pondering to do and they have still not agreed for me to view so I will call them now. 

Yesterday we managed to get all the packing done, last shopping done and also get the house in order. Sadly we forgot to go in the lovely newly cleaned hot tub which was really stupid. It is because we have not used it since we booked the service but we might try and go in at lunchtime. It is the best feeling when it has just been cleaned. 

We checked in last night and somehow DG spotted we never added luggage to my ticket. How stupid it would have cost double had we spotted it at the airport. We managed to add it on £50 but disaster averted thank goodness would not have been funny tomorrow morning at 6am. 

Best get back to work I have a call at 10am which is relating to my final piece of outstanding work. I shall be pleased to get this further today but I doubt it will be complete which is actually just as well. We might get an Uber to the train station instead of driving to our local one. We have to change trains their anyway but we shall see depends how organised we get. I will try to update after today but it will be on my phone lol so apologies for any spelling mistakes. 

vandanfc

Personally I love house 2. Will you get to view both of them whilst you are over there? 

daisy_1571

I think you've answered your own question there tg. 

House 1 i reckon it would be easier/cheaper to split the middle bedroom in two.  One side a new bathroom for the guest bedroom, the other side a walk in wardrobe from the master or a study depending which way you split it, and you have to move the sink to open up a doorway to your en suite.  Or you could make them both access from the master and let your guests use the bathroom off the hall. Then you could turn the little toilet into your drying room.  Anyway, after all this expense and upheaval (even supposing you get the relevant permissions) you have to find builders who will be able to start, you will have to work whilst its all going on.  I suppose easiest solution to that is a garden building where you work.  (Might be a good idea anyway as it would probably be required for you each to have your own workspace in time.)  So...cost, time, uncertainty as you have to view imagining how it might be, workmen, still only have 2 bedrooms.

House 2.  Already your desired layout, you can see it when you view and imagining how it will function is easier, no workmen to find/have around/deal with.  The house is bigger, you already have 4 bedrooms so can have master, purpose study, the two bedrooms (over by the bathroom) can be a full guest room and a combined guest/second study/sewing room.  If you have 2 sets of guests at the same time, they almost have their own private wing which is lovely for them and you.

 
Just my thoughts but you are making a big move - you back to a country you haven't lived in for years, your dfiancé to a country shes only visited,  you'll both (to different extents) have the language to get used to, you'll both have new working arrangements to get used to, you are both leaving friends here, she's leaving family.  All this is exciting and welcomed but im sure there will be a few moments of panic/grumpiness/even tears from you both (and possibly outbursts from df if it triggers some of her issues with her mum again).  Doesn't sound like a good idea to pile more on yourselves?

Dxxx

TallGirl

Thank you Daisy I love how you explained it and thanks VandaFC for your comments too yes I am planning on viewing them both.

You are so right in the challenges that faces us in a "new Country" and the issues with DGs mum is bound to have a effect on her. We did all the work on this house whilst living here because it was our forever home and we did not anticipate ever moving. However that has certainly changed now and I just dread to go through it all again. DG has not seen either house nor has she been to this area so the plan was just to show her the area not view anything. However unless you view you do not really get the feel as all you do is drive past really.

I have seen house 1 and I love the area and of course the beach. All the houses are the same age so late 1970's so we would have to find one that have been renovated or we do it ourselves. DG is quite set on the prive beach and the larger garden (she is not a gardener) plus it is slightly bigger. 

House 2 is in an area I was going to view when I was over in Summer but my mum needed her car so I had to cancel. It might even have been that one I was going to view I cannot remember but I drove past the area thinking how busy the roads are. Pictures can be deceptive sometimes the houses a crammed right in and you cannot see that or there is no parking. House 1 does have sea views from the garden which I do not think house 2 will have. 

The sensible thing is to wait for a renovated house near house 1 that suits us problem is so far they have either been huge and unmodernised or tiny and modernised. We can up the budget it modernised that is the nice thing about house 2 it is under budget and hardly anything needs doing it. We would have more money for a new hot tub any garden room or landscaping that needs doing. I have chased the estate agent but I might chase tomorrow if I have not heard back. 

In other news the keys are with the neighbours, the Uber is booked for 5pm and I am finishing my work. The meeting I had this morning did unlock my final report so there is a plan now. We found out yesterday that a pane has cracked in a window upstairs hopefully it wont be too expensive to replace. Not sure how it happened might have been in the wind. 

We did go in the hot tub at lunch time it was lovely.  

daisy_1571

Have a lovely festive break, and......relax.

 Daisy xxxxxxx

LadyWithAPlan

Have a lovely break and travel safely 

I can’t believe anywhere is as bad as london (& guardians) for renting (!!!)  - I think you should at least look at what the rental market costs and situation is where you want to live so if you can’t find the right house to buy - you can then both get used to the areas . 

Trying to buy from another country is difficult at best - easier for you as Daisy said but your DP I would imagine would enjoy getting to know areas so you have a clearer idea 

personally I’d be considering a lovely rental for 6 months whilst you find the dream home and location 

TallGirl

Thanks LWAP yes we can rent it’s not difficult even with cats. Would be best option anyway if we need to do major works. 

Managed to secure viewing for the modern one straight after the older one do that’s very exciting. 

Currently on the train to my sisters we’ve had our first hot dogs and Christmas beer so a very happy Dane. 

Hope you have all have lovely Christmas catch up soon.