Prosperous & Creative Soul & MFW Year 3

Chrystal

I really do feel for you SH, it's a horrible situation to be in.  Try and take a step back and make a pro/con list - using your head, not your heart.

Something else worth considering is that in a couple of months time there are likely to be a much bigger selection of houses on the market - Spring is when selling really takes off.
Your seller may have to think again as she's unlikely to sell to someone else with the problems involved.

Try and imagine what you would advise the person you love the most to do, if it was them in this position.

Take your time and think things through, you are a highly intelligent woman and you CAN deal with this.  ((((hugs)))) XXX

DancingInTheRain

Sorry to hear of all the additional stresses, it sounds like a good idea to view the other house, might help to make your mind up for sure one way or the other.

Also, although you've got in the mindset to move, if you decide neither property is right for you at this time then staying in your current property for a little while longer until the right property comes along wouldn't be all bad given how much you've done on the decluttering front and repurposing/redefining rooms. Plus you'd be able to do more if desired thanks to the good relationships you have with your cleaner and handyman.

beanielou

Hope that you can get a viewing.

lucielle

If you decided to go for this house would that mean you could keep your cleaner and odd Job man?
L

MovingForwards

Negative equity is only an issue when selling. 

Are you thinking of this move being a temporary sub-10 years home before finding the right one for retirement; if so, are you gaining enough to justify it rather than waiting for the right place.

It's a very difficult situation and I agree with thoughts about your buyers, they should be bursting to get in.

savingholmes

Thanks WD, Jwil, Crystal, MF, Dancing, Lucielle, Beanie

As ever I'm blown away by all your support and encouragement. I've got a viewing for Thursday afternoon and I've requested the day off as it was an already busy day. Blood test am, viewing, counselling and then art class!

MF - while I agree on a long term horizon £20K down value is not the end of the world - the tricky thing for me is that there's no guarantee mine won't also be down valued. It also feels slightly profligate to overpay by what would be more than two year's worth of capital payments. For perspective if I bought extra pension with a £20K lump sum - that would buy me nearly £1K guaranteed income from age 60. (I checked last night )

I'm concerned about my buyers - but their slowness may work in my favour if I end up switching property. If I go with a lower value property too - it will be less disruptive if my house is also down valued. The house I'm going to view seems to have an excellent quality bathroom and an updated kitchen - so the main costs I'd add would be closing off some of the open plan areas with at least internal glass doors to reduce noise and save on heating. It also looks like it may have a tiled floor in too many of the downstairs rooms which therefore could be cold - I'd be likely to do something about that although it would be handy for art. I may also be able to get it for less than the asking price. Price guides in the area suggest £240-245K might be a better price.

Crystal - yes there will be more houses on the market later - but I don't want this to drag on forever! 

savingholmes

Dancing - with the amount of art supplies I currently have out - and unwrapped xmas gifts - my lounge feels rather overwhelming. I have brought down a 3 drawer plastic unit to start putting some of that stuff in - but hardly any have made it inside it yet. Really need my cleaner to do her full time tomorrow! I did declutter a whole load of toiletries last night however in freeing up the unit - things I've had for years and not used.

On the art front I've almost got DS's portrait how I want it. Just need to adjust his eye lids on one side and a little around his mouth. I used fluid acrylics in the end for skin tone as otherwise what I was trying to use dried far too fast to blend and get the tones I wanted. That worked much better. I now need to resolve DD's which needs far more work. Both portraits I'd accidentally widened their faces at some point - so I've had to realign them which is quite a hard thing to fix. Succeeded on DS's, just hope I also succeed on DD's. Next time - I'll apply tape to try and keep the lines correct. Although all the art is contributing to the mess - it is also keeping my MH in check so it's a balance.

Love being back on the meds I'm on. Still going to sleep too late but think I just need to try and fix that over time - perhaps after Xmas. My current thinking on annual leave is that if I don't use it up on the move - I will take the Good Friday week off. That way I can have time off but don't feel I'm wasting what I purchased. Need to consider if I definitely want to buy extra leave next year or not and whether to buy it in stages in case I have similar issues next year in actually being able to take the time due to business pressures. It does help with managing my conditions however. I don't have to decide until March I don't think.

girlatplay

I'm glad you've got the viewing. I hope it goes well. It's quite positive sounding.  I wonder if the higher priced house woman is a bit desperate to get that price.

savingholmes

Hi GAP

The issue with my vendor is that she is undiagnosed but has similar issues to me. She is very literal and has a low uncertainty tolerance. The whole process is fraught for both of us and I genuinely get her side of it. At the point I sold I wouldn't have accepted a lower offer - I might now though - especially if I manage to get some off the house I'm looking at. However - I wouldn't really be comfortable paying over the odds at the new place if my current place was also down valued. I'm now waiting on tenterhooks for the Thursday viewing - and then need to decide what my next steps should be. 

Having a much lower house price on the future place and therefore freeing up money for my EF and for pension sounds really attractive. Public finances are dicey and while that shouldn't affect me - if it did it would be reassuring to have a year's worth of savings.

If I got £298K for mine still and bought for £250K I could have £48K left to play with as long as I meet revised moving costs of up to £6K from savings which I could do. I could then designate £32K as an EF, spend a little on putting some internal doors in and perhaps a new sofa and put the remaining amount into pension. I'd be tempted to buy guaranteed future pension with any lump sum and then use monthly payments to increase my AVCs and future tax free lump sum.

In today's money at age 60 I'll need around £2.6K a month to meet my financial obligations and still have a little spare cash to save etc. If I work in my current role full time to age 60 - I should be due £16K from that pension - if I was able to up that to £17K by a lump sum now that would really help later. I'd then be due around £5K from another pension. I would need another £12.5K a year for 7 years (£87.5K) if I was still paying the mortgage before SP kicked in. Once SP kicked in - I should be able to meet the mortgage costs from pension alone until the mortgage ends 6 years later as while I'd pay tax on income, there should be no NI. If I keep P1p which isn't guaranteed that would bridge some of that gap. If I hit my AVC targets I should have a big lump sum and may still be able to buy further inflation proofed pension with any spare funds. Lots to think about.

savingholmes

I really hope tomorrow's house is suitable and that they've found somewhere they want to go. My gut instinct is leaning away from over-paying by £20K. The surveyors report also threw up a few things I hadn't directly noticed - such as a wonky floor as you go in the property - which even they label a trip hazard. I can remember being slightly worried I would come in and trip and fall down the stairs - but hadn't clocked why other than it was an upside down house. 

I woke up thinking about guaranteed inflation proofed pension versus tax free lump sum. I am starting to see the benefits of the first for the certainty it brings. The last couple of years in particular my pension has gone up a lot because of inflation proofing - although in normal years I'd potentially get more growth through AVCs. I may therefore do a mix and match approach - that would also help compensate for how much my pension reduces by through taking it early. I also hadn't realised that if I bought additional pension I could pay a lump sum in rather than being reliant on a month by month approach. I need to clarify that some more.

Worst case I could achieve a significant proportion of my financial goals if I stayed here - I just might need an awkward conversation with my cleaner to reduce her hours again (once she's got back on top of the mess!) That's still probably better for her than trying to find a whole new client for 3.5 hours. If I moved to the cheaper house it would speed up my journey to FI as I would have a full EF, so no real need for monthly savings, I would have a cleaner for two hours a week and be able to devote more to pension savings.

I think Lucielle asked recently if I could keep my cleaner and handyman if I did the closer move. The handyman may travel for me as it's closer than the other place I was looking at - but it's too far for my cleaner. Speaking of the cleaner - she just arrived - I'm not dressed yet - and should have started work already. Best move. 

It's freezing outside again so reluctantly had to put my heating on more.