Downsize to release funds for retirement

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Ibrahim5 said:

I retired at 50 so had 17 years to bridge before state pension. If it all went horribly wrong there are lots of 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom properties in our area that are reasonable. That would liberate about £500k cash. That was a worst case scenario.

With that sort of cash floating about you might find it best to get some professional advice from an IFA 😉

Ibrahim5

Yes I am sure they would happily take a few £k in exchange for filling a few forms in. I am half way through the 17 years and still have 92% of cash and investments that I had on retirement day so I should be OK.

QrizB

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

Ibrahim5 said:

I retired at 50 so had 17 years to bridge before state pension. If it all went horribly wrong there are lots of 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom properties in our area that are reasonable. That would liberate about £500k cash. That was a worst case scenario.

With that sort of cash floating about you might find it best to get some professional advice from an IFA 😉

Oh you're going straight to Hull for that one ...

daveshep26

So - surplus from a future downsize is going to form part of funding for retirement for us, including the 'early' element (we will be 58 (in 2026)) but not a pre-requisite to commence (it'll be a 'margin of safety' background component I guess).  We have the big family home in nice village location in (popular part of) South east, so very likely to generate several hundred thousand. However, don't know yet what area is most probable or even type of property (rural v town) for search. 

Our kids seem SE oriented and two have moved to london for jobs (& youngest graduates this Summer), so there's a bit of this place always being "the family home" as we're a fairly short train rideaway.  OTOH, I have elderly parent in East Midlands as alternative pull - so just don't know what's actually going to materialise.   

I'm pretty committed to making a switch from a pragmatic perspective - in addition to being a big place we're rattling around in this house is listed (it's Tudor) and every 3 year period (approx\) there's a fairly sizeable (10k+) bill for something or other, along with a fair amount of other maintenance.  (There's never an end to complexity/ the challenges is there??) 

Hoenir

Albermarle said:

For some at least househunting with a big budget will lead them to look at more desirable locations, such as somewhere with a sea view, in Devon etc .

Who wants to live in a deserted village in winter?  Second home ownership has made many places desolate.  Our friends spend their entire summers in France as the tourists make their home town unbearable. 

Albermarle

gorgeousme said:

This is so interesting. We are living in a 4 bed house and we would like to move into a 2 bed property.  We want to do 3-4 months of travel, come back for a couple of months and then travel again. We plan to do this for as long as we can so a small place is all that we want. Fingers crossed, we will realise £100k to start our wanderlust.

I would think in this scenario, you not only want a smaller property but one that is easy to maintain. Maybe a flat without a garden for example. 

QrizB

Hoenir said:

Albermarle said:

... somewhere with a sea view, in Devon etc .

Who wants to live in a deserted village in winter? 

Sounds idyllic.

I grew up in Cornwall and think it's much nicer out of season.

Our friends spend their entire summers in France as the tourists make their home town unbearable. 

Your friends seem to agree!

phlebas192

We'll end up downsizing at some point. It will probably release some cash but not a huge amount since we live in a village with relatively low prices compared to anywhere we would want to move to (ie somewhere better connected and with better local facilities whilst still being 'village' rather than 'town'). Much as we love our house & garden, it's not an easy place to maintain - old house, large garden on a significant gradient - and it will simply prove too expensive once we get to the point where we have to employ people to do the jobs we currently can do. So for us, downsizing will be more about reducing costs than releasing funds.