HELLO From New Zealand

chevalier

our english house is about 400k with equity of 200k. we would therefore even at these ridiculous rates 'just' have enough for the deposit over here. on the other hand putting down a 100deposit on two rental properties say in Plymouth (a market and houseing stock i know well) and renting them out to students would net us about 3k a year.....which we could transfer over i suppose I don't know. my biggest regret is that we didn't sell up when we left (and when the exchange rate was nearly 3 to the pound) and buy at that price. the same house would literally have cost half what it will now in only 8 years. But I was really quite sick at the time and couldn't tell that it was all going to go down like this. sigh

Chocforever

I suppose what I was wondering is that say you buy a house in NZ at £400k, do you have the same disposable income as your UK tenants to cover the £200k mortgage. My impression was that NZ property prices are very high relative to salaries, though I'm not very knowledgeable on this.


OK, so rental yields are better on two lower value properties. I see where you are coming from, and that monthly surplus could pay for rent on a nicer house now or go towards a retirement pot. However, I would expect the capital appreciation would be lower unless there is anything market specific in that area so it might only change the timing of when you make a profit.


My gut feel is that in terms of quality of accommodation, and I think that has impacted on your happiness and perhaps ability to feel settled in a neighbourhood, you have had to make do for a long time. I would still be inclined to sell up and buy the best house you can in NZ and see it also as a long term investment for your retirement. I think the only thing that would change my mind is if I thought house prices would fall in NZ, or have significantly lower rates of inflation than the UK, for the medium to long term. But even then, you are exposed to currency movements which is quite a risk when you have effectively a single large investment.


One thing that has changed in the UK mortgage market over recent years is the ability to get mortgages with terms extending into retirement (up to the age of 85!) if there is adequate pension provision in place. I don't know if NZ lenders sell these sorts of products. Even if you planned to overpay the mortgage and get rid of it asap, it could allow you to borrow more and give you some breathing space if you scheduled out the mortgage payments over a longer term just in case something unexpected cropped up.


I appreciate that none of the available options give a very palatable answer. I would give it all some serious thought, including retirement plans, make your decision and go with it. Otherwise, if you keep mulling it over, your stress will increase with every sensational news headline and report of changes in house prices.


Anyway, that's my view and I'll leave you in peace now!

NoOneAround

Happy New Year Chev. Hope it's a great one for you.
Hope that all is well.

NOA
x

chevalier

Hi Chocforever
thanks for your considered replies. I agree that really we have just got to bite the bullet and sell up. That way we can have a set amount that we know how much we have. Even if it is only earning inflation somewhere (ie not losing money), then we would no longer have the stress of the house losing money and our nest egg rapidly decreasing.

We just really need to take some financial advice. My brother has offered but that only sorts out the uk end not us here. I think we must get some advice here, but it can be the real wild west out here if you aren't careful re advisors, that is one of the reasons we have been so hesitant on doing anything.

anyway

It has been an interesting Christmas and New Year
We went away for Christmas. this is relevant as I couldn't face having Christmas in this beaten up old rental with our crap everywhere, so that cost us $3000 for four nights!!!! Where we went was beautiful though and I had managed to save for most of it before we went. Only down side was that i tripped playing handball with my youngest and hurt my finger. I now have that in a resting splint at night and an 8 week rehab period. VERY luckily I can still type so I haven't had to have more than two days off work sick. But it just goes to show. I was talking to OH today and he was saying oh you have been in that splint for nearly two weeks now. Despite me telling him at the time that it was for 6 to 8 weeks, as long as a fracture to get right, he just hadn't listened properly and so was surprised again about this SIGH.

The boys and him had a whale of a time at jamboree. Saw some great pictures of the kids and hubby all having a great time. Only downside was that youngest caught a tummy bug whilst there, which the eldest had a dose of Monday after they got back, and I got over Thursday night. NOT pleasant at all. Worst thing was that I can't take my pain killers without food, so my back was agony last night, just points up how bad it is when I am not taking the meds.

Still feel a bit ish today, and not helped by aunty flo arriving as well ( I mean REALLY?). Still hoping to be back to normalish by tomorrow.

Job is going well, all the drama seems to have calmed down ish. But it will be interesting when the 2nd in command leaves on the 18th and the job advert doesn't finish until then, so no chance of a hand over from her at all. Not a great way to start a new job. HO hum.

Next up is Orthopaedic appt for oldest. I am dreading this. I am hoping that physio might fix his issue, but I strongly think we are in for surgery. he starts his equivalent of GCSEs this year, so the timing is not great! Please send good vibes this way.

chev

Bobarella

Good luck to DS, and hope your finger recovers too.

brizzledfw

Oh chev, not a great few weeks then?! So sorry to hear about the injured finger and the illnesses.

Best of luck with orthopod appts and all other job and finance stuff too - you will find a way, you always do!

Keep posting when you can xx

chevalier

HELLO to the UK! I am back here to look after my mum who has had a knee replacement. It is hard going and neither of us is getting much sleep. Is it usual to just be given paracetamol? She is suffereing with muscle spasms and they are waking her in the night. Does anyone have experience of knee replacements here? I am hoping that we can get some muscle relaxants or something to help her. ..


I finally bit the bullet and sold our UK house. The money is sitting in an account here because the exchange rate is so rubbish. So we are a little further forward but not much. At least we do not have to deal with the tenant anymore who was increasingly a pain. Still there is a bit of me that wished we could have moved back in despite the basket case the politics are here. But that ship has sailed now.


I hope all the people that knew me from before are well along on their debt free journeys and that this year has seen great moves forward.

take care

chev

HappyNow

Chev! Lovely to hear from you. Weirdly enough, I had a peep at your profile just a week or so ago and saw you hadn't signed in for ages - and now here you are

Mr Happy had a knee replacement a couple of years ago. It was VERY painful for about 6-8 weeks afterwards, to the point where he went back to the hospital to check that his level of pain was normal. Apparently it was. He was given codeine along with his paracetamol and he also took ibuprofen in between doses. Night times were the worst because it was better when he was moving the joint. When the pain started to ease though, it eased quickly and now he is 100% pleased he had it done. It has made such a difference to him and he can walk for miles now. Everything crossed that your mum feels the benefit quickly.

I suppose that now your house is sold you've accepted NZ as your permanent home. The boys definitely will I assume, having done much of their growing up there. I hope you manage to find some free time to relax and enjoy being back in England for a while. Sorry about the cold weather!

jwil

Nice to hear from you!

*Robin*

Hello Chev! :hello:

How strange we should both pop in here at around the same time after long absence from MSE Diary-World.

I sold the family home too.. Did replace it; Divo Four and a lovely group of housemates live in the new house - I have a room but spend most of my time in the motor-home [much easier with everything I need within five paces]. Am a lot more disabled now, alas.

A banana* is pretty instant first aid for muscle cramps, and/or massage the cramping area with magnesium oil. *Sounds daft but works!
Do hope your Mum gets through the post-op period quickly and soon feels the benefit of her new knee.

How long will you be staying in Blighty - have you still got a vote?