I don't want this post to sound like bragging we just want some unbiased advice from people who don't know us, we recently had our house valued and we're in shock to be honest.
We knew it was worth a bit but not this much we bought it as a wreck and gutted it doing most of the work ourselves and the upshot of this is if we sell now we'll walk away with over £200,000 maybe even 220 230
We only earn £16,000 a year between us so this is a LOT of money to us, what we're wondering is we're both in our mid twenties in jobs we don't really like, we both love dogs and the outdoors and don't mind not earning much as long as we enjoy it. So what can we do ? or do we play it safe as family and friends have told us and stay unhappy in our jobs but in the knowledge that we do have a nest egg for the future.
And NO I can't believe i've asked complete strangers for such important advice either but at least I know it will be completely unbiased.

Steve

OK so you may walk away with a nice profit..
BUT house prices in general have risen so much..
So would you be able to get another property in an area you like for a decent price?
Would your new neighbours be dog friendly etc etc etc.
There can be many pros and cons.
List them down on paper and see how the list of pro's and con's read.
It's a difficult choice....

Your right about house prices its just silly in this area, what we were thinking is using it as a deposit on some sort of buisness a b&b or something like that a small boarding kennels we havn't a clue to be honest.

steve

Tell me about it...
My mum had a house in Plymouth an old terrace house bought approx
10 years ago for £35K and sold recently for £109K!! Daft when the wages
down in Plymouth are not very good.
Only reason I can stay where I am (Berks/Oxon borders) is that it's a shared ownership scheme.
But when we bought they valued the whole house at £89K (we own 50% and rent 50%)
and now it's valued at £180-200K!
Frightening really isn't it.
What about chatting to a financial advisor? to see about costs involved in setting up your own business
and the risks etc.

I discovered this when Luis was trying to sell the property 2 bed  for £172 000 15 months ago its now valued at £220.000. But if I had to buy again I couldn't afford a one bedroom flat which is retailing for around £120000 so no chance there.

We bought, did up and sold half a dozen times while the chidren were growing up.  It was hard work and our families thought we were mad selling a lovely home and moving into a wreck and starting again but we certainly wouldn't be where we are now if we hadn't.  I did say this would be the last one though and we've been here for 20 years now.   It is tempting though, looking at the price of properties in other parts of the country (we are in the south) to sell up and retire somewhere and never have to work again.  :)

Sally

We live in Wales but in a very popular seaside resort we only bought 2 years ago, we certainly couldn't retire but we're wondering if we could just make a big change for the better.
We will see a financial advisor but we're just looking to see what sort of thing we could be considering.

Steve

Check the papers/websites out and see.
Best of Luck whatever you decide to do! :)

Do you still have any mortgage outstanding? If so one option is pay off your mortgage and buy something out right with the profit. That way you have no mortgage around your neck. It might mean you moving to an area where property prices are a bit less but if you don't have to work to pay a mortgage in the short term leaving your current jobs would not be a problem. Then when you move you only need look for a job that covers day to day living expenses whilst you decide what sort of business you would like to go into. By doing it this way it buys you time to decide what you want to do without any financial pressure. If you are thinking of setting up in business then keep some aside from the profit to get yourselve a start on your business too.
Well done on your hard work on your house and you deserve the benefits :-)

Im in my mid twenties and have just bought my own house on my own, which is the reason I have to stay in my boring job in order to pay the mortgage.  If I were you (bearing in mind I know nothing about you or your circumstances) I would sell the house and buy a business like a boarding kennels, something I could expand and ENJOY, life is too short for savings :D :D

Devo.....................you only live once !. If you can sell, buy a house you both love, in an area you want to live in - then do it. That sort of money doesn't come along everyday and I can see no point in staying in jobs you don't enjoy if you can do something about it.
We are stuck where we are for many years yet (hubby in forces) but as soon as he retires we intend to sell, move to a cheaper area and enjoy ourselves (that's of course if the property prices in Oxfordshire remain as stupid as they are now !!).

Good Luck in whatever you decide to do and Congratulations in achieving such a wonderful profit on your house - make the most of it.

Val.

I would just like to echo what Val has excellent put, as always.

I think we're going to put it up for sale and see what happens, the estate agent has said to sell it by sealed bids because he knows of at least 5 or 6 people who will be interested so I think we'll do that and see what our options are once we know how much we're talking about.
  Still havn't got a clue what to do whether to move to the countryside West Wales is nice, and be mortgage free so we could get jobs we like or to look at starting up some sort of buisness ourselves.
Thanks everyone for the advice.

Steve

I have sent you a PM

Jax

Thank you Emma, that's nice of you.

I wish I was in the same position - lots of spare money !

Val.

ps. Don't know if anybody has noticed but I used to be Eddy now I'm Arched !. I had to change internet provider and when I changed e.mail address on CD I made a real mess of it. In the end my password, name and address weren't recognised !. Anyway, I re-registered but by then of course it said that Eddy was already in use !. I tried asking admin but I still couldn't get it right !. Anyway, I'm Arched.......... Archie (dog) Eddie (cat) = Arched !!!.

Probably a good time to sell if you are looking to release some capital. The chances are - in the long term - that house prices are going to fall, as the numbers of first-time buyers are dropping and the market just won't be able to sustain itself without them :( There are too many bought-for-let properties around as well and if interest rates increase as well - also the lack of people moving up the ladder  - then prices could crash.

Sounds a good idea to invest your money in something else.

Daisy

Go for it :D
The biggest risks can often yield the biggest rewards - and being mortgage free puts you in a very strong position.
Be happy :)
Lara x

Why not change jobs first. It sounds like you have put a lot of time and energy getting the house as you want it. IMO it will be really hard to find a property that you will like without down sizing too much and still have plenty of money left to enjoy yourselves. Prices are really high at the moment so to get a property that needs no work you would probely have to invest most if not all of it in your new home. If money is the only reason then a change in career would be advantagous in bringing in more money.

Hi Sonny, yes we have put loads of effort into our home and we would be sorry to leave but you can still buy a house with land if your willing to move to a more rural area for much less than we're hoping to get.
Money isn't our motivation at all, the main purpose would be to live mortgage free which would enable us to get jobs that perhaps pay a pittance but would be more rewarding. We're after a much simpler life which doesn't involve long commutes to jobs we don't like, I realise we're looking through rose tinted glasses and living in the middle of no where brings other problems we probably havn't even thought of but there's something about it that appeals to us.
We're just bouncing ideas around at the moment so who knows what the plan will be tomorrow but its nice to dream isn't it.

Steve

Hope you find what your looking for. Being in the middle of nowhere sounds great. Maybe you could go for a holiday in an area you are interested in. That way you can asess the area without committing youself. I would love to have a simpler life but i also like my mod cons lol.

Hi,

It sounds lovely to live in the middle of nowhere.

I think alot of people what is it called down shifting?Giving up careers and the rat race for a more simple quiter life with jobs or careers that pay the bills and allow you to enjoy life
than huge salaries with no time to enjoy the money and stressed out with pressure and work loads.
I know friends that gave up their police careers to work in Asda when asked why because
they were happier and less stressed and for once could sit back pay the essentials and enjoy going out I think there is alot to be said for that,money cannot buy happiness.

Briony:-)

just do it, this is real life not a rehersal.
Sell up travel for six months a year then come back and do what makes you happy. thats what we did and life is good be happy
polly

Hi Steve

Why not buy another wreck and do it again - this is what we did for the first ten years of our marriage moving every couple of years.

We eventually just about built our current home and it has sufficient land for our needs and have put down roots here.  We would never have been able to afford to do this if we hadn't done all that work in the early years.

We may have some exciting news tomorrow!!

Well for us anyway :)

Steve

Hows this for jumping in two footed, we've put an offer in for a ski lodge in Italy :)  our family and friends think we've gone mad.

Steve

Well Done !!.

Enjoy it !.

Val

Good luck, that sounds lovely...totally different but fantastic...can you ski?

Karen :)

Yes we can we go every year :)  it is different but we thought why not ? nicer summers and loads of lovely snow in winter plus there's not really an off season so year round bookings :) havn't heard back from the agents yet though :(

     Steve