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Property/DIY

Holiday home versus house extension, WWYD?

11 replies

monkeytree · 28/08/2016 09:29

Hi

I have just come back from yet another lovely holiday in Cornwall and just love being near to the sea. I live up country away from the coast but in a semi-rural location.

We have some money to either extend our kitchen or put down as a deposit on a holiday home. I''d really like a place in Cornwall to use as a base so that we can drive to the coast. However, I'm not sure I'm facing realities. Whilst we do have surplus money, it is not a massive amount and I am concerned about maintenance costs etc. Also it is a long drive approx 4-6 hours depending on traffic from our home. I have had some difficult stuff happen in life recently and I think I'm also looking for somewhere to escape with my little family. We don't have any extended family to go away and visit etc. I like the thought of having a bolt hole to escape to. As anyone done anything similar and if so do you use your holiday home? The safe option would be to extend our kitchen (which really needs replacing) but somehow this doesn't seem so exciting. We have mainly had camping holidays, with a few hotel holidays as well. Having a nearly 3 year old we haven't been abroad for a while but I guess this is another factor, if we have a bolthole here then we would feel we should go there rather than anywhere else. We were looking to invest some money in property for our two dd's future somewhere but closer to us that we can easily manage but it is so tempting to buy something nearer to the coast. Has anyone else taken the plunge? If so, how is it working for you?

OP posts:
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ChippyMinton · 28/08/2016 09:35

Is there somewhere closer? I think you would use it more if it was 2 hrs away.

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ChunkyHare · 28/08/2016 10:06

You need to consider the stuff you don't currently pay for when you hire a cottage, like council tax and insurance.

4-6 hours is far. If there was an issue with your property in the middle of the night, would you be able to drop everything and go? Realistically how often could you get there?

I would do your own home first. We saved to extend our kitchen and it has changed our lives, and we benefit from it every day.

Plus you can rent out a different cottage each time you visit Cornwall.

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FanDabbyFloozy · 28/08/2016 10:10

Sit down and work out the costs - council tax, water, mortgage.. Then decide if this exceeds what you'd pay for weekends and holidays in other locations.
I think Cornwall sounds a long way for weekends so you're talking holidays and may be constrained due to 5-6 weeks away due to work?
Unless one of you is a SAHP and want to spend all holidays down there, I would do the kitchen!

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PrimalLass · 28/08/2016 10:11

It's too far and you'll end up not going. Imagine facing a 4-6 hour drive on Friday and Sunday evenings.

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scaryteacher · 28/08/2016 10:30

It would be double CTax in Cornwall I think as it's a holiday home.

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birdladyfromhomealone · 28/08/2016 10:53

We bought a villa in Spain with my Mums inheritance.
We thought how to use the money so the wider family could all benefit from it not just me who she left it too.
We go three or four times a year, its a two hour flight so 5 hours door to door.
When we are not there- in high season- too hot too many families we rent it out via owners abroad,
We have to pay an agent to do the meet/greet, change over day, laundry, pool/garden but that costs us 1/3 of the week rent.
So far the rent in the school holidays alone pays for ALL our costs. So it costs us nothing to maintain.
Our family all get a holiday too whereas they wouldn't be able to afford it normally.
Go for it, you might find the money for your kitchen in a few years anyway. so live life without regrets.

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Muddle2000 · 28/08/2016 22:58

Yes. You could probably make quite a useful sum of money renting it out
in the high season but the problem is that it clashes with the summer hols
which is when you would be taking the family there! Unless you are prepared to go there off season then I would not do it.

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RebelandaStunner · 29/08/2016 00:28

Ours is just over an hour away so we use it a lot, but mainly for weekends or a few nights. Think that 4-6 hrs is too far personally.
We rent ours out which covers the costs, it's very popular and we love it.

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DailyMailPenisPieces · 31/08/2016 02:37

This sounds like it would be a heart, not head decision. It sounds like you are looking for a grounding bolt hole. I think you know the answer!

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Mumsmet · 24/01/2018 08:21

@monkeytree Did you buy the home in Cornwall?

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Lavenderdays · 26/10/2018 21:28

Mumsmet...just saw your post, sorry for the late reply. No, we didn't in the end..we have had plans drawn up for extension though but haven't yet gone ahead.

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