Who doesn’t own a house and isn’t bothered?

[Horcrux]

We are trying to sell our house and we have very little intention of buying another. We have 2 children and jobs and plan to rent as it’s cheaper in our area. But it will also give us more freedom to travel.
Is this totally stupid?

Yes, its madness to own a house, sell it and spend the money on travelling. Renting sucks. Monthly rent where I live is twice the cost of mortgage repayments so youre spending MORE to rent than you would be to buy. Not to mention, you have to ask permission to change decor etc then the landlord can ask you to leave when your lease ends so you could end up moving every year if you happen to have bad luck.
I would absolutely hate that.

There you go @FAQs what’s the point in being a slave to a mortgage when it’s taken off you anyway?

Have now RTFT....
Your plans sound great, you only have one life so following your dreams sounds like a great move. I'm not so sure the lifestyle would work as well for a teenager but it sounds like your kids are younger.

Yep, they’ve had a charge put on their house for fees so have little control in what happens to it.

Tbh I envisage us still living on a boat in our 70s... might not be sailing it but marina fees will be much less than rent

We are taking our dc in to consideration during planning.
It will be a great experience for them. There will always be an option to come back on land if it isn’t working out.

Wouldn't it make more sense to convert your current mortgage to a let to buy one to free up capital and reduce your outgoings so you could explore the world and still keep your foot on the property ladder (rent it out and get a lettings agent to manage it for you, the management fees are not that much)? Or sell and buy something cheaper and rent that out for now. Obviously it's hard to predict the future but house prices have been going up for decades, if you sell now, you might never be able to buy again. Rents also keep going up while pensions are unlikely to go up much if at all...

I couldn't cope with the uncertainty of renting. Not just the fear of bad landlords but someone else deciding what you can do to the place, if you can have pets, and of course, when they want to sell up. Especially so once you're in your 70s and 80s - not so easy to move house then...

Sounds like you're planning a complete lifestyle change though and approaching this with a "live for now" attitude, sounds like your mind is made up already that the risks are worth it.

It’s kind of bigger risk = bigger reward

I don’t know. I am really appreciating everyones input. It is giving me lots to think about... but also making me envious of the HA renters!

We bought our house 25 years ago. It cost 80k. We paid £100k interest. It is now worth in excess of £800k. When we received the mortgage projections it seemed madness, but now the mortgage has finished I’m glad we took it out. For the first 10 years we lived fairly frugally, we had no spare money. As the years go by, you will have more spare cash.

It’s kind of bigger risk = bigger reward

Also a bigger loss if it all goes wrong.

It's your life, OP. You can do whatever you want regardless of what people on here advise you.

I would just be careful. You don't know what your old age might bring. I would rather be in a secure bricks and mortar property with easy access to things like the GP surgery, a hospital, the shops and the dentist. My FIL is in his early seventies and while he's pretty active and is good for his age, he still needs regular doctors appointments and prescriptions, for example. My MIL is older and not as mobile as she was, although she's mentally sound. She couldn't cope with living on a boat - she needs a home with space for her to move easily, a steady floor beneath her feet and amenities nearby that she can access on foot.

I often wonder why many people have mortgages, we have been sold a rat race dream which many of us will not benefit from. We will spend years paying off a mortgage, fearing losing our jobs as we are not entitled to housing benefit. We may eventually enjoy a few short years mortgage free until many of us will end up in care homes whilst the local government uses the collateral in the house to pay for £2K month care home fees. Meanwhile ‘mary’ in the bed next to you has never worked a day in her life, never owned her own home but will receive exactly the same care. Madness

its kind of bigger risk = bigger reward

Or potentially, bigger risk = bigger fall if it goes wrong

Not to be all doom and gloom, but there are lots of sensible suggestions for how you have the life you want now, without risking your future. If your current house wouldnt rent out enough to cover the mortgage and agency fees, selling up but buying somewhere else as a buy to let is a good plan. If nothing else, once that mortgage is paid off, that could be an extra pension for you, even if you never live in it/sell it to buy a retirement flat.

You dont have to throw away all your security in the future to have the lifestyle you want now. Doing both sounds great.

(And yes, adulthood can be boring)

@Leobynature Depressing but true.

Yes @Leo madness!!

Meanwhile ‘mary’ in the bed next to you has never worked a day in her life, never owned her own home but will receive exactly the same care. Madness

Mary will get put in a care home chosen by social services which means it could be a horrible one miles away from family. I’d like control over where I’m placed when elderly.

It sounds a lovely idea but I’d have a few concerns.

I used to live with someone who lived on a canal barge. He was very happy but as he got older it became unsustainable and he had to move.

I live in a nice 3 bed detached house. Our mortgage was £550 per month. We’ve built up some equity and are moving to a 5 bed, similar repayments.

If we were to rent somewhere the most we’d get would be a 2 bed mid terrace house in a not very nice area or possibly a 1 bed apartment in a slightly nicer area for that money.

Buying means that when we come to retirement we can downsize to a nice 2 bed bungalow or similar and have minimal or no mortgage (certainly less than £250 per month)

My grandmother was “Maggie in the next bed”. Had lived in a rented HA house all her married life. My mum and auntie had to fight for her to be placed somewhere appropriate and where family were able to visit. My parents had to top up her care home fees in the end.

Russellbrandshair

Many care homes are mixed with Local authority funded beds as well are privately funded bed. There is no difference. True a
Privately funded individual will have the choice of an open market whilst those who are funded by the LA will only have the choice of homes on a framework. The standard of care often doesn’t look different

Mary will get put in a care home chosen by social services which means it could be a horrible one miles away from family

She shouldn't be. She should have an assessment by social services and her and her family given options in where she'd like to live and how much the social will chip in towards it. If there's a shortfall or she wants to choose somewhere more expensive, her family can top up the difference.

If Mary has no money she will absolutely be placed where there is a bed. Yes they will try to accommodate her wishes but if the council is paying, they get the final say where she goes. They pay for bog standard care, not the expensive nice homes.

The large majority of people never go into a care home at all, much less have all their housing equity eaten up by care.

Blowing all your money and security and guaranteeing you won't have anything to hand on, as opposed to having secure housing, potentially a good inheritance for your children, and tolerating a single-digit percentage chance that you will need care that will use up your property, seems like a bit of an own goal to me, especially once you're at the mercy of council funding in your vulnerable years.

the standard of care often doesn’t look different

Completely disagree with this. All homes are CQC inspected but quality differs hugely. A council home that costs £700 a week is not going to be as nice or have as many facilities as one that costs £1200 a week for example.

you won't have anything to hand on
I won't have anything to hand on, not a dime. I would hope by the time I drop my last bollock into the bucket of the void that my daughter wouldn't want it anyway as I've taught her well enough to use her own two feet.

God how depressing to think some poor fucker has grafted their entire lives to leave a bit of meaningless cash for someone to spunk on a holiday.

50 years... Day in day out save a fortnight a year. Spending more time out of the very thing you're working for than you spend in it. Strained relationships with loved ones as always working.
Rat race is shocking, like a perpetual torture, and yet people are so keen to get the rat suit on.

Escape OP, get the fuck out whilst you can before you end up being bent over and screwed and thanking the very system that's fucking you.

If the hypothetical Mary owned her own home she may have been able to have it properly adapted so she could live there for years to come.
A private landlord isn't going to let people start installing wet rooms and stair lifts.