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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To want to sell up and buy this house by the sea?

351 replies

caramara · 01/05/2020 13:40

Lockdown boredom has set in and started looking for somewhere to buy with what I could roughly have in equity if I sold my house.

I know Jaywick is a bit rough (I'm the opposite side of Essex currently so know the area a little) but still, can it really be that bad? The idea of being mortgage free is quite appealing, and the house looks like it requires no work at all, plus I love the kitchen.

And I could walk to the beach!

the house

Please tell me I'm BU/ point out all the faults with my plan!

OP posts:
mrsBtheparker · 02/05/2020 00:15

Don't they actually pay you to live in Jaywick??

nettie434 · 02/05/2020 00:26

Great Yarmouth is a good suggestion. It has an unfair reputation based on all the amusement arcades etc but the beach is beautiful with lovely sand. At least it is lovely to me compared with all the south coast shingle. It does get busy in the summer and I don’t know how much of a community it has. It will be more than 2 hours from London though.

An OP suggested Maldon. It is lovely but expensive. I know you said Walton on the Naze was too expensive but I think I saw some in your prize range.

I like the Morgue Drawer Kitchen Units - are they all seperate or are they tall cupboards designed to give you the 'Silent Witness' look in your own kitchenette?

That really made me laugh 70isalimitnotatarget Grin

Happyadventurer · 02/05/2020 00:32

I wish my friend was on mumsnet. She could tell you exactly what it is like to live in Jaywick. She was a business woman and, like you, she chose to go to Jaywick so that she could be mortgage free and would have money to travel and not worry about her future. What she found was a place with a huge sense of community. As a single woman she is respected and looked out for. She has found warmth and security and, when she travels, her home has been perfectly safe.
Jaywick is run down. It is old and most of the houses were not built for permanent living. It has had a lot of bad publicity with the benefits Britain programme where it was portrayed as every resident being a scrounger, a thief, or a druggie. This is most definitely not the case. Those people are in all towns up and down the country if you look for them. It suited the television to portray Jaywick in the worst possible light.
OP, you say you are in Essex, I would suggest that you take a ride over to Jaywick and have a look around, make your own mind up. Go on a bad day and see it at it’s worst and then decide if you could live with it. Then look over the sea wall and look at one of the best beaches in the region, take a walk to the community centre and talk to some of the people who live there. You might find that it is nowhere as near as it has been portrayed.

Thisismytimetoshine · 02/05/2020 00:35

As a single woman she is respected and looked out for
Really? Why?!

Happyadventurer · 02/05/2020 00:43

@Thisismytimetoshine
Because it’s what they do. There is a really strong sense of community in Jaywick. They look out for each other.

callmeadoctor · 02/05/2020 06:24

Am intrigued as to why the OP still seems determined not to rule out Jaywick even though she has never been (yes its for a cheap house but still.........................)

madcatladyforever · 02/05/2020 06:31

Are you crazy, Jaywick is horrible. Worse than Hastings and that's saying something.

Prettyvase · 02/05/2020 06:50

Some parts of Cornwall were absolute dives until newcomers came in, invested in their homes and businesses there and made a huge difference!

My family are Cornish through and through and I am ashamed to say they ( especially the older generation, but also more badly educated/ embittered/ jealous may be? New generation) never welcomed Emmets ( outsiders) and constantly moaned about them.

However, no one can deny the amazing transformation that a bit of pride, ££ and investment has made to shops and homes now with nice hanging baskets, shiny shop fronts etc in the last 30 years.

So what I am saying is the more optimistic, positive minded adventurous spirited people go and move to places like Jaywick the better, as new people always bring a breath of fresh air to a place, are usually friendly and so more likely to get on with others ( especially if they volunteer in the local community) and aren't jaded and negative minded like alot of the resident population then you will do really well there or anywhere else you go Smile.

Justgorgeous · 02/05/2020 07:39

I think it needs a lot of work and those ceilings give it a very cramped feel. It does have potential but not a great area.

pandarific · 02/05/2020 08:00

What about buying a two bed that has lots of room to extend? It's much cheaper to build another room than to buy ready made? You could build a lovely office on the ground floor?

pandarific · 02/05/2020 08:09

Also op, how about upping your budget to 20k more and putting an alert on - would be interesting to see if any fall in price.

fascinated · 02/05/2020 09:39

It’s a huge risk to invest your money in a mortgage-free property, because you can’t just stop paying and let it get repossessed - you’d lose your entire investment! So OP needs to think first and foremost about a property that isn’t at risk of eg flooding which it sounds like the whole of this town is! Can you even insure these buildings?

Waitingwaiting12 · 02/05/2020 09:48

Oh my god do not move to jay wick !!!! Clacton is bad enough but jay wick!!! Just go for a drive around there and you will see how awful it is ! You will get broken into and it will be so unsafe ! You would regret it

Waitingwaiting12 · 02/05/2020 09:49

Should add make sure you lock your car doors when your driving around there !

GeorgianaD · 02/05/2020 09:55

Happyadventurer a businesswoman? What type of business? And being respected and protected as a single woman? How bizarre. I’m struggling to think of anyone with half a brain who’s consider moving to such a place. OP, I hope you reconsider such a reckless move.

GreyishDays · 02/05/2020 10:00

Sorry if you’ve said, but do you need three bedrooms?

Dieu · 02/05/2020 10:00

Location is everything, OP. Sorry.

ArriettyJones · 02/05/2020 11:26

Am intrigued as to why the OP still seems determined not to rule out Jaywick even though she has never been (yes its for a cheap house but still.........................)

That’s exactly why she hasn’t ruled it out yet. Smile I think it has to be seen to be believed.

Happyadventurer · 02/05/2020 11:29

@GeorgianaD a very successful one. When she retired she wanted her money to go as far as possible and allow her the freedom to travel and do as she pleased. The only thing bizarre about any of that is your lack of understanding of how a community bonds together. For the record, she has more than half a brain, is degree educated, and intelligent enough to see through the surface and make her own decisions.
I didn’t come on here to pick a fight or to be insulted. I am just putting forward an alternative opinion about someone who has made it work for them.

ArriettyJones · 02/05/2020 11:35

@Happyadventurer in fairness the “As a single woman she is respected and looked out for.” part of your post was the most baffling bit.

Saladaysior · 02/05/2020 11:44

Read the Wikipedia entry on Jaywick. You’ll think that house price is way too high.

Happyadventurer · 02/05/2020 11:52

@ArriettyJones, yes, I understand and see what you mean. It wasn’t worded well. What I was trying to say is that she is a single woman but, despite the public perception of Jaywick (not entirely unfounded) she had no qualms about moving there and has always felt safe. I don’t live there but I have worked in the area for over 20 years and it is difficult to describe the kind of community spirit that Jaywick has. I have never seen anywhere that looks out for each other in the way that they do there. I wouldn’t like to try to delve into why it is that way, but it just is.
Jaywick mist certainly is not Nirvana, and I haven’t tried to say that it is. I have just tried to say that there is another side to it that really isn’t all bad.

Happyadventurer · 02/05/2020 11:53
  • most certainly, not mist 😁
nettie434 · 02/05/2020 11:57

I thought your post was interesting HappyAdventurer and why should your friend not choose to live there if it helps her have the life she wants? It's essential to visit places at different times of day, times of the week etc but it would be wrong to rulevout a place entirely. There was a thread the other week from a person living in a village where none of the other school mums would talk to her. It was really sad.

Brunelofbrio · 02/05/2020 11:57

No idea if this will be a positive or a negative for you... but what about your uni DC? Are they intending to move back in with you when they graduate? (Nice, compfy, parental house inside the M25... perfect location for loads of exciting - badly paid- graduate jobs and internships...)

Do you want to support them in this? Or is moving to the sticks a way of avoiding them returning?