To sell the house and drastically change our lives

[julyjulyjuly]

I’m in my 30s, married with one DC and live on the outskirts of London. DH and I are both self employed and whilst the year started off well, the lockdowns have been awful financially and have also taken a massive toll mentally on both of us.

We have a big mortgage (£1500 a month) which was doable before, but with things looking so much less certain due to Covid, we’d now like to hugely reduce our outgoings.

We’ve always wanted to live in the countryside and we’ve found a place we really like the look of. It’s a long way from London and is in bad condition inside - it would need a new kitchen and bathroom straightaway and all the other rooms need completely redecorating (paintwork, fixtures and floors). The garden is an overgrown mess.

DH and I have never done any painting, decorating or floor sanding in our lives and don’t know anything about that sort of stuff. But it’s always been a dream to take on a rural project like this, do as much of the work as possible by ourselves and create an amazing family home.

We could afford a “finished” house in the location where we want to live on our budget, but it would be two bedrooms as opposed to four, with one reception room compared to three. I’ve always wanted the big rambling house so we can have family to stay at Christmas and friends during the year. Obviously that wouldn’t be possible with a two bedroom cottage, but if we bought the house that needs work then we’d have that.

The major issue is the finances - whilst our mortgage would be reduced to around £600 per month (that’s the cost of the house plus £50k to do it up), we worry that moving hundreds of miles away from London is a risky move career-wise. In our current state we can work from anywhere, but what if our freelance work dries up and we need to get full time jobs again? This is something that would be much easier to do near London than the far flung but beautiful corner we want to move to.

I know I’ve probably answered my own question here, but is it too risky to take this step and rely on getting freelance work in the future to pay our bills? Is there any way at all we can make this work or is it a total pipe dream?

I just feel completely and utterly drained by this year, am craving a massive lifestyle change and feel like this is a now or never moment.

WWYD?

I think you'd be insane and miserable if you did that.

You've never renovated before. And you want your first attempt at a project to be an entire house, that needs a full new kitchen and bathroom? With 50k spending money? That would be doable, maybe, if you knew what you were doing, had loads of contacts and could pick up stuff cheaper than normal, or in other words if you were a builder. You're not, so chances of you managing that within budget and to a decent timescale is not likely. How are you going to feel if a year after moving in, your kitchen is still crap and so is your bathroom? Going to be loving the rural lifestyle then? It's cold in winter remember.

You're also planning on doing this with a child hanging around. That just makes it harder as I'm assuming the child is young given you are in your 30s.

What do you do if you move away, your jobs go under and you've got the 50k, but now youre unemployed and need to keep that money for savings, just incase you can't find jobs, as jobs in a rural area are much harder to find. You still going to love the dump while you look for work? Then you'll be working full time and will have no time/energy to renovate.

It could all go well, it could all go very badly. If you're happy to accept the fact it could go very badly, carry on.

I can see it will be difficult to buy an lovely house in a lovely area of the SE on this budget (most of us buy small houses in slightly crap areas!). Would you consider places like Folkestone, Southend, etc? I know it's probably less gracious than you are looking for, but you would get space, as much of a project as you were up for, and still be near family and friends?

@TheYearOfSmallThings Yes, it is really hard. I've thought about Folkestone, but again it isn't cheap compared to where we'd ideally like to be (we could afford something ok there, but small and not amazing).

You might not find it all that easy to sell your current property with so many people moving out of London.

Houses round my way seem to be going like hot cakes at the moment - it's bizarre! Probably something to do with the stamp duty holiday and the fact that we're a bit further out with more space?

@Bearnecessity I've been through Castle Cary on the train before and thought it looked nice!

It could all go well, it could all go very badly. If you're happy to accept the fact it could go very badly, carry on.

That's the thing - it's a risk and I'm not sure I have the guts to take it.

We bought a big renovation project when I was 4 days overdue with my first child. It was really hard work as it was just a shell: needed water connecting, new roof, full re-wire, oil tank/boiler and central heating as well as new kitchen, bathroom and plumbing, insulation. On top of all that was the replastering/rendering, carpeting, double glazing etc. We budgeted £50K to get enough done so that we could move in and sell our old house. New baby used to go down for her naps to the sound of nail guns and sanders etc.

Anyway, we did do it and it was worth it in the end for us, despite the huge risk we took in doing it in the first place. It's worth quite a lot now (15 years later) and will really enable us to benefit from extra funds when we downsize in the next couple of years. It's also meant that our children have had a pretty idyllic childhood growing up in the beautiful countryside and the freedom to play outdoors safely from sun up to sun down just like DH and I did as children. That's definitely a huge plus.

I think the shift to working from home is going to be major, and most likely permanent so it shouldn't really matter where people live anymore for a lot of jobs. Zoom and Teams also means that you can still meet people without going anywhere.

I think it's actually quite risky to have a huge mortgage at the moment because of work drying up etc. So I'd say go for it!

Yes, I live near Castle Cary...it is not too shabby...good luck with whatever you plan to do. I have just found a new job that was supposed to be temporarily remote and is now permanently remote. I am a bit sad cos I like being at work the exercise and the people. I am having to be ever more inventive as I wfh otherwise I could just switch from the sofa to my desk. Thank god for the dog and the necessary walks there.

Why not get the estate agent agent out for a valuation when you can, then you’ll have an idea of what you’d sell for

If you both worked minimum wage jobs you’d most probably get benefits to top that up

I'd LOVE to do something like this.

You have to be very brave to do so. However I believe that just drives people to make it a success to be honest. All it really means is that you need to work hard to make your businesses work.

That being said, you might want to wait a little until we are a bit more under control of our national pandemic. But that's the only thing that would stop me!

You could consider moving to another city? And live in the suburbs?

I'd suggest buying something smaller in your favoured location that doesnt need work doing to it. That you can enjoy now along side enjoying a smaller mortgage.

The reno work you describe is easily 75k+.

What do you want more, a big house or to live in the countryside? Check that its not just about the house. Location is crucial.

The world is much bigger than London, if needed you would make it work and find jobs locally. Granted you wouldn't be on a London salary but your outgoings would be lower. Do it! Good luck!

I would do it.

If you stay where you are you will still have a big mortgage (and work could dry up there....!). If you can radically cut your outgoings, you can live on much lower wages.

But, ME saying that is one thing. I know I could, because DH and I are both very capable and tough, and don't mind discomfort. Are you BOTH completely on the same page? Are you prepared to put the work in, and maybe spend years in an unfinished house - or at least one that's not finished exactly as you want?

With regards to the house, practicalities first;

Can you even get the mortgage?

What exactly does the house NEED to be safe and livable? We bought a house that was v.similar to your picture, and had it checked before purchase;

Structure & chimneys = fine
Roof = fine
Wiring = old but safe.
Plumbing = old, (awful bathroom) but fully functioning
Boiler = last legs, so we changed it
Radiators = Pipes on outside of walls, but working and OK.

This left us with a shabby old house (1923) that was a mess, but liveable, (if you have quite low standards!) We did the work gradually, using money to get in the trades that we just couldn't do. We learnt a lot from Youtube videos/mags/books, and bought very carefully. You could get a long way with £50K, obviously prioritising rewire/heating if needed etc.

We bought loads of stuff from Ebay. Here are some of our best bargains:

Carpet.
Excellent quality. Light grey. Enough to do the stairs, landing and all the bedrooms. Only been down for 2 weeks in a new build. £80

Large DG Window & skylight
Bought for extension. New. They were mis-measures, and being sold by builder. £50

Bi-fold Doors.
Another builders's mistake. New. £400

Engineered Oak Flooring
From another new build. Enough to do our large living room and hall. £70

Kitchen
Top quality Solid wood. 2 years old. Including sink and hob £400

We had to fetch most of this stuff ourselves, but it was so worth it. Check out used kitchens on Ebay now, and you will see what bargains there are. You can also find ex-demo bathrooms and kitchens online, and companies that specialise in selling on used, high-end kitchens.

It could be done, but it depends on you both getting stuck in, and being realistic about what you can do. Yes, you can spend loads, but you can save too. Some of the prices quoted on here are for SE builders, doing everything. We did a ground floor extension. It's one large room. It has a pitched roof with a skylight, bifold doors going out, a large window, and double doors leading back into the house. Oak flooring, and wire gallery style lights. It's very nice, even if I do say it myself! It cost around £18K. Our neighbour got builders in to do something similar. Theirs was £37K. Ours was cheap because we dug the footings (which is £££) ourselves, and a builder friend and his son did the rest. We had it screeded, wired and plastered, but fitted skirting, painted and put down the floor ourselves and bought all the windows/doors as above

I would do it too. Move, that is! But I’d get a lovely 3 bed place that doesn’t need much doing to it.

@julyjulyjuly

If it’s a large house with 4 bedrooms and 3 reception rooms, your 50k wouldn’t go far at all. It’ll probably need rewiring, perhaps new plumbing, what about the windows and the roof? Clearing the garden and planting it again would be £££. Given your lack of DIY experience, I think you’d be taking too much on.

You’re probably right. £50k for renovations is the max we could afford right now sadly!

I'd disagree. You'd get a full survey so know if there's bigger issues.

You wouldn't be renovating everywhere at once. So actually that's sufficient for bathroom and kitchen. Then the rest you'll be able to add to financially throughout the year.

You'll ve saving money by doing the donkey work. Painting, sanding etc will all be easily learned - youtube is your new best friend.

Be realistic. Focus on the necessities first then work methodically.

Good luck. It sounds exciting.

You only live once. Just do it if you can haggle them down so it's dirt cheap.
It'll be a nightmare living in it, will cost way more than you imagine to do it up.... but fuck it... the payoff could be your forever home in a nice location. If you never take risks you'll never know.
Do it

Have you decided anything, OP? Am curious!