Sell investment property or not.

[BertieBrabinger]

DH and I have been talking about leaving London and moving to the countryside within an hour away for a while now. Cue looking at large properties with acreage etc. Realised that this is not for us - we still love London, have a great house that while it has next to no garden is still in a great area and in which we have been happy. However, we really want DS and any future siblings to have some kind of countryside childhood like we did. So we decided to look at smaller properties in the countryside and have subsequently found something that ticks every box in the Kent countryside. Really love it. If we sell one of our investment properties we could buy it outright. But suddenly I am gripped by panic that if we sell it we would be missing an investment trick because London prices just keep going up and up whereas Kent has had slow, if little, growth. Would it just be a very bad move from a long term point of view?

And yet we are yearning for some space and green and a chance to get away from the city every weekend and let our kid have space. We would not be leaving the London property market really - just taking a bit of our stake in it out, and I think we're at the point in our life where quality of life might have to trump getting the absolute most out of an investment.

If any of you have done something similar I would love to hear about it - the good, the bad, all angles. And whether we should just sit tight while London keeps going. (Which we have been doing for the best part of a decade!) Also, any advice on what it's like having a second home as we haven't done this before, have only been landlords IYSWIM.

i haven't done anything similar, but......in your situation, I would try renting in the country first before committing to buy. That way, you could see what it is like to do the weekend commute, maintain the property, sort out food runs, etc. Also, if you have a place in the country, will it mean you don't holiday elsewhere....and are you alright with that? It really is a financial and lifestyle commitment, so try it out first before committing.

If you love it, then think of purchasing. Yes, a property in Kent won't appreciate the way a London property will, but some investments can be used/enjoyed (place in the country), and some are strictly for maximum appreciation value.

I think you should put your quality of life before Investment.

Your children will not remember what good Investors you were but they will remember their childhood experienced.

There is a lot of talk in the Financial press right now that London is topping out. If interest rates go up you might see the market flooded with properties and house prices falling. I suspect that Kent will fall more slowly than London.

As for two homes, it can be a challenge unless you are very organised. We rented away from home occasionally so I could take Consultancy roles. My clothes were always in the wrong place and food was an issue. As was maintaining both properties. We sometimes found ourselves driving hundreds of miles just to cut the grass and check the house.