West London June thread (one day early)

[ComeOVeneer]

Almost made it to the end of the month. Children are gone. I am free until Sunday lunch

dd adored her bob the builder bright blue tshirt til she was 2

dd got a bratz at xmas. i am very pleased to report it's been lost somewhere at creche . we almost gave the present back tbh - dd was not even 3 yet!

Bratz and Barbie are banned in my house. Hate them both.

Nanou - can we park near the Church on Saturday?

We used to have Sacha dolls when we were kids, who were all brown skinned (even the blond ones!). I bought DD an "aboriginal" Baby Anabel doll, partly to be PC but mainly 'cos Argos had run out of the blonde ones LOL (spot the person who does there Christmas shopping on Christmas eve )

I think its a mixture of hormones and nurtue myself - a hell of a lot is learnt but some stuff is just there anyway!!

their not there

Is It Better To Rent or To Buy Via Housing Association?

Discuss............

If you rent 100% you'll fall off the housing ladder and not be able to climb back on again !

better to rent or buy thread

yeah good point foxie.

here's my predicament:

can't buy single mother high rise hell - difficult to mortgage them.

can't keep renting my flat out and renting this house.

options:

sell flat and a) invest equity or b) blow equity on a briefly louche lifestyle

downsize to a 2 bed flat thus reducing rent to what the mortgage would've been.

use equity and hopefully buy at least a 50% share of HA property but struggle and struggle and struggle to pay both mortgage and rent.....

ps: would love to come on saturday nanou but prob going to have to do a day of selling on my flat. got quite a bit of interest but people can only view on saturdays. going to miss the dragon boat racing at twickers festival too

pps: oxo, wellies are fab. thanks so much!

Paddle - I always think you shoud "up size" when dealing with property - I think you should invest your equity by using it as deposit on an HA place - or find a really cheap place to buy outright?

Otherwise its money down the drain.

I'm quite irresponsible about money but when it comes to property I think you have to be a complete capitalist - property remians the very best place to put your money - you can only gain.

If you decided to blow the money (which i don't think you'll do) you will end up trapped in crap rented accomodation. If you own, or part own, you always have security and a choice of options. If you rent, you get stuck down a one way street of giving all your hard earned cash to some other bastard who's been shrewder than you LOL!

Seriously - invest the money from your sale in a deposit on another place.

Thats IMHO

well the only really cheap places are the highrise blocks that the mortgage co's won't lend on.

think it's going to have to be HA and just try to muddle thru.

louche lifestyle is tempting tho!

PC: dilemas on property - I like these....

avoid renting like the plague. only good for landlords. Renting therefore out. So - buy. now let's look at your options again...

sell flat and invest equity : With HA would allow you to get better location (which is always prefereble to size) BUT downsides are limited mortgage options and you have got to get it first... so timing implications

But - on the positive: you don't have to worry about schools for the minute. YOu've got 3 years to play with. So- buy the best location you can afford and start to decide on schools in 2 years (a lot can change in 2 years both to schools and to you).

use equity and hopefully buy at least a 50% share of HA property but struggle and struggle and struggle to pay both mortgage and rent : would the cost of rent/ mortgage combo really be much more than if pure mortgage? What would the difference be? I understood HAs 'cut' was mainly in the appreciation of the capital value?
Downside is restricted mortgage but hey, more capital = better location, even though you would have to share the increase in asset value.

If possible - even if quite a bit more hassle - I'd go down the HA route and get a better location. Unless the difference between rent/mortgage combo is more than 10% above the amount payable if just pure mortgage.

I've always wanted to be the sort of person who has a rich greanny somewhere . My family are the opposite!! They seems to think anyone who lives in London must be loaded and act accordingly

Big choices. Good luck...

Or just take the cash and get really, really drunk.
A lot

Foxy : the size versus location dilema: have you never watched the gorgeous Phil and Kirsty?? Woman, you are missing a yummy treat

and anyway - men always exaggerate size

BTW - just found these bold and underline thingys - like them a lot{smile}

LOL!

xoxo - no one has ever given me a bloody penny either !!

Do you mean location location and relocation relocation. I LOVE those progs!!!

ps agree with everything oxo says except the bit about schools. Think about schools now, as you may not be able to afford to move again in 3 years - moving is too expensive

or buy a one bed place to rent out and keep renting where you are (or similar but chepaer maybe) - keeps a foot on the ladder but not your foot IYSWIM.

I have always stretched myself ridiculously when it came to property and I always ended up being able to afford what I'd bought in the long run and never regretted it. Not because of the investment but because my home is a huge part of my life and living somewhere I wanted to makes all teh difference to me. Have given up holidays, evenings out, almost everyting in fact at times just to live where I wanted to.

"I have always stretched myself ridiculously when it came to property and I always ended up being able to afford what I'd bought in the long run and never regretted it."

Me too!! Its the one thing its worth stretching yourself for and in the longer term, you'll get pay rises, meet new fellas, can take in a lodger etc

My friend took on an HA shared ownership place in Stokey and had to do 3 jobs to make ends meet at first, being a single Mum. But she has made loads of equity on it, has taken in lodgers etc and now only does two jobs LOL (she has a full time job and occassionaly works weekends to pay for extras).

"meet new fellas" - are you looking for me Foxie 'cos I don;t think I'm going to bump into any on the tube or on the way to CM@S Have even considered online dating but where would I find the energy? And am a bit put off that I may be matched with Orlando Bloom

all good advice.

i can only borrow what i can borrow tho. there ain't no changing that and it's a max of £130k on the mortgage front.

interesting proposal from KewC tho. Hadn't thought about buying a 1 bed place as investment......

as for meet new fellas!!! i'd quite like to meet the present incumbent at the very least!

I know one eligable man. he's short, fat 48 but looks 60, divorced and earns a lot. But he is really annoying.

Kew/PC - I have a friend who ghas done that for many years. She bought two flats (one on interest only mortgage) and let them out, then rented a much cheaper place - she used the rental income to live on as she has no work pension. She's recently moved to Majorca with her new man. She is 70, he is 63!!

MOVE TO RUISLIP pc!!

Yes I'm back ladies!!

I might be able to make the meetup on the 14th - in fact I might need to get completely rat arsed. I am so so stressed out - work is wonderfully busy (no time for mumsnet ) but moral is all time low as the girl I'm replacing who knows everything is being made redundant after 18 years.

Foxie - thanks for picking up the stuff - I didn't realise there was more stuff for the cat. I'll try and pop round to pick it up.