Would you buy a houseboat?

[extracrunchy]

Why/why not?

Can anyone with experience give me a good idea of the hidden costs/risks and pitfalls?

DH and I rented one to live on for a few.years and loved it. We'd love to do it again (and comparatively low prices for a fair amount of space are tempting..) but can't help feeling it's probably not a sensible investment.

Thanks

I'd definitely do it if it came with a permanent mooring in an area I wanted to be.

Obviously there are maintenance issues but the costs can come from the fact that there are mortgages for houseboats but lenders won't lend for moorings (which, depending on the area, can cost more than the boat) so you need to find somewhere you can rent on a pretty permanent basis or have a lump sum to cover a long lease/purchase of a mooring spot.

So this for example... The ad is obviously very vague but does it look like a stupid idea? www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/28336317?search_identifier=ab42c97a581d4acd2d1c92f494c9b43e

Is a shared leased mooring a long term thing? I know you pay mooring fees in most cases, but how does that work?

Sorry I'm totally clueless about the owning bit!

Sorry www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/28336317?search_identifier=ab42c97a581d4acd2d1c92f494c9b43e

I don't know if that means it a "shared, leased" mooring - ie, the mooring is leased and shared with others or if "shared leased" is some particular mooring term. Either way, the important thing is how secure and long the lease is. Further down, it refers to a shared rented mooring which suggests that there could be very little security of tenure.