What do you think of having 2 properties?

[LaurieFairyCake]

Both small, but in very different places.

Our property purchase has just fallen through and I'm currently thinking/fantasising outside the box.

We were trading in our large Home Counties place for a generous 2 bed flat with a garden in London. Overpriced and now withdrawn from sale.

I'm currently fantasising about a cheap studio in the city where we work and a bigger one bed flat in Sussex. We both work in schools so have 12 weeks we could be by the sea and the rest of the year at work and going out in London.

They're both together still cheaper than the place we were going to buy.

Yes, go for it, it would be ideal.
I would love to do the same, but id have a house in France, also get lots of holidays so would get two lives.
Also if eventually you stayed in Sussex you could easily rent out the London pad to pay your mortgage. And when you're in sussex, you could do airbnb.
Enjoy the city/sea air

Capital gains tax issues when (& if) you come to sell one of them.

Two of everything needed.

Your fave jumper/shoes/book will always be in the wrong place!

More than double in insurance & council tax.

I'm not trying to be a downer, Laurie, just pointing out some of the reasons I would never want to own 2 properties.

A member of my family does this & they had a lot of trouble getting insurance for the property that they spent less time in - the equivalent of your Sussex dream.

Mind you, Sussex is lovely - I live there!

Are you asking from an ethical point of view or a practical one?

Do you take work home in the term time? I'm not sure how practical it would be to live in a studio together unless you are rarely home b

Oh, lots of practical things to think about. Thanks for that very long list of things I hadn't considered.

The ethics are something to consider. I'm against second home ownership for quite a few reasons ethically - lots of which don't apply here - not in tourist areas, not depriving anyone of local property (both properties are pretty crap and cheap). It's not like I have a nice big house somewhere and are buying an expensive bolt hole. I'm instead dividing up my meagre budget to two crappy places

It's really just a fantasy right now. I wouldn't even be thinking it if I could find something better in London - I'm struggling to see the benefits of 2 bed place with a terrace versus tiny studio - the 'jumps' between properties seem ridiculously high

That's why I'm thinking about 2 small places and focusing on the amenities of the area. Rather than trying to live in one slightly larger place that seems horribly overpriced.

Were you the poster who was looking at flats in Lee? I meant to ask if you'd bought.

Ignore that if it wasn't you!

I'd love 2 places!

Totally me

Had an offer in on a flat in Hither, dragged on and on forever

Then a house in Blackheath. They pulled out.

Then a house in Lee. They pulled out.

Oh noooooo, that's awful! Nothing else on the market round there? It's a good area, property had increased like you wouldn't believe in the last 15 years!

There's a few places but I'm getting massively sick of it now. Spent 3 months driving over the bloody bridge every Saturday to look at places.

My sale is taking forever, have now decided both lots of solicitors are slow twats. We're now moving into rented. And supposed to have exchanged every day for the last 6 weeks.

I'm going quietly nuts. Hence the fantasising about 2 places I've even been sitting here googling flights to Glasgow to buy a second place there

My parents do it. It works for them because one place is the 'main' residence and one more of a holiday residence, although now they're retired they do split their time more evenly. The two lifestyles don't really overlap - town and very rural/mountains so they never really need e.g. a suitable jacket for the opera when they're at the holiday place. They do have two of most things but keep the older/crapper hoover/kettle/tv/whatever at the holiday place. They've also got a big car to cart things between the two places when necessary - that helps.

I think it's an ideal life if you don't have kids. If you think you might have in the near future, I wouldn't really recommend it now as it might soon wear thin and selling one place might leave you open to CGT or at the least stamp duty/fees if you sell them both to buy one big place.

Last kid goes to uni, no more now - just us

What will happen when they come home if you're down sizing? (Nosey)

They can stay in the second room - only looking at one bed flats with a separate reception (and kitchen separate) - or they can stay in the other one - actually mostly we'd be at the seaside one in summer, they'd be at the London one

I'm excited for you, can I come and stay too. I think it would be such a fantastic life style.

Sounds perfect!

It works well for DH and me.

Tell me what works Madame please

Add in the cost of two sets of council tax, two sets of WiFi, two boiler insurances, two sets of utility bills and so on. It's also harder to get involved in an area if you are away half the time. Plus time spent getting between one and the other.

We have a second home, because I need to spend time with my elderly mother, which we also let out. We don't really make money. Rather than pay a second set of costs I think it would be cheaper to regularly rent somewhere off season.

Great idea.
We did it before DC, flat in London, cottage in the country.
London friends have a accept that you won't be around at weekends or in the holidays and the financial cost is significant. But it gave us the quality of life we wanted.
When the DC came we gave up the London flat for financial reasons but now they're older I wish we'd tried harder to keep it.

If you're thinking of a studio in London - have you lived in a studio?

The fridge noise, the smell of the meal you've cooked in the air when you go to bed... I lived in a studio (rented) before I bought and quickly decided nope, not ever buying one of these, would prefer to stay renting.

If you've done it and you're happy then that's different I'm just saying a studio is a pretty unique proposition and it's not an easy downgrade even in a pinch (like going from two beds to one might be)