Suggestions for Cash buyer with budget of £100k

[onlychildhamster]

Asking for a friend. A friend of mine (in her 40s) has been made redundant and therefore can't afford to rent in London anymore. She also has depression and is thinking of buying a place in cash, as she has 100k in savings from her divorce settlement which makes her ineligible for benefits. Given the budget (and probably because I am biased as a London flat owner), I suggested a 1-2 bed apartment in a place like Manchester or Edinburgh (I found a few examples) where she can probably find work easily and get around easily (as she doesn't drive) but she is looking for a 4 bed house in Sheffield cos she wants to either rent out rooms for income or get a live in carer who would help her in exchange for free rent .I did look at rightmove and there were houses in that budget- is there any catch, are those areas rough i.e. www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/111278462

I wonder if anyone in Mumsnet would have any insight- what is best for a low income individual/individual on benefits with depression- a small flat or a 4 bed house. I was thinking that a bigger house might be harder to manage esp as she has depression and may have more repairs.And there is no guarantee that you can find a lodger/willing carer. Her gripe against a flat is high service charges but there are flats that don't have high service charges and surely bigger houses also require money for roof repairs etc. What do you all think?

You won’t get much in Edinburgh for £100k I’m afraid. Maybe a town in Midlothian or West Lothian but might not be particularly desirable. Also prices in Scotland generally go for over the price they are advertised at. In some cases up to 40% over in popular parts of Edinburgh.

@LoopyGremlin thanks. Think I am used to London where things often go under advertised price! Is it the same for Glasgow?

Anyway I think she is fixed on a house so places like Glasgow, Edinburgh and Manchester would be out of the question....

Sheffield is similar at the moment. Things go for over asking.

I think generally a 4 bed house anywhere at 100k is not going to be in the best area. If your friend wants a large house for that price, there will be very significant compromises to be made.

@nomdeguerrrr I think it's cos the house that she owned with her ex had 4 bedrooms. It wasn't in the best area in London either but was very well connected. I don't think a smaller home for that price would be in the best area either, it's about what area would be best... What areas are there where you can get houses for 100k and which are well connected to places with jobs. She definitely can't afford to learn to drive or a car...

A 4 bed for £100k? Is there anywhere you can get that now?

Houses in the UK will be under the average price (and £100k for a 4 bed house would be very under average) for a reason.

Either people with money to spend more than £100k don't want to live there - and with buy to let still huge you have to include investors who don't want to rent there or don't think they'll get tenants.

The house needs huge investment to be livable.

They are not in places where people have good access to public transport/jobs and not pretty enough to attract retirees/second homers.

Scotland is generally all offers over, except maybe where the above apply, and even then estate agents tend to price low to attract offers and expect more.

I don't think your friend is being realistic. Moving hundreds of miles to unknown area, unpaid live-in carer, 4 beds... Plus all the associated costs of moving, ongoing house maintenance. Also needing good public transport...etc etc

@Booboobadoo she didn't mention need for public transport but I thought it would be a factor cos she doesn't drive and as a fellow non driver, I am aware of how it really affects your choice of area.

She got the idea for live in carer from this guy she knows. He is a rich disabled guy with his own flat in primrose hill and he has this kind of set up. It works well because in London, the rent is so expensive so there would always be tons of eligible candidates who are willing to do it for subsidized rent.

Liverpool is a good option, if she went for a 3 bed there would be more choice for her.

The live in carer for rent role is probably easier to fill in Primrose Hill than in what will inevitably be quite a deprived area. Getting unregulated, informal care is fraught with risks. If your friend does this, she needs to make sure it is someone she can trust.

But she's not going to move to a very desirable area is she? Primrose Hill is lovely and very expensive. A dodgy street in Sheffield isn't.

Plus I'm a bit confused about her needing a carer. You said she's going to look for a job and haven't mentioned a disability. What does she need a carer for?

Her plan is terrible to be honest and fraught with risks. She would be much better off in a good condition one bedroom flat that she can manage rather than a run down house in a dodgy area.

@Clymene she ideally would like to work but she is unsure if she can always work if her depression keeps recurring and she is bedridden again..then she would want a carer.

What areas are there where you can get houses for 100k and which are well connected to places with jobs.

There won’t be many… the prices would increase with the job availability.

I’m in the Midlands but a four bed here averages £450k, my one bed flat is worth £180k and that’s with money knocked off for Covid.

Carers here don’t tend to be cheap either, £30/35 an hour.

What type of work is she looking for? Has she got any connections anywhere?

It seems like a recipe for disaster to randomly pick somewhere to move to by herself, without a job or connections; and with depression… if she doesn’t meet anyone; she’ll be very isolated. And (god forbid) if there are more lockdowns, that won’t help her state of mind.

I’d put the focus on either finding a job somewhere; so she’ll at least have colleagues, or going somewhere she already knows a few people.

@TakeYourFinalPosition her idea was to rent out rooms for cash or get live in carer. In London, this works out really well cos there are so many healthy normal capable people priced out of home ownership or even renting their own place through no fault of their own. I am just unsure how it translates in cheaper areas

When she and her husband owned their 4 bed house in a grotty part of London, they had a lodger who paid rent and also helped look after their dogs - they were raising puppies at that time. Basically in London, people will do anything for a rent subsidy.

oh bless your southern naivety that you can buy a flat for £100 in cities such as Manchester and Edinburgh
There are very few flats in Edinburgh under £100k, I've just looked on the espc website and none of them are anywhere I'd want to live! I'm not sure that relocating yourself to an unknown part of the country to live in a run down flat in a poor area is a great tactic for someone struggling with depression.

Totally unrealistic. Maybe a park home but they go for over 100 on south coast.

@emmathedilemma I was thinking something like this: 2 bedroom flat for sale
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/109413980

My SIL lives in Prestwich, and she doesn't have a car and she loves it.

What about a flat at the coast? - may help the depression. Usually a good supply of carers as there's always a retired population by the coast.

The one you have put a link for there is sold by auction so will probably go for more than that or there will be a reason it is being sold at auction and I wouldn’t want to buy it.
I realise that was an example but you friend is right as well, although a flat is easier to maintain, they do generally have service charges and they can spring repair costs on you at any time.
I would say that buying a four bed house to let our for the price she wants is not realistic though.
She perhaps needs to look at perhaps some smaller houses in some different places, like Manchester as you suggested e.g 2 bed terraced houses. That way she will hopefully be in a place with links for jobs but won’t have the service charges that will cost money each month.

here you go a property in Chesterfield divided into maisonettes- rent one out, live in the other. Only been to Chesterfield once- average northern small town!

Sheffield?

@onlychildhamster I am just unsure how it translates in cheaper areas

I don't think it does, if I'm honest. It's a very London thing. It's not even a thing where I am, and people struggle getting on the property ladder here, too. Generally here, if you can't afford a central property, you live further out and drive in. Public transport is okay around the centre but woeful further out.

The flat you've linked to is a modern auction - that's the starting price, so it'll likely go for a lot more than that, but the buyer also has to pay the reservation fees - £6k or so in that case - and it's legally binding once you've made an offer, so you can't pull out like you can in a "normal" sale. There's also no mention of lease length, which could be fine, but might suggest that it's not got long left... If it's over 80 years, extending it will likely be less than £10k, but if it's got less than that, marriage value comes into play and it could cost a fortune to extend.

I really think she'd be better to rent somewhere before she buys if she wants to move areas, so she can make sure she likes where she ends up, and she can see where the cheaper areas are.

I've lived in five places in the Midlands and renting a room isn't really a thing here, unless it's a student house. There wasn't even much of it in Birmingham when I was a student - it was houses with other students, rather than lodging with a landlord.

There might be other places where that still happens but I think it's a really London-centric thing, similar to people being willing to provide care/cleaning/shopping etc in exchange for cheaper rent.

If she knows people in London and wants that type of set-up, is there no way she can stay? Even if she moved a bit further out, or downsized a fair bit, it'd probably be more similar to what she's used to then moving somewhere else entirely...

£100k won't buy you a shoebox in London @TakeYourFinalPosition.

OP - your friend is being really unrealistic. I also agree with a PP that being depressed and moving to a new area where she knows no one is probably not a very good idea. Can she get a job first and then rent somewhere locally? Then she'd get to know the area and if it's the sort of place she wants to settle.

@TakeYourFinalPosition well my 2 bed flat in london cost me £392k in 2019 so she definitely can't afford to own in london.
its hard enough for couples on average incomes, let alone for a single person without a job and 100k in cash. I don't think there is anything in the Home Counties either. I looked at high wycombe (where I can buy a 3 bed house for the cost of my flat) and it is one of the cheaper commuter towns. A flat there is at least 200k.