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Original poster

Which would you choose?

31 replies

MrsBaublesDylan · 18/02/2022 14:07

In summary:

We are selling up and downsizing to a nicer town for financial reasons.

We are interested in two flats. I won't do links on here so I'll try to 'write' a picture Grin

Flat A: £175k, complete doer upper, we would would buy and refurb with proceeds from our house sale but have to live in it (with kids one of who is disabled) while the work is done. Lovely family area, lots of social housing, next to a nature reserve. We would still have around 20k in unsecured debt which we would have to pay off. Very low leasehold fee.

Flat B: £250k, could move straight in, smaller than Flat A, in the very centre of a lovely market town, near lots of eye-wateringly expensive housing so flats are all privately owned and filled with professionals with kids. We would port over our current mortgage, pay off the debt which is sinking us and have savings to meet unexpected bills. Leasehold fee £350 a quarter which we could afford.

Just to be clear, yes, we are sure about moving into a flat and no we can't stay in our current house.

Which would you choose and why?

OP posts:
GiantKitten · 18/02/2022 14:09

Need more information I think.
Conversion or purpose built?
Schools?
Parking?
Any outside space?

AwkwardPaws27 · 18/02/2022 14:48

Complete doer-upper - what needs doing & is it really realistic to live in it? Will DC cope with noise, dust, builders in and out etc? Are you pricing the work based on current price increases?

How is the rest of the building - if your flat needs complete modernisation, are you going to get hit with a shared bill for new roof / windows / other stuff?

Original poster
MrsBaublesDylan · 18/02/2022 14:49

Flat A has a communal garden and lots of parking and Flat B has a balcony and one parking space.

OP posts:
Original poster
MrsBaublesDylan · 18/02/2022 14:53

@AwkwardPaws27 it needs ALOT of work, electrics, plumbing etc. The kitchen has a sink and nothing else.

It would be the third refurb I've managed (and the kids have lived through) and I have a team of trades who have quoted for the work. Refurb budget is bloody tight though and we are so sick of living in a house which eats money.

We cannot borrow any money because of a precious debt management plan so once the money is gone, we'll just have to make do.

OP posts:
Original poster
MrsBaublesDylan · 18/02/2022 14:54

Schools are the same for both flats.

OP posts:
SockFluffInTheBath · 18/02/2022 14:55

A unless it’s absolutely miles from everything (shops, drs etc).

Original poster
MrsBaublesDylan · 18/02/2022 14:58

Both are very well located. The whole area is bloody lovely.

Where we are atm, if you wait in your car for long enough, someone will tap on the window to ask if you want to score.

OP posts:
Original poster
MrsBaublesDylan · 18/02/2022 14:58

Can I ask why A @SockFluffInTheBath?

OP posts:
HannibalHeyes · 18/02/2022 14:59

For me B sounds better. I prefer to live in the heart of things.

But the if there was a lot I could do to A to make it better for me, that could change it.

WowIlikereallyhateyou · 18/02/2022 15:00

Flat B

SockFluffInTheBath · 18/02/2022 15:02

@MrsBaublesDylan

Can I ask why A *@SockFluffInTheBath*?
Parking, nice shared garden, out of the town centre (possibly more pleasant in humid summers, less noise on weekend nights), if it’s a doer upper then you can make it how you want it, neighbours sound a bit more down to earth.

Depends on finances as well though, do you realistically have what you need to get A done?

Chestofdraws · 18/02/2022 15:03

The finished one. I’d be scared you’d be tempted to get into debt again to finish it properly, becayse you said you can’t borrow more money not that you don’t want to,

Howver that’s on the basis you can actually afford it?

AwkwardPaws27 · 18/02/2022 15:07

[quote MrsBaublesDylan]@AwkwardPaws27 it needs ALOT of work, electrics, plumbing etc. The kitchen has a sink and nothing else.

It would be the third refurb I've managed (and the kids have lived through) and I have a team of trades who have quoted for the work. Refurb budget is bloody tight though and we are so sick of living in a house which eats money.

We cannot borrow any money because of a precious debt management plan so once the money is gone, we'll just have to make do.[/quote]
I understand that feeling!

4 years in to very gradually doing up a very tired house (totally livable, but having to save up gradually for each thing and it's wearing. The bath overflow/waste lever came off my hands a few weeks ago, I had to bail it out with a bucket before taking the panel off and fixing it...).

You sound v reno-savvy & it all sounds doable. It's just whether you want to do it!

I'd also consider whether the trade off of a smaller place is worth getting the debt paid off.

Being right in the town centre could be a real bonus as kids get into their teens, but a communal garden has its perks over a balcony... tough choice!

Original poster
MrsBaublesDylan · 18/02/2022 15:08

@Chestofdraws

The finished one. I’d be scared you’d be tempted to get into debt again to finish it properly, becayse you said you can’t borrow more money not that you don’t want to,

Howver that’s on the basis you can actually afford it?

This is key for us. I am worried that we will spend what we have on the refurb and it will still need work doing.

This move is all about money - we just want to do what will be most financially secure.

Flat A is more pain in the short term, we would be mortgage free but still with 20K of debt to pay off and possibly with a home that needs more work.

Flat A means we would keep our current mortgage but be completely debt free with £60k of savings.

Background to our financial demise is that I had to give up work to care for my middle child. However, DH starts a much better paid job on Monday which will mean we can afford the mortgage.

OP posts:
Original poster
MrsBaublesDylan · 18/02/2022 15:14

@AwkwardPaws27 - I am really torn for all the reasons you have mentioned.

Living in a renovation is a ball ache. We have been in our house for three years and it still needs at least £10 spending on it. The front door and back door handles fell off last months and the drain collapsed out the front before Xmas - £4,400 all in.

We are sinking a bit more every day.

If I thought the money was there on flat A, that would hands down be my preference. We tried to port some of our current mortgage over but they wouldn't lend on it because all the other flats in the block are social housing.

OP posts:
trumpisagit · 18/02/2022 15:19

I don't think think you would get a mortgage on flat A anyway as it is uninhabitable. Therefore might be hard to sell. Do you think you could get it for less with some hard negotiation.
The nature reserve would swing it for me.

AwkwardPaws27 · 18/02/2022 15:33

I think Flat B - you are already juggling a lot. Somewhere move in ready, with a financial buffer of savings and an affordable mortgage sounds like it would take a weight off your shoulders after a difficult financial period.

Flat A could be great if you had a contingency fund but without it, plus managing a reno to a tight budget & being a carer - honestly it just sounds like a lot of additional stress.

Calmdown14 · 18/02/2022 15:47

I remember your posts and how hard your life has been.
Is flat B big enough and will it continue to be sufficient assuming your middle child will be there long term?
It sounds like it has better long term prospects and will be easier to sell if your needs are different in the future.
Ordinarily I'd say option A s go for less mortgage but sometimes a mortgage is easier to manage especially with your other borrowing restraints so may be less stressful.
As long as you are confident the space works then probably B for my vote

Original poster
MrsBaublesDylan · 18/02/2022 16:01

This is really helping me, thank you so much.

@trumpisagit the mortgage broker said that too about a mortgage on flat A. It is a time capsule and not in a good way 

@AwkwardPaws27 agreed - I can be pretty knee deep in managing medicines, appointments and various behaviours. I just want the rest of our lives to be safe and secure (who doesn't ).

@Calmdown14 thank you for helping me again! Flat B is big enough - I have been downsizing all our stuff including clothes, books, photo albums, bedding, towels, pots and pans, furniture...everything!

OP posts:
Calmdown14 · 18/02/2022 16:01

Actually having the read your post definitely B.
Just bloody relax - you deserve it. A small mortgage should be more manageable than the other debt and once you get on your feet you could overpay It also keeps you higher up the housing ladder so if there is ever a reason you should need to move like terrible neighbours or a huge change in circumstances you are not trapped.
Just happy to hear you have options and are moving!

PainterMummy · 18/02/2022 16:28

B. Location, location, location

SeedsSeedsSeeds · 20/02/2022 00:03

If you can't get a mortgage on flat A because of the others being social housing, then you will find it much harder to sell if you ever need to. I would also therefore be concerned that any money you spend to renovate the place would not be returned if sold.

Thewindwhispers · 20/02/2022 00:06

B. It’s been a tough few years with lots of renovations. Buy the finished one.

Ozanj · 20/02/2022 00:08

B. The whole point of moving is that you can stop spending money for a bit isn’t it? That won’t work if you’re feeding all your savings and possibly earnings into flat A.

Orangade · 20/02/2022 00:10

For me B sounds like by far the least stressful optionz