Would I be mad to sell my house

[dewisant2020]

I've been seriously thinking off selling my home lately and moving into rented accommodation.
The reasons for that is the sale of my house would pay off all my debt and leave a fair few pounds left to enjoy life a bit, I wouldn't have to worry about big repair bills and I could move around a lot more easily.

Some friends say I'm absolutely mad to be even thinking about doing that, would do you all think?

I’d hate to rent into retirement. Renting is insecure and increasingly expensive. Buy somewhere smaller outright & keep your security.

Before your house gets sold you need to have a plan, houses are selling so quickly at the moment. Get looking at apartments and get some viewings booked.

Cant you buy something cheap somewhere so you at least have that option?

I wouldn't necessarily dismiss it as a terrible idea. We are very wedded to home ownership as a society and so we see renting as inferior. To me it very much depends on:

1 your salary and pension situation. Presumably your state retirement age is 67? Are you planning to work til then?

2 how long you have to pay on your mortgage and the monthly repayment.

3 rental costs in the area you want to be

So if you have a good 10 years of work ahead of you then you may be able to pay your debt and save the equity from the sale and live on your salary. But that might not work if your rent ends up being a lot more than you earn. If you've got a good private pension then that's also a huge help.

You can get a very nice two bed detached bungalow in very popular northern market towns for less than £350k so you could have £100k left. No service charges, walking distance to shops etc.
If you currently live in a very expensive area it maybe worth exploring some slightly cheaper areas

Downsize to a small, low maintenance flat I'm a safe area.

@IsItaCowIsItaPlane. I wish. It's actually £185.15 pw, not £275

Property prices are already dropping where I live so I wouldn't sell to go into rented.

Get a lodger if you are bothered about repairs. You can use the extra money for a cleaner and refurbishinh the house - £400 a month is £5k. You can also have some good company if you pick the right person.

But you'll spend that in rent over the course of your life. It's not mad money, to be spent on travel and luxuries, surely?

Could you buy a little house or flat in a cheaper area and still have some left over?

You would be mad to do that, sorry. As others have said, downsize or get a lodger.

Sorry to hear about your DS

bad bad bad idea!! just downsize!? You would be mad to get off the property ladder -

if you are thinking benfits too, housing stuff you wont get anything. you will use your savings/then equity to pay rent and get nothing as you have over 16k in the bank

so you are literally throwing thousands down the drain. get a lodger?!

So sorry to hear about your ds. If its relatively recent then best advice is to not make life changing decisions.

Yes mad to sell to rent. It's so insecure that you could pay rent plus moving costs (on a regular basis) plus the stress involved.
Do you have a decent pension? Have you looked at tax free sum at 5t? Its not that long away.

You are only 51
You can easily work another 10 to 15 years. Why would you say that you are towards the end of your working life? 300000 wont kasta lifetime, unless you have half a million in savings stashed away. You just need to downsize

PLus its the wrong time to sell property. Price are predicted to fall. Don't do it OP. You need to think before you dig a hole for yourself. Renting is a bad idea.

You are still very young to be thinking of moving into an old people's type of residence. You could easily have another 25 years of healthy, energetic living. If you're worried about roof repairs, then move to somewhere with a new roof and low maintenance. But don't step off the property ladder.

You can rent out your current house to rent elsewhere too. The difference is yours.

As long as you have a very good pension in place, and aren’t going to spend much on rent then will it only need to last you seventeen years?

You should think about how you would fund accommodation in your retirement. Would you have sufficient income from your pension for rent, bills and living expenses?
Do forget rent will increase with inflation. Your salary and retirement income will need to match this so you don't end up spending a larger proportion of you income on rent.
Could you rent a room instead. There is a tax free amount available in your personal allowance for this.
I think that you'd be a bit silly to sell if you could live mortgage free in retirement.

Thank you all for your advise, you've all given me a lot to think off.
I know I am still young and certainly not planning on giving up work completely but I would like to find something less stressful which of course means I won't be paid as much.
Since my DS passed away I've suffered horrendously with anxiety and I often lay awake at night worrying about silly things, I just thought if I moved to rented accommodation I'd never have to worry about big expenses if things went wrong and as I get older my income will reduce.
I've actually been looking at rented accommodation online and can't believe the cost of rent these days, shocking

I promise you . Moving into rented will not solve any anxiety it will just change into something else ..
I absolutely think you should sell up and down size . You'll get the best of both worlds .. don't let your heart rule your head on this one ..
im sorry about your DS xxx

Don’t. Had to sell my house when me and ex split (minimal equity) and 10 yrs later because of paying rent, I can’t save for a deposit!

I’d sell the house and buy a one bed flat. I wouldn’t go into rented again can you imagine having to ask permission to put up pictures and paint walls etc and they can force you to move out if they want to sell and you could find yourself having to move house in your seventies and eighties and nineties no no best avoid that vulnerability if you can. More importantly you could live another 40-50 years and that’s a lotta money to waste on rent. Stay on the property ladder but downsize.

Don't rent, my parents did and got totally trapped in their 70s still having to find the £900 a month, it's a nightmare for them.

I'd downsize, clear the mortgage and get yourself some security so you can scale down your career as well.