Is it "bougie" to have 2 properties ?

[IHearYourVoiceItsLikeAnAngelSighing]

Hello Mumsnetters,

I bought my first property; a flat in zone 2 about 7 years after I finished university. No bank of mum and dad or inheritance, just saved up student loan and 7 years of hard work; frugal living and lots of saving. I paid it all off, saved up again and earlier this year I bought a small house in zone 4 as I have a child now so need more space and also a garden means I don't always have to leave the hosue for my child to be able to play outside. It was a practical/strategic move as I specifically bought in an area with good primary and secondary schools, lots of green areas and also now I don't have to book a venue for kids party as I just use my home.

The issue is, now I'm being "accused" of being posh/bougie because I have a "flat in the city and a house in the suburbs" even though I am still completely myself. I live a very simple and frugal life; shop at lidl, buy whatever I can in bulk so it works out cheaper, never owned a car and my winter coat is at least 10years old.

I don't know why it bothers me but it does. Am I worrying over nothing?

The word I’d use is greedy.

I hate owning property. I worry about repairs, ground rent and service charge. I had a flat in London- sold it at a loss. I feel sorry for someone with 2 properties.

So how did you persuade a bank to lend you 11x your salary? unless this was 4 or 5 decades ago, and rents were so low that an £11k salary allowed you to save hundreds each month for a big deposit?

Not trying to poke holes in your story - just bewildered, because I was earning £12k in London in the late 90s, living pretty frugally in a shared house, and I could barely afford the tins of spicy foul medames from the corner shop that I used to live on, never mind a house!

I bought it with my then DH, who was earning £10K at the time. He worked for a bank, and we got the mortgage on their staff rates, so only had to put down a £3K deposit (I had wanted to put down much more of a deposit, and had it saved, we actually had an argument about it as he arranged via his work to put down the minimum required deposit behind my back). We had been paying £525/mth rent in our flat prior to buying that house.

We sold that house and he bought a flat on his own for I think £90K (might have been less, can't remember), and I bought a house on my own for around £110K, by then I was earning more (more than double). I put down £11000 deposit on that house. We didn't make any money on the house we sold. When I had to relocate for work, I kept the £110K house I bought on my own as there was a property crash and the value went down to £80K, and I couldn't afford to sell it. For the first few years, the rent didn't cover the whole mortgage, or any repairs/maintenance/insurance/agency fees, but my salary covered the shortfall.

I see - thanks!

your CGT position must be quite interesting then given "DH" implies legally married and so only permitted one main home between the pair of you eligible for relief.

Given that we each bought separately because we had separated, and divorced, after he tried to kill me, this wasn't an issue.

Strange thread. I imagine it’s the fact that you live such a frugal life in all other respects that throws people. Plus, having a second property in the same city as the first that you leave empty for your own use rather than rent is a bit unusual. I think most people wanting a second home would go for a proper holiday home, abroad or on the coast etc. but there’s nothing wrong with the mere fact of having a second home and your friends are being pretty weird about it.

Sorry, why on earth do you care?