Renting
This morning we made the executive decision that we were going to have to rent. Little Cottage is really too small for 3 people and Willow has got to an age where we need to put her to bed and leave her to it. This means having to retire to the bedroom as she lives in the living room. We need a room to put her in where I don’t have to worry that cooking my dinner will disturb her and where we still have space to relax and unwind at the end of the day.
Sadly, despite owning two properties, I’m not really in a position to sell. My flat is still in negative equity (although less than it was) and I’d really like to see it go up in price another £40K before I sell it, something that could take a few years. Little Cottage has held its value, but moving is expensive and I’d like to recoup that.
A plan that solved everything did materialise out of the death of my grandmother since the money left to me easily covered the cost of buying a third property and would allow us to simply rent out Little Cottage and, in a few years time when the housing market was out of the toilet, consolidate the 3 houses into a forever home. Sadly illness in the family has meant sorting of the will is taking rather longer than expected and we can no longer wait.
The interim solution is, of course, to rent a place ourselves. The initial outlay is less meaning our savings are intact should we not have tenants in our properties, or if they need work, and it’s cheaper than the repayment in the mortgage we’d need to get on a similar property so we can continue to save for a future purchase.
I rather suspect we will end up in a soulless 1980s box, but it will be a soulless 1980s box with a room for guests (and my desk and a computer), a room for Willow, a parking space and a garden that delivery drivers can find without detailed directions and me standing outside. I’ve no doubt The Zozo will start looking today, but we plan to start looking in earnest this weekend. Scarily this means we could be moving in a matter of weeks! Thankfully, since we’re not selling we can take our time moving out, and then, when it’s empty, get Little Cottage tarted up ready to rent out. This takes a lot of the stress out of proceedings.