The figures look great to an outsider:
- More or less 50% equity if we buy the new house.
- A healthy 1/3 of take home pay going towards the mortgage
- Much more floor area, high ceilings (higher heating bills) and beautiful, magazine quality features (No view, still semi-detached and not much garden though) I'm in love with it too.
The reality is this:
- I'm 47 and we could easily be mortgage free in five/six years - just at the point that the boys head off for university. Smart enough semi - cheap to run, adequate room. Neighbour problems sorted now but we're still having to defumegate the room that Beast stayed in last year.
- In reality we'd be cash richer by around £1000 pcm at that time - probably significantly more because interest rates could rise.
- We aren't exactly flush for cash now - that's with a mortgage a 3rd of the size and at 1/6 of take home and at a time that the boys are relatively undemanding. However, life is relaxed and I'm not too flustered by news of job cuts, inflation or interest rate rises. We're pretty much untouchable at the moment and my low debt/earnings ratio is one of the things in my life which really gives me a buzz.
- The real fly in the ointment is that the Govt are seriously looking into cutting branch line services and 'excessive' train driver pay - that's me basically.
-----------
I look at the new house and realise that this isn't really about investment - it's about 'wow'. I'm sure that what it will give us in aesthetic feel good will eat away at our health and marriage in financial feel bad. In fact it's eating away at me already and we haven't done it. Something inside me is screaming that this is madness. There are no guarantees (after factoring 18 years of doubled repayments instead of 12 years no payments) that we will be better off financially at the end of it either.
"But if you don't do this you never will. That's why you're small and always will be."
Yup.
We are what we are to a large degree. I had a really good go at being something bigger but it didn't work out. I found out that it's when we try to pretend we're something else that problems begin to happen. It's also a fact that I didn't move to Devon just to end up on a treadmill.
I phoned the estate agent this morning and took our house off the market.
Dear readers,
I hope you understand that me writing this may seem odd but it really helps me to organise my thoughts in silence. I value your opinions as they give me plenty of ideas to bounce off. I have added a poll to the bottom of the comments thread. I'd appreciate it if you'd tick yes or no.
Thanks
Friday, 16 March 2012
Thursday, 15 March 2012
Time to climb the property ladder ?
I've already asked some valued friends for their opinions. Feel free to express yours. In fact PLEASE PLEASE DO.
I'm 47. We can be mortgage free in 5 years without much effort. Present mortgage is 1/6 joint take home pay (we've had some wage boosts recently) It is due up in 8 years at present levels of repayment but we could hit it hard once the fix ends next year and we are free of the redemption penalty.
Our house is alright. Nothing wrong with it. It's not anything to write home about either though ... 'scuse the pun. There is a fairly strong rental demand for it which could make it cash neutral after taking money out of it for the deposit on a bigger house.
A truly great house nearby can be achieved with a 3rd of joint salary (using 6% interest to calculate - 12% takes us to 40% of pay) we could put down a 46% deposit if we sold our house. It would mean taking out an 18 year loan which may be reduced using a daily interest mortgage but doubtless university costs (lodgings) are going to hit us in 4 years time. Sam wants to go to medical school - this is no idle threat, he's top student in his year in biology and chemistry at a top Devon school.
My job is fairly secure - so long as I don't cock up, lose my hearing or sight and so long as the coming railway cuts don't go deep enough to reach in my position of middle seniority at the depot. I doubt my pay will ever be as good in proportion to cost of living and qualifying for loans as it is now, nor are we getting any younger.
We could handle redundancy where we are now. Extending the mortgage and going interest only would be a breeze stacking shelves at Tescos. We couldn't, however, handle me losing my job if we buy this house - in fact we'd be struggling even if Paula lost her 4-day-a-week job as a secretary.
It seems better buying bricks and mortar than putting money in pensions or any form of cash based vehicle. I'm owed £30k from an AVC at work and there's a £10k assurance scheme coming up. I can't remember when exactly.
What say you ?
What of the 'conmy ???
(I already know what I feel but I can't seem to express it without sounding wrong because my track record on calling financial shots isn't great.)
I'm 47. We can be mortgage free in 5 years without much effort. Present mortgage is 1/6 joint take home pay (we've had some wage boosts recently) It is due up in 8 years at present levels of repayment but we could hit it hard once the fix ends next year and we are free of the redemption penalty.
Our house is alright. Nothing wrong with it. It's not anything to write home about either though ... 'scuse the pun. There is a fairly strong rental demand for it which could make it cash neutral after taking money out of it for the deposit on a bigger house.
A truly great house nearby can be achieved with a 3rd of joint salary (using 6% interest to calculate - 12% takes us to 40% of pay) we could put down a 46% deposit if we sold our house. It would mean taking out an 18 year loan which may be reduced using a daily interest mortgage but doubtless university costs (lodgings) are going to hit us in 4 years time. Sam wants to go to medical school - this is no idle threat, he's top student in his year in biology and chemistry at a top Devon school.
My job is fairly secure - so long as I don't cock up, lose my hearing or sight and so long as the coming railway cuts don't go deep enough to reach in my position of middle seniority at the depot. I doubt my pay will ever be as good in proportion to cost of living and qualifying for loans as it is now, nor are we getting any younger.
We could handle redundancy where we are now. Extending the mortgage and going interest only would be a breeze stacking shelves at Tescos. We couldn't, however, handle me losing my job if we buy this house - in fact we'd be struggling even if Paula lost her 4-day-a-week job as a secretary.
It seems better buying bricks and mortar than putting money in pensions or any form of cash based vehicle. I'm owed £30k from an AVC at work and there's a £10k assurance scheme coming up. I can't remember when exactly.
What say you ?
What of the 'conmy ???
(I already know what I feel but I can't seem to express it without sounding wrong because my track record on calling financial shots isn't great.)
Tuesday, 13 March 2012
Embarassing Bodies (Channel 4)
So what do you do ? WHAT DO YOU DO ?
You shove it in front of a camera on national TV and while you're at it you show your face and fanny too.
Unbelievable.
Ranter says that we have become a nation which once laughed at vegetables which looked like willies - now we laugh at willies which look like vegetables.
Monday, 12 March 2012
That's torn it
Aside the obvious tragedy, the massacre of 16 people in Afghanistan is going to turn the heat up for our troops.
Cameron should have pulled them out on coming to office. It would have been a hugely popular move and, above all else, it would have been the right thing to do.
The war was declared lost with an extraction date set in 2014. On that basis alone political 'reconstruction' of the country is over. Which Afghan with a brain will take sides with the West and not the Taliban knowing this ?
Yet our troops are to stay a further two years in this hell hole - under equipped and under paid - for no reason other than to comply with America's strange agenda.
Cameron calls trade unionists unpatriotic for wanting to strike over the Olympics.
I do agree that the trade unionists are unpatriotic - but nowhere near as unpatriotic as a PM who sacrifices his own troops for another country.
Cameron should have pulled them out on coming to office. It would have been a hugely popular move and, above all else, it would have been the right thing to do.
The war was declared lost with an extraction date set in 2014. On that basis alone political 'reconstruction' of the country is over. Which Afghan with a brain will take sides with the West and not the Taliban knowing this ?
Yet our troops are to stay a further two years in this hell hole - under equipped and under paid - for no reason other than to comply with America's strange agenda.
Cameron calls trade unionists unpatriotic for wanting to strike over the Olympics.
I do agree that the trade unionists are unpatriotic - but nowhere near as unpatriotic as a PM who sacrifices his own troops for another country.
Saturday, 10 March 2012
McNulty
I walked into the messroom yesterday and it was filled with gloom and despondency. The train guards mainly. The McNulty report into railways has hit the press and it does not make good reading - not if you're a railway employee anyway.
30% needs to be taken off train fares in order to bring them in line with the rest of Europe.
That's going to mean one thing for sure. Significant job losses and pay cuts - I've anticipated this for a while now so I thank myself rather than God that I didn't increase the mortgage and buy a bigger house. A lot of the cuts will fall on ticket offices and train guards - we drivers will be required to undertake Driver Only Operation (DOO) on many routes.
Just who will sell or check tickets on trains and in stations ? I expect this will impact heavily on revenue collection.
I suspect there will be driver redundancies too - especially at rural depots such as my own.
The really big losses on the railway (according to TV documentary Panorama) seem to be through the state owned Network Rail who are alleged to have lost control of infrastructure costs.
Peak train fares are so high as to make one blush. Clearly something needs to be done.
I am a Conservative by nature and by vote. I am a trade union representative both by circumstance and necessity (no-one else would do it.) I am a walking paradox. I would defend David Cameron's government to the hilt - had they not reneged on their promises on immigration, crime, welfare, quangos ...
The Coalition also appear to be unable to do anything to stop the excesses of Bankers; nor do I buy it that David Cameron is hostage to Nick Clegg - David Cameron is, quite obviously, a Champagne Leftist.
The national debt is bound to increase as we import more and more workless people who should have no right to be here. That means taxes will have to rise and living standards will have to fall.
Where is the quid pro quo for the sacrifices we are being expected to make ?
Why should we support Cameron ?
30% needs to be taken off train fares in order to bring them in line with the rest of Europe.
That's going to mean one thing for sure. Significant job losses and pay cuts - I've anticipated this for a while now so I thank myself rather than God that I didn't increase the mortgage and buy a bigger house. A lot of the cuts will fall on ticket offices and train guards - we drivers will be required to undertake Driver Only Operation (DOO) on many routes.
Just who will sell or check tickets on trains and in stations ? I expect this will impact heavily on revenue collection.
I suspect there will be driver redundancies too - especially at rural depots such as my own.
The really big losses on the railway (according to TV documentary Panorama) seem to be through the state owned Network Rail who are alleged to have lost control of infrastructure costs.
Peak train fares are so high as to make one blush. Clearly something needs to be done.
I am a Conservative by nature and by vote. I am a trade union representative both by circumstance and necessity (no-one else would do it.) I am a walking paradox. I would defend David Cameron's government to the hilt - had they not reneged on their promises on immigration, crime, welfare, quangos ...
The Coalition also appear to be unable to do anything to stop the excesses of Bankers; nor do I buy it that David Cameron is hostage to Nick Clegg - David Cameron is, quite obviously, a Champagne Leftist.
The national debt is bound to increase as we import more and more workless people who should have no right to be here. That means taxes will have to rise and living standards will have to fall.
Where is the quid pro quo for the sacrifices we are being expected to make ?
Why should we support Cameron ?
Wednesday, 7 March 2012
Sickness during holiday.
The European Court of Justice has ruled that people falling ill whilst on holiday should be able to claim the time back from their employers.
Will employers be allowed to claim back days from their employees after they are sick during work time ?
Will employers be allowed to claim back days from their employees after they are sick during work time ?
Housing
I don't agree with penalising success. I don't happen to think it fair that 1% of the population pay most of the tax. OK. Now that's out of the way and I've proven that I'm not a commie ...
When we bought our first house we were among the youngest in our street. The were many family homes occupied by single old ladies in their '80s who'd left it too late to move but were lonely and unable to keep up with their gardens and housekeeping. A shortage of suitable housing was inflating prices in the area beyond the reach of young families.
Surely - in these times of housing shortages - there should be some incentive to encourage retirees to sell up family housing stock.
I know there are several arguments against:
- why pick on old British people ? Well I can't argue with that.
- They've paid for their homes - shouldn't they have the right to enjoy them ?
I'm not saying that they shouldn't be able to enjoy the fruits of their investment, but the idea of buying a home is to avoid rent in old age which is still achievable by moving out at the right time.
People buy homes not only to invest in, but to spend the 30 odd working years living in them too. In that respect the roof over one's head, for the time of the mortgage, is reward enough. We cannot afford to get too sentimental about our homes in our dotage, nor can the country afford to have so many working families displaced from areas close to employment because suitable family housing stock is falling into disrepair and being blocked by old ladies living well into their 80s.
When we bought our first house we were among the youngest in our street. The were many family homes occupied by single old ladies in their '80s who'd left it too late to move but were lonely and unable to keep up with their gardens and housekeeping. A shortage of suitable housing was inflating prices in the area beyond the reach of young families.
Surely - in these times of housing shortages - there should be some incentive to encourage retirees to sell up family housing stock.
I know there are several arguments against:
- why pick on old British people ? Well I can't argue with that.
- They've paid for their homes - shouldn't they have the right to enjoy them ?
I'm not saying that they shouldn't be able to enjoy the fruits of their investment, but the idea of buying a home is to avoid rent in old age which is still achievable by moving out at the right time.
People buy homes not only to invest in, but to spend the 30 odd working years living in them too. In that respect the roof over one's head, for the time of the mortgage, is reward enough. We cannot afford to get too sentimental about our homes in our dotage, nor can the country afford to have so many working families displaced from areas close to employment because suitable family housing stock is falling into disrepair and being blocked by old ladies living well into their 80s.
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