Owning your own home

Whoever it was that recommended Mike from http://www.crystalclearfs.com is a star. He has been great with us last couple of weeks and has somehow managed to get us a mortgage deal from before the banks started increasing their rates last week locked down. Wahey

Apparently I was the 5th or so recommended to him via this forum.

Got 2.98% for 5, but only started 2 years ago with a 95% LTV so even with the bank's shitty under valuation we've crept into the 75% LTV bracket. Would have been closer to 2% if had have agreed with Zoopla.

Yeah that was either me or @Chalfie
He’s brilliant.

He’s brillaint

Chalfie? Are you sure?

I'm pretty fucking awesome.

I've been idly searching for my "retirement" home on Rightmove.

Bit of a different business; houses not in London - there is a more apparent separation between what you are paying for a chunk of land and what you are paying for the structure sitting on it.

Looking at places in this way has lead me to wonder if the structures sitting on the land are a bit over valued.

I found some info on line which suggests that you can build a reasonable quality house for about £900/sq m.

Assuming a decent size house is 200 sq m, that's £180k for building something.

Maybe £150k for a plot. £20k for services, architects etc.

So £380k for a new house which I get to specify. Seems to compare well to buying a shitty bungalow on a nice plot for around £350k, which seems to be what they are going for.

Is this all wildly off piste or sound reasonable? I have no idea other than what I've read on the internet.

Anyone done anything like this?

I had a look at build costs recently as part of our buildings insurance and what I was seeing as build costs, at least in London, were a fair bit higher than that. More like £2,500 per square metre (that would be bringing it up to a habitable level so decorated, etc)

Ha! My lender just called me and said "as I'm sure you're aware your mortgage ends in x weeks". I chuckled.

At least now I know it was a 2yr mortgage and not a 3yr.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-boe-decision/bank-of-england-sees-only-gentle-rises-ahead-after-historic-rate-hike-idUKKBN1D2003

You won’t be able to build for £900psm anywhere in the south east. Probably not anywhere in the south.

£2500 is a lot but in Ldn or any other big city it’ll be £1800 for a reasonable finish.

In the sticks maybe £1300 for a basic finish.

In the sticks maybe £1300 for a basic finish.

Probably viable at £1,300.

This is in the sticks - Suffolk (if that counts as sticks).

I guess Barratt Homes manage to build cheaper... But then again, aim will be for a bit better.

I seem to be owing about £10k less than I thought which is a nice surprise. I guess that's what happens when you don't login to your mortgage thingie for 12 months.

Suffolk (if that counts as sticks).

Mos def. The stickiest.

Mos def. The stickiest.

Oh good.

I thought you might have meant Wales or Hull or somewhere.

I've lived in Suffolk, Wales is miles better.

Hull not so much.

What I've seen of Wales has been fantastic.

However I would be looking at dividing time for the foreseeable future. Suffolk is less than 2 hours, Wales +4 hours.

I know the Suffolk coast reasonably well. It can be a bit dull but it has good parts.

You can get from west London to Monmouthshire in well under 2 hours...

The challenge is in getting to West London from somewhere that you can earn a living.

I don't think I could manage that even with an electric assist...

1. Buy this: https://www.bmw-motorrad.co.uk/en/models/urban_mobility/cevolution.html

2. Remove engine and fit to Shiv.

3. Apply trip socks.

4. Wales.

I'll probably just get the train :)

Good idea, though TBH I’m not really sure why you’re going to Wales @ChasnotRobert has said he isn’t moving there.

I really like cycling in Wales. I don't like leaving work early and spending ~£70 to get the train, nor do I like driving for 3hrs to get there. Basically, where's my fucking matter transporter?

Brian Eno spends half his time in Ldn and half on the Suffolk coast. He said so in an interview I heard. Said that after a few months the pace of Ldn starts to stress him out so he needs to unwind surrounded by nature, but after a few months of that he gets bored at the lack of culture and is ready to move back.

I feel him there. Peace and solitude can get boring but so can noise and company.

Do it. You’ll be like Brian Eno.