Poorly chicken

[bellekatz]

Sadly, OH is coming into a reasonble amount of inheritance after the death of his father. We want to pay our small ( by todays standards!! ) mortgage off and buy a holiday home. If we pay our small mortgage off I can surrender the endowment policies I have with it as they are not doing terribly well anyway to give us an extra lump sum. Question is .......... do we buy a small house in a cheaper area, probably in north wales or less popular areas of the lancashire coast, or a luxury wood lodge in the Lake district . There are some good offers on lodges at the moment, presumably because no one is buying and I can see that lots of farms are diversifying into this. OH's problem with this is that they do depreciate and he is worring about losing a lot of money on this. however we have found a new site where they have knocked 25% off a couple of lodges until 31st May. Houses are much more expensive and would require to borrow again to buy, we would also have to take acount of any repairs that the property may need, redecoration and of course, furnishing a whole other house!! This would require a much bigger loan, but longer term property values may go up rather than down. It woudl also mean a two up two down terrace. So we are just going round and round in circles at the moment. Has anyone on here got a second home?? Any one work in estate agency or similar who could give us the benefit of their advice? Or any valuers or surveyors who know about long term trends? I know it's all going round in myhead and if we dont come to a decision the money will just end up in a bank somewhere for ever

[poachedegg]

If you went for a Lodge would you have to factor in site fees as I know they can be expensive?

 

We did consider a lodge once (it wasn't financially realistic to us really though) and if it is on a site, to a certain extent you are at the sayso of the landowner eg what if you bought a lodge, expecting to keep it for a good few years and the landowner sold up after 5 or so years?

 

Buying a lodge, for us, would not have been an investment as they do depreciate, but a lifestyle choice, which I don't thing is wrong,

 

Good luck with whatever choice you make......I do love staying in Lodges, in fact we are off in one tomorrow for the Easter weekend nr to Snowdonia.

[C&T]

By the sounds of it, you have to decide if you looking to invest the money?

 

If you are, either to pass down to family, or to keep for the future for retirement or such like, then that probably answers your question about the lodge...

 

If you are happy to use it as a one off, and you are not worried about a return, or even getting the money back at all (i.e. you can afford to "lose" it) - then follow your hearts and enjoy it!

 

(These are the 2 extremes - but you need to decide which side of the equation you are on.)!

 

The other question is realistically, how often are you going to use the 2nd home? Will it be used more than once or twice a year? Will other family members use it? I know of at least one person who bought a second property, convinced they loved the area, and would spend loads of time there - but they got bored, and never really managed to get away as much as they liked. Apologies if that sounds like a "damp squid" - just be really careful about location, and ensure that the area gives you plenty to do and enjoy, and isn't far to run away to!

[bluekarin]

I was just trying to think how what to write, but re-read C&T's post and it's basically what I was going to say. If it were me, I'd get something somewhere I'd want to holiday so I'd choose a place either by the sea or a place in the Lakes.

 

By the sounds of it, you have to decide if you looking to invest the money?

 

If you are, either to pass down to family, or to keep for the future for retirement or such like, then that probably answers your question about the lodge...

 

If you are happy to use it as a one off, and you are not worried about a return, or even getting the money back at all (i.e. you can afford to "lose" it) - then follow your hearts and enjoy it!

 

(These are the 2 extremes - but you need to decide which side of the equation you are on.)!

 

The other question is realistically, how often are you going to use the 2nd home? Will it be used more than once or twice a year? Will other family members use it? I know of at least one person who bought a second property, convinced they loved the area, and would spend loads of time there - but they got bored, and never really managed to get away as much as they liked. Apologies if that sounds like a "damp squid" - just be really careful about location, and ensure that the area gives you plenty to do and enjoy, and isn't far to run away to!

[Seagazer]

I think you should really look into how much ground rent you would have to pay each year. For our static caravan the site fees are about £3,000 a year which is a lot to find each year. Also the lodge will depreciate as our caravan has.

 

I think if I had the money I would probably try to invest in property.

[Patricia W]

You also need to think about the tax implications of a second home. Are you going to rent it out etc.

 

Tricia

[Valkyrie]

I'm thinking woods = blooming great big mosquitoes!

 

What a shame it isn't a brand new home and not a second home. I agree with Patricia - new taxes bound to be affecting second homes. Renting also goes along with big insurance bills and maintenance, having someone local to clean and check it over regularly - all adds up.

[Patricia W]

That's why we opted for a super-duper caravan which we store in Spain for very little. We even get it delivered to the campsite ( a nature reserve on the beach) plong ourselves there and just chill. No worries about it when we leave. We drive back through France, filling the car with wine as we go!

 

Yes, it will depreciate but it was a reasonable price, and when you work it out over several years it saves on other types of holidays, so rather economical.

 

 

So lots of other options other than bricks or wood.

 

Tricia

[bellekatz]

We aren't planning on making it a business, just for us or letting a few close friends and family stay there so there will be no income from it. Having talked to OH this evening I think i have pointed out that having to refurnish another house is a big deal, especially if there is any work to be done, and that money could go into our own home ( of which we will have paid off the mortgage first) So hoping he will decide that a lodge ( especially as many are on offer at the moment) is the way to go . The idea is for us to have somewhere to go, with the dog, rather than have other people occupy it for us. Not everything has to make a profit if we get the enjoyment out of it I think

[C&T]

Not everything has to make a profit if we get the enjoyment out of it I think

 

 

Too true! While the money came from a sad loss, if you are a position to be able to, enjoying the inheritance in their memory seems a great idea.

[Sam Palmer]

My parents in law bought a wooden lodge on a new development on the coast in Scotland over 30 years ago. Originally, it was rented out though the main owners of the site and that 'paid' for family to use it the rest of the time. About 10 years ago they decided to stop that and now it's just used by family. I've been going there for 20 years and our family usually go up there at least twice a year.

I have no idea what the upkeep is on it, as they've always paid it and we are lucky enough not to have to contribute, but I can say that they've never regretted buying it and we've all had some wonderful and relaxing holidays there.

[Seagazer]

It is lovely to have somewhere you can escape to. Its also good because we don't have to book to just have a weekend away, we can just pack up and go. We don't rent ours out as I like to leave a lot of things in our caravan so that we just take clothes when we go down. We have toiletries, dog food, dvds etc all down there.