Advice please !

[Brian Carragher]

Take the money and move. Find somewhere you like and look at property prices there. Find out how much cash you have at your disposal and how much is needed for a house move.

Keep the house in Whitley Bay but remortgage it and draw sufficient funds from it to facilitate the move and leave surplus money for legal fees and moving costs plus any monies needed to do up the new place when you get it.

Rent out the house through a property letting agent and let them have the hassel of dealing with tenants.Some property companies guarantee you your rent money but at a slightly reduced rate.

If it works out right your pension should be enough to live on and the rent from your original home should be somewhere close enough to pay the repayments on the equity money you got from your original home.

Don't forget to allow for any tax liable from the rental income you will recieve from your new tenants.

It should work well for you and good luck if you go to SW Scotland and should the need arise in the future you should have an appreciating asset (the Whitley Bay house) that you can always sell if you need to

[chevin]

Snatcher:

 

 

What is my best avenue for the dosh????

 

Need good advice team,bearing in mind the TAX man.

 

Buy/let property,invest in shares,become a sugar daddy        

Don't take advice from anyone who hasn't been there. While that 100 - 150K seems to be a lot now at the moment, when reality hits ie. no job and minimal prospects of getting one, that money deosn't seem to be anywhere near as much as it did. That realisation shrinks it more than inflation does.

 

I have been there and what I did was buy a business, worked bloody hard for five years, incresed my money, sold the business and retired properly. That was my way, but it is a frightening step and not one I would advise unless it was something you wanted to do.

 

If I were to suggest something, it would be that you put your money in something rock solid safe, get a job of any nature - as long as it was something you could handle - and then examine your situation when the euphoria has passed. That way, you will probably do things to ensure that your money makes your coming years more comfortable rather than the immediate ones more exciting.

[Snatcher]

Thanks for your thoughts team. Got a lot to think about now

[Steve Burke]

As a former Independent Financial Advisor I'd stress that there is no "right" answer here. All financial decisions involve a degree of risk.

 

For instance, investing in an annuity now when interest rates are low could turn out to be the wrong desision if interest rates were then to rise substantially. If inflation were to rise sharply you could be in real trouble as, unless you had an increasing annuity or better still an index-linked one, the income you receive would buy less and less. However, you don't get something for nothing as such annuities give you a lower starting income.

 

The best time to buy an annuity is when interest rates are high. You then get a high and guaranteed income for the rest of your life. This would turn out to be an excellent decision if interest rates, and therefore investment returns, subsequently fell.

 

At the moment interest rates are low. But anyone who bought an annuity some years back when interest rates were high is now sitting pretty - in fact very pretty indeed!

 

As Leon mentioned, one of the main factors that decides whether an annuity is a good buy is how many more years you live. If your life expectancy is lower than average you'd normally be better off investing elsewhere. Whilst there are some insurance companies who give better terms in these cases you can bet they err on the side of caution!

 

Buying to rent purely as an investment rather than as a holiday home is not an option I'd recommend for those of us who haven't sufficient capital to be able to spread the risk over a lot of different properties. If you lose your tenant or have a bad tenant the income from your investment immediately ceases. Whether you use the rent to supplement your own income or, even riskier, to cover a mortgage on the investment property, you have too many eggs in one basket.

 

Those with only a small amount of capital would normally be best advised to choose low risk investments with easy access in case they need to get at the money in a hurry. Those with more capital should do the same with the first part of their money. However they'd be able to take a higher risk with the balance, depending on their attitute to risk.

 

With a substantial sum of money to invest it'll almost certainly be best to spread this amongst several different investments. This is not only to spread the risk, but also to maximise the tax breaks.

 

As I mentioned earlier, there is no right answer. However, there are wrong ones! Every case is different and so must be looked at individually.

 

Snatcher, I'd strongly advise you to seek professional advice. Make sure that this is independent, and preferably on a fee basis so that you know it's independent. What's more, an advisor working on a fee basis will return all the commission he/she earns to you, and with lump sum investments this will almost certainly be considerably more than the fee!

 

Please note that, whilst I'm able to give general advice, legally I'm not able to help anyone on an individual basis as I've retired and no longer have a licence to practice.

[Dan]

Just one word on moving, if you are not working its likely that you are going to spend mnore time at home than you did, home isnt juty bricks and mortar, its location, closeness to shops and facilities, crime rate etc (theres usually a reason why hose prices are lower in one area than another!) BUT foremost its closeness to friends and family and of course what your neighbours are like. If I were you, and I nearly did have to downsize a couple of years ago, I'd take time to do the research, visit your chosen locations at all times of the days, knock on doors and ask people what the neighborhood is, you'll be surprised how much people will tell you! Finally, if I had a mortgage I'd pay it off first, youre unlikely to get that kind of interest on a quick access savings scheme. You are then at liberty to look around for your perfect house (near the sea with private slipway of course!) But thats me, as Steve says go get advice but you do need ideas for them to advise on! Hey you could always get a job in B & Q !!

Most of all, all the best for the future, you have the chance to do stuff you never had the time to.

 

Dan

[Emz]

Give it a year and you can rent a property off me, cash in hand, the tax man don't need to know

 

Beautiful local beaches, excellent for fishing off the rocks Tons of local pubs, tons of local chicks, what more could a guy want?

[Dan]

Emz:

  tons of local chicks,            

Is that just being politically correct?!!!

 

dan

[Snatcher]

Thanks for the offer Emz but will not be renting. My mortgage on my house in Whitley Bay is finished

Plan is to buy a similar house or slightly smaller in Stranraer. Will also keep on my caravan in Drummore. Will have a decent "final salary pention" coming in. After this will still have 100k+ to mess about with. Need some good advice on this one!

 

Will be enjoying myself to the max but may still go for some sort of part time job. I am sure I could not find a job as an analytical chemist but not proud.Maybe a driving job or whatever

[Chris Goddard]

Food for thought?? I bought a 2 bed house in France last year (Cash) for myself. I paid £18000 total. I sold it a week or so ago for £26000 cash again, I agreed to buy a house/Shop in same village and am hoping to sign next week. The value at November last was £63000. Just revalued for mortgage at £88000. AND IT IS EMPTY NOW AS IT WAS LAST YEAR!!

And there ARE several properties in same bracket available. Food for thought??

Rental?? friend has two bed cottage lets at £460 per week in season and at around £350 out. Cost was £32000 for TWO houses around 2 years ago and spent around £10000 doing up both houses to a VERY high standard. Bought another four bed FRENCH house (Garage is a small hangar!!) For £87500 and is being marketed at £115000 in less than six months!!(Paid part cash!!)

I know of a run down property in 6 acres with a 1.5 acre lake. NEEDS TOTALLY RENOVATING!! But at 100,000Euros?

[Peter Waller]

Buy a live aboard boat and say sod off to the neigbours!!