renting the good life?

[ina]

Oh, I haven't given up yet - but don't forget: the problem is that there are very, very few properties out there that I would like to buy; i.e. no fancy fittings, one or at the most two bedrooms, a large garden at the least, better a little more land; run down or half fallen down no problem - but those properties go for massive amounts of money to people "with equestrian interests", or housing developers with lots of money, and no need for somewhere to live themselves... Plus, I'm a bad bet for any mortgage lender: single, 50, way below average income. And not the kind of health anymore that I had 20 years ago, when I could have worked all hours under the sun to save up extra cash.

I'm not complaining, it's the way I had my life - but it's not that easy to go and buy somewhere as some people seem to think...

[Wotta Wally]

I agree with you Ina.

More and more do-uppers are being snapped up by property developers so there are less of them out there. In addition, any land that may go with it is being built on. Getting a cheap house with land is getting harder to obtain. Good luck tho'

[MrFalafel]

Well, just to buck the trend, I am in the process of selling my terraced house in an effort to be more self-sufficient.

I can live in a better house with a bigger garden by paying rent that is half of what I spend on a mortgage ==> Less dependence on salary. A simple job can meet my needs.

I can grow veg at my rented house. This will be done using raised beds and portable items wherever possible in case I choose to move or the landlord wants me out.

I can till my allotment, which is large enough to produce plenty of food.

If the boiler packs it in, I just call the landlord to fix it. If the plumbing has a problem, same thing: no money out of my pocket.

Hopefully, as I increase my frugality and increase my self-food production, my need for full time employment will reduce to part time employment, or maybe even self employment at home.

And to top this off, if I get tired of the neighbors or decide I want to move elsewhere, I can as I am not tied down.

So certainly put me down as 'renting the good life'.

[ina]

I can grow veg at my rented house. This will be done using raised beds and portable items wherever possible in case I choose to move or the landlord wants me out.

The problem are those plants that needs a bit longer in one place... I'm just about to plant an apple tree in a large container. And I wish you luck with your landlord - it's always a bit of a risk, not knowing when you might have to leave!

[MrFalafel]

I can grow veg at my rented house. This will be done using raised beds and portable items wherever possible in case I choose to move or the landlord wants me out.

The problem are those plants that needs a bit longer in one place... I'm just about to plant an apple tree in a large container. And I wish you luck with your landlord - it's always a bit of a risk, not knowing when you might have to leave!

Thats what the allotment is for. I have rasberries and an apple tree in it. No landlord can take that away from me. ha ha!

Talk to a landlord sometime and you'll learn that its a lot more difficult for people with houses to rent to find a dependable, clean tenant than it is for a renter to find a house that won't mind potatoes grown in barrels and tomatoes in bags etc.

My earliest horticulture exposure was around intensive gardening in small places so this is perfect for me whereas several acres of gardening seems like an over-expenditure of effort.

[kiwirach]

like Ina, i havent given up hope yet.

i'll go down the allotment line for the time being, but it is my goal to have everything on the same patch of land someday, somehow.

thanks for all your contributions to the the thread...its very interesting reading peoples views.

[ina]

Thats what the allotment is for. I have rasberries and an apple tree in it. No landlord can take that away from me. ha ha!

In some allotments you aren't allowed to plant trees. And anyway, you'd be hard pushed to find an allotment in a rural area... Well, in some urban areas people can wait for years and years!

It's fine if you've found what you need - a good landlord, and an allotment nearby. But believe me, that's an exception. My experience is otherwise.

[kiwirach]

i think i made a discovery last night

it seems i may be able to afford some land after all...it just may not have a house on it.
need to look into it further and start a new thread for townies like me with no clue.....yet

[mrsflibble]

round here a house of th size we need, with garden but no parking, in an area suitably connected by public transport for myself is £159-£210K. James earns £32Kpa and a recent enquiry to many mortgage companies said they'd lend us £112K tops.

we have no capital. for £112K round here you get a studio/1bed flat, no garden, no parking in an area you're likely to get shot or stabbed the moment you step from your front door. Plus repayments on that would be over what we are paying to rent- and we can only just afford the rent so it IS totally unfeasible for us to buy a home. You can get "fixer-uppers" for that money, but the repayments mean we'd never have any moeny to spend fixing up so to speak. unless it all crashes. I'm sorry to anyone living on the knife-edge of interest rates and possible crashes etc, but that's the only ay we'd be able to afford to buy and I for one am sick to the back teeth of the insecurity of renting. we have lived in 3 different places, moved 4 times in the last 3 years due to landlords selling. we could be kicked out again in september with 1 months notice to move.

Sorry, but this is how I feel; for us to gain the security of our own home there has to either be a market crash or we need to win the flipping lotery- and as we don't play it, that's never gonna happen.

[hamster]

Just thought I'd point you in the direction of wulf's post.

http://www.selfsufficientish.com/forum/ ... 8409#88409

[kiwirach]

round here a house of th size we need, with garden but no parking, in an area suitably connected by public transport for myself is £159-£210K. James earns £32Kpa and a recent enquiry to many mortgage companies said they'd lend us £112K tops.

we have no capital. for £112K round here you get a studio/1bed flat, no garden, no parking in an area you're likely to get shot or stabbed the moment you step from your front door. Plus repayments on that would be over what we are paying to rent- and we can only just afford the rent so it IS totally unfeasible for us to buy a home. You can get "fixer-uppers" for that money, but the repayments mean we'd never have any moeny to spend fixing up so to speak. unless it all crashes. I'm sorry to anyone living on the knife-edge of interest rates and possible crashes etc, but that's the only ay we'd be able to afford to buy and I for one am sick to the back teeth of the insecurity of renting. we have lived in 3 different places, moved 4 times in the last 3 years due to landlords selling. we could be kicked out again in september with 1 months notice to move.

Sorry, but this is how I feel; for us to gain the security of our own home there has to either be a market crash or we need to win the flipping lotery- and as we don't play it, that's never gonna happen.

this is pretty much my predicament(sp).....which is why i was questioning whether you could rent what you wanted. then i stubbled across a link to a website that just sells land and suddenly it looks possible to at least own something. i need to learn the ins and outs of planning permission, but am also just happy to hold onto the land as an investment if i cant build on it. at least i could grow things on it, so there is some benefit as well.

[Annpan]

round here a house of th size we need, with garden but no parking, in an area suitably connected by public transport for myself is £159-£210K. James earns £32Kpa and a recent enquiry to many mortgage companies said they'd lend us £112K tops.

we have no capital. for £112K round here you get a studio/1bed flat, no garden, no parking in an area you're likely to get shot or stabbed the moment you step from your front door. Plus repayments on that would be over what we are paying to rent- and we can only just afford the rent so it IS totally unfeasible for us to buy a home. You can get "fixer-uppers" for that money, but the repayments mean we'd never have any moeny to spend fixing up so to speak. unless it all crashes. I'm sorry to anyone living on the knife-edge of interest rates and possible crashes etc, but that's the only ay we'd be able to afford to buy and I for one am sick to the back teeth of the insecurity of renting. we have lived in 3 different places, moved 4 times in the last 3 years due to landlords selling. we could be kicked out again in september with 1 months notice to move.

Sorry, but this is how I feel; for us to gain the security of our own home there has to either be a market crash or we need to win the flipping lotery- and as we don't play it, that's never gonna happen.

Thats what come with living in the South East... there ARE more affordable homes else where in the country. It is your choice to live in that location.

House prices are particularly crazy in the South East, and really unfair to the majority of people.

I still say we need an overhaul of the rental market... when I lived in rented accomodation I was treated very poorly - I had a bedsit (5 men, 2 women, all strangers, in one house) I wasn't allowed to lock my door from the inside... I was only 18... shudder to think of it now. Then when OH and I moved in together we were bullied by our landlord who refused to fix leaks that were affecting the old man in the flat below us.

I decided that we HAD to buy our own home because it was the only way out of that situation... we worked really hard at it and it took years, and we did all the work ourselves... that is the price we paid.

[kiwirach]

Just thought I'd point you in the direction of wulf's post.

http://www.selfsufficientish.com/forum/ ... 8409#88409

how cool is that!. thanks for posting the link.

[ina]

Sorry, but this is how I feel; for us to gain the security of our own home there has to either be a market crash or we need to win the flipping lotery- and as we don't play it, that's never gonna happen.

Join the club!

[MrFalafel]

When I was house-hunting years ago, there was no way I could afford a house in the SE despite me working a suit and tie job in London. So I looked further afield and found out I could afford a house in North Wales and still rent a flat in London where I worked. Over time, I had the house in North Wales fixed up and then I change my job so I could move into the house and commute to London during the week. It took a bit of effort and a big adjustment but now I am full time in North Wales in my own home, completely free from the tethers of city life.

The reality is there are plenty of cheap plots of land that you can build a home on. In fact, with pre-fab houses, you can get a bespoke house to your specifications built on land often for less than a pre-existing house. The question is: where would you be willing to move to to accomplish this? How much of an adjustment to your current lifestyle would you be willing to make to acheive this home owning dream?