Time to sell up

[Dorsetmike]

I've decided to sell this house, I don't really need 3 bedrooms upstairs and 4 rooms downstairs, plus the mortgage company will be wanting some cash soon (paying interest only mortgage, which times out around August)

Looking for a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment to rent with no stairs to climb.

However this means getting rid of the excess furniture, getting smaller appliances - fridge, freezer, dishwasher, washing machine.drier combo, dismantling the model railway; should have done this years ago, I'm 80 in two weeks time, don't really feel like doing that much.

Spoke to somebody that does house clearances, he wants paying, to take it away, says he'd take it to the tip, but he actually takes it to his shop to sell, so makes twice the money - robbing barsteward!

Ought to try Gumtree, or Craig's list I suppose.

 

[wljmrbill]

Can you have yard/house sells there and sell it yourself and keep the money. I downsized myself years ago.. now live in a travel trailer in a RV Park in the woods and love it...Good LUck in your search for new place. and HAPPY BIRTHDAY early!!

 

[Dorsetmike]

Yard or "garage sales" are OK for smaller items, but I have quite a bit of furniture to shift which could be a problem unless I can get a helper who is fit enough to get stuff downstairs.

I'll probably try Gumtree (on line aimed at "buyer collect" transactions) If all else fails then maybe the British Heart Foundation charity or Sally Army.

 

[teddy]

We have just had an antique dealer in and made £600, much to my surprise. The furniture was a mixed lot and I would not have expected to make that much at action by the time I had paid for transportation and fees.

teddy

 

[teddy]

Mike, I suppose you have considered Equity Release to save moving?

teddy

 

[Dorsetmike]

We did look into it some years back, decided it was a big con unless you could gaurantee living for another 20 or 30 years; I'm not so worried about a lump sum, att the moment I'm paying out over £700 a month on an interest only mortgage, I can rent a flat for less than that; most of the money I get from the sale of this place will be swallowed by the mortgage capital and agents and solicitors fees: any left over may be enough to get a newer car. If I should happen to get somewhere near what the estate agents are valuieng it at then the car will definitely get updated, I'l l probably go for a later year and lower mileage of the model I now have.

One of my main reasons for deciding to move is it's no fun trying to keep a large 3 bedroom house going on one's own with an 80th birthday imminent. Stairs are a killer, dragging a full laundry basket up and down, pushing a vacuum cleaner round and dusting in rooms I never go in otherwise, also it's getting to the stage where it will soon need money spending on maintenance so it makes sense to me to go for an apartment in a retirement block with resident warden and emergency call facilities. If I can find one with 2 bedrooms I can put me model railway in the second one, otherwise that will get downsized too!

 

[wljmrbill]

Sounds like to have thought this out well and have a plan. Best of Luck with the new endeavor. Congrats on the sale too

 

[JHC]

One of my main reasons for deciding to move is it's no fun trying to keep a large 3 bedroom house going on one's own with an 80th birthday imminent. Stairs are a killer, dragging a full laundry basket up and down, pushing a vacuum cleaner round and dusting in rooms I never go in otherwise,

If you were in NZ you could get home help and medical care at no charge the latest NZ idea is to keep people in their own homes as long as possible and I support that concept it is still cheaper for the State compared to a Home for old jokers.

 

[Dorsetmike]

If you were in NZ you could get home help and medical care at no charge the latest NZ idea is to keep people in their own homes as long as possible and I support that concept it is still cheaper for the State compared to a Home for old jokers.

But would they also cover costs like redcoration, repairs needed due to the deterioration of the property with age, installing a lift, replacement of worn out appliances? This place does need some work which I could not now do myself, nor afford to pay to be done. Why should the state or local authority subsidise me when I am capable of looking after myself in a smaller property which I can afford

I'm not looking for a retirement home provided by the local authority or state, I'm not quite that destitute nor decrepit, I just want somewhere smaller and easier to maintain and keep clean myself. In so doing I will be releasing a 3 bedroom property onto the market more suited to a family than a widower.

 

[teddy]

Makes a lot of sense Mike. My garden needs major surgey. 1 to get it straight and 2 to make it easier to maintain. There is quite a lot of painting to do both outside and inside the house and I have a major project going on with the back bedroom. Trouble is if I moved to a flat I know I would miss the garden.

teddy

 

[Dorsetmike]

As for the garden, the roses were my pride and joy, however, keeping them dead headed in the summer, pruned in the winter, and sprayed to combat bugs and black spot is more than I can cope with these days; it's more like a jungle out there now!

As for weeding - fergeddit - couch grass has invaded and that needs major backbreaking labour, weed killer sprays are more likely to kill the roses than the couch grass!

 

[JHC]

@Mike You would be surprised at what is available to our needy citizens even those that are old and decrepit such as your good self :smirk: yes you would get a lift installed, help in the Garden, your shopping delivered etc etc. but I doubt very much that it would extend to R&M of property. I think it is a good idea to downsize if you can but don't leave it too long.
PS, due to my recent problems I am allowed NZ$90 per fortnight for help this is on top of my pension, so I can't complain. best of luck mate.

 

[Dorsetmike]

I've now had quotes from 3 estate agents (realtors?) all agree on a price to market at, their commision % varies, the national chain branch manager did not impress, trying the hard sell for 90 minutes, and generally pushing too hard, wanting money up front for "special features" which the other two also offer but at no extra cost, use their solicitor (200 miles away) instead of a local one of my choice.

The other two come across much better, so now need to weigh minor pros and cons. The time between accepting an offer to handing over keys is now up to 3 months, I've had it done in two weeks a few years back; evidently now they even have to do a risk assessment before they open proceedings! Searches take way longer, energy certificates needed, and heaven knows what other time wasting money grabbing ideas they have.

At least I'm told the market is moving better now than a year ago, some places being sale agreed within 2 days of listing, sold that is except for all the legal shenanigans.

 

[Krummhorn]

Moving is quite the pain ... we did that in late 2011 into a larger house no less. It was such a smashing deal that we couldn't afford NOT to buy it - we owned our prior home outright and it sold within 3 months.

Charity shops will usually move and pick up excess furniture. I don't know how the tax laws work in the UK, but here across the pond, we can take a deduction against income for donating furniture, clothing, electronics, etc to a charitable organization.

Our local thrift (charity) shop has its own truck and two young men who handle that part. Sometimes you may be able to work out a 'consignment' deal where you give the store a percentage of the profit ... locally, we do a 60/40 split where the store gets to keep 40% of the retail sale and the client gets the 60%. Mind you, it may take time to sell all the pieces on consignment ... our local store cannot discount the agreed upon price for the items without permission.

Make sure you read all the tiny print before signing on with a realtor ... and know what closing costs you have to pay versus what the buyer is to pay.

I could not believe all the paperwork that was required to buy our present home ... seemed like an entire ream of paper was required.

Yup ... selling and then moving is a pain for sure ... fortunately our last move was in the month of November when it was much cooler. The move before that was in late May of 2007 when it was blistering hot - 113ºf -!

 

[Dorsetmike]

Charity shops here keep the lot! Only 2 that I know of in this area take furniture. Some I will sell on Gumtree, some I may offer to the incoming house owner, like in this shot, wardrobes too bulky to move easily and the chests of drawers match

 

[teddy]

You can haggle with estate agents over here. There is a shortage of houses on the market so you can negotiate their commission, also the time on contract that they have to sell it. Normally this is four months but I always advised my clients to insist on a three month contract. That way if the agents have not found a buyer or prove themselves incompetetnt you can change agents without any penalties. Cash donations to charities can be tax deductible or you can allow the charity to keep the tax element. This holds good for any goods you give them as well. It is know as Gift Aid.

teddy

 

[Krummhorn]

Nice looking set there, Mike. It almost looks 'built in' judging by the tall section butting up to the top molding.

I'm sure someone will find them very useful in that house ... and it's a plus to have a nice set already installed.

Too bad about the charity shops not wanting to offer contingency sales ... they could most likely boost their sales of quality furniture two fold and gain more income that way. That what our the local store I work in did ... increased our store profits immensely.

 

[Dorsetmike]

Update: house went on the market a couple of days after the above post and I accepted an offer of the full asking price 3 days later, last week the buyer changed his mind after seeing the survey! Does he expect a house that's 102 years old to be perfect???????? So now I'm back to square one with 2 viewings booked for tomorrow. I saw a couple of nice properties that I hoped I might be able to rent, but they've now gone - bummer!

Spent most of the afternoon photographing items to post on Gumtree, get a bit of cash in at the same time as reducing what I need to pack!

 

[JHC]

Thats rough Mike, do you take them round the house if so you could make the age a strong point in it's favor.

 

[Dorsetmike]

I doubt age, beyond say WW2, is much of a concern here, quite a few houses in the area date back to the Victorian era and apart from things like size of rooms (the older the larger) there's not much to choose, post WW2 houses mostly got smaller and less well built often referred to as "ticky tacky boxes". This has always been a residential area, in Victorian times it was on the edge of town and the homes were for the better off, some with servants quarters, many of them are now divided into flats, by the time this one was built the town was expanding, by the 1930s the edge of town was more than half a mile further out, beyond that was heath land, most of the heath has now been built on and surrounding villages have been absorbed, edge of town is now about 5 miles out from here, it's also spread sideways along the coast and is better described as a conurbation, about 20 miles along the coast and up to 7 miles inland - and still growing!