Thinking of selling

[BushtrimmmerJr]

As others have said this is slightly off topic but I’ve worked on Final Salary projects for the last 10 years and I’m now just over 30. One thing I wish I could get through to my generation and younger is the need to start saving as early as possible. I see the comparison of Money Purchase and Final Salary schemes a lot and despite my wife and I being on good incomes we’d need to save a significant amount more that we can to get anywhere near that of a Final Salary scheme. For those lucky enough to have FS pensions I’m jealous, especially those that were non-contributory.

My daughter was born in 2021 and we set up a pension that we contribute to each month (only £50) but over 65-70 years that’ll be an additional c.£39,000 without any investment return to her retirement (she will be taught the importance of self saving as well). We also have a savings account set up to help with a house deposit as I wish we had that available to us.

I appreciate this isn’t something every parent can do but I’m hoping that “every little helps”.

 

[UkNorthampton]

As others have said this is slightly off topic but I’ve worked on Final Salary projects for the last 10 years and I’m now just over 30. One thing I wish I could get through to my generation and younger is the need to start saving as early as possible. I see the comparison of Money Purchase and Final Salary schemes a lot and despite my wife and I being on good incomes we’d need to save a significant amount more that we can to get anywhere near that of a Final Salary scheme. For those lucky enough to have FS pensions I’m jealous, especially those that were non-contributory.

My daughter was born in 2021 and we set up a pension that we contribute to each month (only £50) but over 65-70 years that’ll be an additional c.£39,000 without any investment return to her retirement (she will be taught the importance of self saving as well). We also have a savings account set up to help with a house deposit as I wish we had that available to us.

I appreciate this isn’t something every parent can do but I’m hoping that “every little helps”.

Also - check out reddit UK Finance / Fire & work out to minimise charges - even employer/workplace contributions can be swept into a low cost SIPP several times a year (most/many schemes).

 

[Foxsbiscuits]

I'm not really sure what I want to say with this post but will try...

Money has been a big factor in my life and has positively/negatively influenced a lot of decisions.
I think there's more down to luck, starting position, and "who you know" than people give credit for.

Rich people's advice -
1. Don't be poor
2. Be quite rich to begin with

I know I'm being too glib with this, it just gets to me sometimes - the idea that anyone can be rich if they have the right plan. Saving is all good and well but it's such a rich person's mentality to think it's just a mindset or a habit.

Also I think financial advice is like any advice, it shouldn't be given. How do I know what's right for someone?

That's my two pence on this topic and this isn't aimed at anyone, it's just my thoughts on money/inequality/advice.
Maybe I got too political and off-topic, ranty.
Apologies to OP who only thought about selling his Tesla

 

[AndyWarrington]

Money has been a big factor in my life and has positively/negatively influenced a lot of decisions.
I think there's more down to luck, starting position, and "who you know" than people give credit for.

I can empathise with this - and I put it down to the good old 'ball bag lottery' and then/or a whole load of favourable coincidences along the way.... !

 

[Drew57]

I can empathise with this - and I put it down to the good old 'ball bag lottery' and then/or a whole load of favourable coincidences along the way.... !

I was one of those lucky ones - 27y old Sales Manager who saw an advertisement "would you like to start your own business" & I matched the bill on every criteria they were looking for (location, education, experience, industry, age range, ambition).

When I got the job the MD basically said "You have 3 months to produce your business plan, there is £5 million available to spend if you need it. I've rented you a small industrial unit near our factory and there's a fire sale auction locally in two days time for you to buy whatever office furniture/racking etc you need, good luck, the manufacturing Director will give you the keys..... Oh and by the way if you can be turning over £5 million within 5 years you will join the main board"

I 'only' spent £2.2m of his money and the business grew to £5m with 11 employees within 4 years, net margin of 34%. True to his word, he fulfilled his part of the bargain and in all the years we worked together he never challenged, interfered or asked for reports on my company other than when we acquired a couple of others. Apart from Board Meetings and occasional discussions with the FD I was given total freedom. A fabulous trusting entrepreneur and a pleasure to work with, all rather like The Apprentice really (he's now in his 80s and lives locally).

We sold all the businesses in 1999 but as I was only 42, I stayed on with the new owners. All the other Directors retired at that point or shortly afterwards.

One of the most satisfying aspects was that although I initially focused on global Oil & Gas industries, by the time I fully retired in my 50's nearly 90% of the product ranges were used for Wind Power Generation (and still are according to someone still there).

 

[FastLaneJB]

I was one of those lucky ones - 27y old Sales Manager who saw an advertisement "would you like to start your own business" & I matched the bill on every criteria they were looking for (location, education, experience, industry, age range, ambition).

When I got the job the MD basically said "You have 3 months to produce your business plan, there is £5 million available to spend if you need it. I've rented you a small industrial unit near our factory and there's a fire sale auction locally in two days time for you to buy whatever office furniture/racking etc you need, good luck, the manufacturing Director will give you the keys..... Oh and by the way if you can be turning over £5 million within 5 years you will join the main board"

I 'only' spent £2.2m of his money and the business grew to £5m with 11 employees within 4 years, net margin of 34%. True to his word, he fulfilled his part of the bargain and in all the years we worked together he never challenged, interfered or asked for reports on my company other than when we acquired a couple of others. Apart from Board Meetings and occasional discussions with the FD I was given total freedom. A fabulous trusting entrepreneur and a pleasure to work with, all rather like The Apprentice really (he's now in his 80s and lives locally).

We sold all the businesses in 1999 but as I was only 42, I stayed on with the new owners. All the other Directors retired at that point or shortly afterwards.

One of the most satisfying aspects was that although I initially focused on global Oil & Gas industries, by the time I fully retired in my 50's nearly 90% of the product ranges were used for Wind Power Generation (and still are according to someone still there).

I think if you saw that in modern times most of us would think that's a scam and it probably would be.

That's a great story though, thanks for sharing it.

 

[gangzoom]

My guess is that insulation of those "awkward shape" buildings is a nightmare. Best thermal efficiency is a Square Box, two storey - not bungalow - minimum surface area to volume (and then make it look interesting with "protrusions" / whatever).

Luckily our approach to the build is the same as owning an EV….A ‘box’ building is the last thing we want to live in, green/insulation/efficiency stuff really doesn’t do it for us, otherwise we would still have a Leaf instead of a X. We cannot have the car be more elaborate in design with glazing than the entrance hall to the house .

@FastLaneJB If you are serious about building your dream home versus settling for something someone else built, I would suggest you start planning ASAP. Looking at our records, its going to be pretty much 5 years from first contacting the architect to finally getting the build complete, and we had already bought the house/plot. Starting from scratch, if you can go from just browsing for a plot to completed build within 5 years you are doing well!!

A nice plot though is what makes the house, we had some more builders turn up on site today to built this thing…..totally pointless, but makes us smile, what is the point of life if you don’t try to enjoy it .

 

[FastLaneJB]

Luckily our approach to the build is the same as owning an EV….A ‘box’ building is the last thing we want to live in, green/insulation/efficiency stuff really doesn’t do it for us, otherwise we would still have a Leaf instead of a X. We cannot have the car be more elaborate in design with glazing than the entrance hall to the house .

@FastLaneJB If you are serious about building your dream home versus settling for something someone else built, I would suggest you start planning ASAP. Looking at our records, its going to be pretty much 5 years from first contacting the architect to finally getting the build complete, and we had already bought the house/plot. Starting from scratch, if you can go from just browsing for a plot to completed build within 5 years you are doing well!!

A nice plot though is what makes the house, we had some more builders turn up on site today to built this thing…..totally pointless, but makes us smile, what is the point of life if you don’t try to enjoy it .

Yes the plot is the hardest part I think and maybe less than the time the one thing that puts me off slightly. They make it way too hard in this country to buy and get the planning permission you want. Looks like that might be improving based on government trajectory but also going to be a change of the guard there.

We cannot move for about a year and a half due to school requirements and I’d need to sell our current house to finance the new build.

I’ll tell the wife we’ll be living in a caravan for 5 years and see how that goes down

 

[WannabeOwner]

to built this thing

Saw one of them (or very similar) at the Housebuilders and Renovators exhibition last week. I really liked it, and those sloping sides made the seat-backs, inside, very comfortable.

 

[gangzoom]

Yes the plot is the hardest part I think and maybe less than the time the one thing that puts me off slightly. They make it way too hard in this country to buy and get the planning permission you want. Looks like that might be improving based on government trajectory but also going to be a change of the guard there.

We cannot move for about a year and a half due to school requirements and I’d need to sell our current house to finance the new build.

I think someone has already mentioned it, don't try to buy land with no existing building, that really is a pipe dream. There is however a huge number of run down bungalows etc with lovely plots all waiting for someone to rebuild/extend.

Even in a conservation area I suspect your easily get planning permission, as local councils would much rather someone makes a house better than have an empty rundown house sitting unloved.

18 months is probably about the right time to start keeping an eye out on possible plots that come up. If you haven't done it already start some conversations with local architects whom can tell you just how likely you will get permission for the build you want to do.

Time literally flies, there are 1000s reasons to not do something, but if you really want to make something happen, it'll happen!

This is one of my personal favourites of the recent grand design builds.. No canterlever though . Houses for me trumps cars these days for emotional enjoyment by many folds.....maybe it's a sign am getting old and need to retire.

Good luck with making the dream a reality!!

 

[FastLaneJB]

I think someone has already mentioned it, don't try to buy land with no existing building, that really is a pipe dream. There is however a huge number of run down bungalows etc with lovely plots all waiting for someone to rebuild/extend.

Even in a conservation area I suspect your easily get planning permission, as local councils would much rather someone makes a house better than have an empty rundown house sitting unloved.

18 months is probably about the right time to start keeping an eye out on possible plots that come up. If you haven't done it already start some conversations with local architects whom can tell you just how likely you will get permission for the build you want to do.

Time literally flies, there are 1000s reasons to not do something, but if you really want to make something happen, it'll happen!

This is one of my personal favourites of the recent grand design builds.. No canterlever though . Houses for me trumps cars these days for emotional enjoyment by many folds.....maybe it's a sign am getting old and need to retire.

Good luck with making the dream a reality!!

So not a plot that has outline planning permission for a property? Obviously you see some that even have full planning permission which suggests they started down the route but then had a change of heart.

 

[WannabeOwner]

I’d need to sell our current house to finance the new build.

If you can I would buy the land, as you will then spend a year at least with architect sorting out "permission" (both from Planning, and also Wife!). You don't have to build the moment you have permission (if your finances aren't ready), but my advice is "get on with it, so you can then be enjoying it", never know what is around the corner ...

 

[WannabeOwner]

don't try to buy land with no existing building, that really is a pipe dream

If @FastLaneJB just wants to buy someone's garden then a route would be to have an Option Agreement with the land / garden! owner. You have the cost of architect for outline planning, and lawyers etc., but the Option will fix the price of the purchase (if planning is granted)

If planning refused you have lost a bit, but not too much. Obviously picking plots where people skilled-in-the-art think planning is very likely is best!

run down bungalows etc with lovely plots

Yup, those are golden plots for a self builder. Self builder can probably pay 2x for the land what a developer would - that would mean £0 profit / margin on the day you move in, but that's fine if you are planning to live in it, and will seal the deal with the seller (Probate sale would be best of all in that regard, but they usually have preference for cash buyers - to avoid delay of chain-sale / mortgage arrangement time)

 

[gangzoom]

So not a plot that has outline planning permission for a property? Obviously you see some that even have full planning permission which suggests they started down the route but then had a change of heart.

We are hardly done with only first and only build, but what the saying…’See one, do one, and teach one ’.

From that I can understand most planning offices are very reasonable, there are very few ‘Nos’, and the final decision is nearly always ‘subjective’. Lots of people can object/complain, but the ultimate decision is down to essentially the lead planner for the region. That’s why engaging with a local architect who has worked with local planning office is vital. We had the local planning lead come out onsite, and do a walk through of the village with us+architect just after the planning application went it. What you have try and really is understand the main ‘concerns’ the lead planner, what is the ‘vision’ for the area, and approach it like any sensible negotiation. Demonstrate a will to improve the local area (the house will be there long after we are all dead), take on board any major concerns with changes in design, generally be nice/approachable versus a I just want this/that attitude.

Next time round I will ensure we spend MORE time with the architect, getting the initial design/flow/setting right makes or breaks the whole idea. After all if you are building your ‘dream’ home, you want everything to be considered. Budget around 5-10% of your total spend on planning phase, and take your time with design decisions as well as really look at the structural drawings when they comeback, try to imagine how things would work once built etc etc.

 

[WannabeOwner]

spend MORE time with the architect, getting the initial design/flow/setting right makes or breaks the whole idea

Our architect created some stunning features. Next time (although there won't be one of those, for me!) I will spend time on how maintainable those features are, and whether builders over the centuries have done it differently for a reason ...

For example, our conservatory is gorgeous, but a nightmare to get at for painting, and keeping water out (which would seem to be obvious requirement!) is made significantly worse by the design.

IME "A Triumph of design over functionality" all too often applies - the current style of Quooker hot taps for example, which need a lengthy explanation to guests or a laminate instruction card - either of which I regard as a fail!

 

[Zilla91]

Just got the settlement figure for my M3, 13k of negative equity

I doubt I'll be selling any time soon

 

[spon88]

Facinating thread, thanks for sharing. I'm particularly interested in the retirement tales as I'd planned to retire at 58 (latest) but now just turned 60 I'm still here alongside the wife running the business, less frantically than say 7 or 8 years ago but still fairly deeply involved.

Although we were in good shape to retire per the original plan with decent final salary pensions from a previous life and savings from running a successful business for the last 15 years, we elected to plod on primarily to fund houses for our kids. Whilst some might question that, we realised that even with decent salaries, they had nowhere near the opportunities we had way back when it came to getting on the housing ladder.

So after some fairly intense searching, purchasing and refurbishment work, they're both now in decent houses, not ostentatious, but certainly good enough to keep them going for a long time if needed. We minimised their mortgages but didn't buy outright as we didn't want to make it too easy and allow them to lose focus on their work.

It's cramped our style a bit but quite manageable and the best thing we've ever done. Now that lot is out of the way, we're refurbising our own place and then will look to pass the business on to my son (or sell) in about 18 months time.

For me, still working at this age isn't really a problem and we certainly don't need to graft like nutters at the behest of some corporate CEO w@nker like I did back in the day. Biggest regret I guess, is not quitting that life earlier than I did.

As to cars, our MYP is just over a year old and we plan to keep it up until the warranty expires before reviewing again. We fell lucky with selling the M3 and so haven't (yet) been hit with big depreciation which will ease the older the car gets.

Oh and the best advice of the thread as others have already said, get your kids to save sensibly, early. My first boss schooled me well at the age of 23 and it's made later life a whole lot more comfortable. Anyway, each to their own and have a good Easter break folks.

 

[WannabeOwner]

We minimised their mortgages but didn't buy outright.

We bought our kids their houses. The amount of money I have given to Banks for loans / mortgages over the years is painful (in terms of what I could have done with that money)

we didn't want to make it too easy

Our kids have savings plans equivalent to mortgage which they are required to make. Only difference is that they own that money, not the bank, and they can use it for uplift to next property (or for "rainy day" if they are unfortunate enough to need it - otherwise it will, eventually, be available to enable them to do same for their kids)

My parents bought a retirement house when they were 60 and I lived in it for about a decade. Rent free, so I converted rent into savings. I moved out when they retired into it

 

[spon88]

We bought our kids their houses. The amount of money I have given to Banks for loans / mortgages over the years is painful (in terms of what I could have done with that money)



Our kids have savings plans equivalent to mortgage which they are required to make. Only difference is that they own that money, not the bank, and they can use it for uplift to next property (or for "rainy day" if they are unfortunate enough to need it - otherwise it will, eventually, be available to enable them to do same for their kids)

My parents bought a retirement house when they were 60 and I lived in it for about a decade. Rent free, so I converted rent into savings. I moved out when they retired into it

Some nice work there. Fortunately we were able to lower their mortgages to just a few hundred each month, so even if they lost jobs, nothing too catastrophic would happen. At least that's the plan. Totally understood about minimising loans, rental payments, mortgages etc - it was bad enough back in the day but crippling now for many and something we were keen to avoid as much as possible. I'd rather them have some cash now to get set up than pay through the nose and line someone else's pockets.

The kids also don't have the luxury of final salary pensions like I did but hopefully there will be a decent chunk left for them when we shuffle off. At least if it doesn't all get devalued horribly by some horrendous world event!