In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
whiskeyomega wrote:

Finally my husband has said that we have to move house.

Currently we have a two bedroom bungalow in a very rural area .
Septic tank, no mains gas and an extension ( one room) which has a
flat roof and a large garden - an acre or so, all electric which he
also hates.
There is little or nothing going wrong with these things right now.
We have had problems with the septic tank in the past ( well a
blocked drain but that was sorted - surely you can have blocked
drains on mains drainage too?)
He says another place would be cheaper and we cant afford this one. He
maintains loads of things are wrong with this house but I don't see
any of them when I look around. We have rising damp apparently but its
condensation.

I don't know how much our house is worth but not a lot given its
state of repair - old bathroom, ( avocado suite if you remember
those) and old kitchen and mostly old storage heaters and rather damp
right now as a result of no heating. The guttering leaks at all joints and
the double glazing is so old it probably needs re doing
too.
We don't have a mortgage and no real money worries to be honest.

He wants to move into town into an old peoples unit ( one bed and no
garden) which would cost about £80,000. It would be leasehold and
maintenance fees are about £500 at the moment.

We would also have to have a water meter and we would still have
storage heaters as they have no mains gas allowed there either - I
think that was for safety reasons for the elderly.

He is 59 and retired early recently.

I am 50 and still working.

I don't want to move. I would rather try and sort our house out. I
don't have the skills for this though. I do know my neighbour who is
on a water meter pays £254 a quarter for water and there is no
reason to suppose we would use less than her. I currently pay £250 a
year in rates for water ( our septic tank means we get reduced rates
- we wouldn't get that with a water meter in SW water) .

Is it bad news to have a house with septic tank and storage heaters
and no mains gas and a flat roof on an extension? Or is he being
bloody silly?
Just want opinions really. Thanks.


Your house has lots of *potential* - but is clearly not a very attractive
propostion for any prospective buyer in its current state. You clearly don't
*want* to move, so why not spend some money on improving your current house?

OK, there's no mains gas - but oil-fired central heating is perfectly
feasible, and would dramatically improve overall comfort levels. You need to
make sure that loft and wall insulation are up to standard, replace the
guttering, and probably replace the windows. You'll probably also want to
re-do the bathroom and kitchen.

Septic tanks are not really a problem - lots of rural properties have them.
Flat roofs are not wonderful - you just have to budget for re-felting them
every 15 years or so.

In your position, I would look at spending 25 or 30 grand on making your
current property really nice rather than thinking of moving. I certainly
wouldn't consider retirement properties if I were fit and active - you would
find them vert restrictive. Planning and project-managing all the
improvements will keep your recently-retired husband out of mischief even if
he doesn'y DIY any of it. And, at the end of it all, you'll have something
which is much more saleable if you *do* ultimately decide to move.
--
Cheers,
Roger
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