How would you make a fresh start with 130K and no house!

[Zagato]

Unfortunately the time has come to seriously research a change in life as my wife has mentioned separating over recent years and it looks as though we are heading that way.

She works as a teacher 4 days a week but goes into work on the 5th day just to catch up on work whilst I have been lucky enough to bring up our 7 & 9 year old children after my senior management job in Youth & Community Work came to an end (few Youth Services in the country now!). To earn a crust and keep fit I started up a gardening business which initially encompassed garden design but is now largely weekly maintenance contracts which I fit in around kids duties.

Everything is fine between my wife and I on a communication level, we don't argue or bicker, she has just had enough... Nobody has been unfaithful or syphoned money off into offshore accounts, she has just had enough and I'm not looking for relationship advice (We first met when we were 17, 30 years ago) but I really need some advice on how to sensibly cope with 130K which is what I will be left with once we sell the house and split it 50/50.

Airing my personal problems is the last thing I want to do especially as some of you know me and I have held off asking for many months but it's now serious enough to put this thread up in return for some much needed advice and ideas I amy not have thought about.

So what would you do with a budget of roughly 130K and no pension and not being able to get a mortgage (not that I want one) with also the prospect of having to start up a new business, gardening or otherwise.

I had thought about buying a flat maybe in Chichester so I can see the kids regularly (I know, devastating, she still doesn't realise the effect it will have on them ) letting it out to preserve my lump and maybe getting a bit of profit on top to subside marina fees as a live aboard and provide for my kids. I couldn't face going into a caravan park home...

I'm not sure I could get much property wise along the south coast but maybe if I bought something for 100K and a boat for maybe 30K I could manage some kind of living. What would you do? Cornwall would be my top destination but the kids will be in Chichester...

Thanks for lending me an ear, I have only mentioned all this to one other person.

 

[tri39]

Do what's best to maintain contact with the kids. That is a buy a two bedroom flat nearby so they can stay over.
Leave the boat till they've left school.

 

[Resolution]

Zagato
Very brave of you to open this up in public.
My very amateur advice would be:
Financial
At 47 ish you are certainly still in time to earn some money and build up a bit of a pension pot. (I did just that.) With your management experience look to how you can build up the garden maintenance business. There are many one man bands around, but few SME maintenance businesses in this line, and I have often thought this was an opportunity. You need young muscle to do the physical work, but old grey cells to organise and contract. Invest part of your £130,000 in the right equipment and really go for it. With the economy picking up the timing is right.
Housing
No options really, rent in the best location for your business, within reach of your kids. Emigrate to Cornwall and you will die of loneliness in winter and be suffocated by grockles in summer.
Boats
If you still have your Shrimper or whatever in Chichester Harbour that must be pretty good. Loads of people would be envious! At the least, membership of a local sailing club will provide you with companionship and some sailing opportunities on other people's boats.

 

[PlanB]

Proximity to kids must be major priority.
I wouldn´t spend most of the capital buying a flat, but would rent one big enough for the kids to stay. Consider whether you would be prepared to rent out a room to share costs if money is tight.
If a boat is important to you, I´d go for that, too. But I wouldn´t live aboard and have the kids to stay as they may not enjoy it all year round and you don´t want to discourage visits.
Final word of warning. Regardless how friendly it all seems at the moment, things can change dramatically during financial negotiations. Don´t agree to anything that is not signed off by a lawyer, however much you may not want to use them. An informal agreement can turn round and bite you in the bum.

 

[chinita]

I hate to say this but I think you are being a bit optimistic about what you believe you will start with.

Your wife is unlikely to be advised to sell the house and give you 50%.

More likely is that she will be strongly advised to keep the house in order to provide stability for the kids. Furthermore, any Family Division of any UK Court will enforce this should she will to go down that route.

Think about it. How is she going to fund her, and your kids, future with her 50%? Even with her job, she will be pushed.

You also have mot mentioned how you intend paying maintenance. Even the CSA minimum will be tough for you to find.

Sorry.

 

[Zagato]

Thanks for the actual separating advice but as said my wife would be moving back with her parents which they welcome and have been one of the main influences for the separation! She will be able to continue living there when they pass away - please no posts on inheritance law, kids visits, my child support etc although I understand this is YBW

I am really just looking for options and advice on how best deal with my budget and it doesn't look good.

Having done a bit of research Chichester marina fees are roughly the same as the money I would make from letting a one bed flat (roughly 6K) so I wouldn't gain by living on a boat and letting so that appears to be out. It's unlikely my budget will strectch to a two bed place to let a room out...

Living on a boat and using the leftover sum of maybe 100k to invest in a business maybe the way to go although I have never been a risk taker. Leasing a little place in the town centre as a coffe/cake shop was one of my ideas. I can turn my hand to anything and can certainly knock up good tea/coffee and a variety cakes/snadwiches. Although it's repetitive work it's relatively stress free and these shops generally do well... I'm not sure anything like that is available but worth looking into.

 

[timmygobang]

Leasing a little place in the town centre as a coffe/cake shop was one of my ideas. I can turn my hand to anything and can certainly knock up good tea/coffee and a variety cakes/snadwiches. Although it's repetitive work it's relatively stress free and these shops generally do well... I'm not sure anything like that is available but worth looking into.

This is a unqualified opinion, but for what it's worth..

I would not spend money on leasing a shop. If you're not able to turn a profit then you've lost a years rent of say 10-20k. If however you purchased a piece of equipment to provide a service at least if it doesn't work out you have an asset to sell. Sorry sounds like a pessimistic point of view.

 

[jordanbasset]

I would buy a place that was near enough for the kids for you to have regular access, within 30 miles anyway. Then work as much as you can to build up some money. The chances are in the next 5 years property prices will only go up so after 10 years kids will be all grown up and you will have made some money, including on the property, and you can be in a position to make your own choices as to what you do in the future.
If you want to sail seek out people who want crew to help them.

 

[timmygobang]

The chances are in the next 5 years property prices will only go up so after 10 years kids will be all grown up and you will have made some money, including on the property.

The money made from the increase in property will be tied up in the property though would it not?

If you invested that money growing a business then you have a cash generator, effectively being your pension (providing you can step back a bit and oversee the business in the future)

 

[jordanbasset]

The money made from the increase in property will be tied up in the property though would it not?

If you invested that money growing a business then you have a cash generator, effectively being your pension (providing you can step back a bit and oversee the business in the future)

I was thinking that after ten years or so kids would have grown up and would not be so important to be near them and you could down size or sell up completely or rent out.
I agree about growing the business but in the gardening business capital outlay can be relatively small, if doing well after a couple of years and you want to expand use the money you have saved or get a small business loan, more tax efficicient that way. But that said it is a personal decision as to the preferences each person has, but my over riding concern would be access to the children.

 

[Resolution]

The money made from the increase in property will be tied up in the property though would it not?

If you invested that money growing a business then you have a cash generator, effectively being your pension (providing you can step back a bit and oversee the business in the future)

+1
Be positive, concentrate on making something out of a business. It can be very fulfilling.

 

[chinita]

Thanks for the actual separating advice but as said my wife would be moving back with her parents which they welcome and have been one of the main influences for the separation! She will be able to continue living there when they pass away

Ah, very different then.

I wish my ex had fecked off back to her parents leaving me 50%!

 

[Nostrodamus]

I am the last person you should ever ask for advice so therefore I will give my two pence worth.

Firstly I am sad to see this happen to you but you have to look at it positively. It could be the best thing that ever happened.
Forget the boat at the moment.. there are too many other things to sort out.
What about getting a house using your money as a deposit and renting the rooms out. The extra money should pay the mortgage allowing you to make the money work.. You can still work and you can see the kids. You are young enough to do anything you want so...go for it!

 

[KellysEye]

>I had thought about buying a flat maybe in Chichester so I can see the kids regularly

We've been looking for a 2 bedroom flat to let, Chichester is one place we've looked, unfortunately 2 bed flats start at around £147,000. Be worth looking at villages outside Chichester. Also check before buying a boat whether Chichester marina has a berth available (it looks packed) and allows liveaboards.

 

[BurnitBlue]

Re-mortgage, buy out your wifes 50% keep the house.

 

[rich]

Re-mortgage, buy out your wifes 50% keep the house.

+1

 

[daviddb]

Re-mortgage, buy out your wife's 50% keep the house.
+2

 

[Croak]

mortgage isn't an option if there is little or no income.

 

[syvictoria]

mortgage isn't an option if there is little or no income.

That was just what I was going to say, however...

Having looked into Buy to Let mortgages quite a bit recently, I believe that there are one or two lenders (BM for example) out there that will offer mortgages to first time landlords AND, crucially, not ask for proof of personal income (rental income is taken into account, obviously). Therefore, another option might be to invest some of your money in deposit(s) with a BTL mortgage, and then live aboard yourself. One problem that you may encounter with this plan however is proving that you have a home yourself - normally you need to own other property in order to get a BTL mortgage - but a mortgage advisor should be able to advise on that.

Whatever you do, good luck.

 

[Zagato]

Thanks for the feedback, I have just been running it all past my wife whilst also trying to help her with her future position - it's not so easy for her as she cannot move jobs so easily! It's all very amicable you see and I would help with the kids and see them regularly - school runs, some evenings etc. I think we would both be happier, we have known each other for years and it's time to move on.

Living on a boat isn't about having a new toy, i would much rather live in a house, it's about living cheaply or being able to free up some cash.

I agree about taking out a lease, not an ideal way to do it making a landlord wealthy whilst he has the option to pull the rug out from under a business you have slogged away to make successful.

Agree also about the prospect of buying or even leasing machinery at first to cope with larger contracts perhaps - these commercial mowers start at 15K

I will definitely look into buy to let deals also, you never know there may be a way of doing it.

Chichester marina do take liveabaords and have space, just need to write to the manager for permission. We have to do up the house first which could take a few months (making a large room into two with a stud wall etc).

Have to say I am quite excited by the whole change/challenge.