Many years ago (18 to be exact) I bought my first property. It was an unoccupied mid-terrace, 2 up 2 down near the centre of Belfast. I had just qualified as a teacher and was looking to get on the property ladder. I was earning £9,600 a year and I borrowed £11,000 to acquire this bijou little house, £9000 asking price and £2000 to make it habitable. As part of the renovation work I had to put in a kitchen (it only had a sink in a scullary), install central heating and fit a bathroom as opposed to the outside toilet the house came with.
Six years later, I had the opportunity to buy the house I now live in. At that stage it was a bungalow and needed a bit of refurbishment, so in order to finance the project I decided to sell the mid-terrace. I was delighted to sell for £20,000 - a profit of £9,000 in just over 5 years!
Five years later again and we are doubling the size of the bungalow to accommodate a growing family, but at least this time I have someone else on board to share the costs! At the same time I noticed that my little mid-terrace was on the market for a whopping £89,000. A profit of £78,000 in 11 years! That would have covered the cost of our additional building and knocked a generous £30,000 of the original mortgage as well.
Today, in the local paper, I see my little mid-terrace is on the market yet again. Not only would this have completely cleared my current mortgage and the payments on my beloved Mini convertible, it would have paid for that cruise round the Pacific Islands (3 or even 4 times!) and meant I never had to sub again!
I think I dealt a round or two too early
7 comments:
Ah yeah, but we all know it's not real money anyway - especially if you're trading up. Surely your current home is worth considerably more too. What you need to do is tell your kids it's time to move out, sell your current home, move back to the old place and ask one of your kids to pick up your cruise tickets while they are out.
Now I'm off to be nosy and look around your old house...
And another thing. Since you have to sub it means that our paths cross on a regular basis and I can continue to share my wealth of experience with you.
Of course you are right Cosmo, but what I haven't made clear and am actually regreting is that I should have held onto it and rented it out. Then I'd be quids in big time today!
O, and Pluto, I didn't realise you had even more to share!!
I might never retire now ;-)
That's a lot of money...I think.
But hey, you never know when the market is going to dive. And renters can tear up a place.
Cosmo & Pluto both sound very eh hem, wise. :)
Don't be telling Pluto that Dana, you'll swell his head!
Anyway, theres an old saying:
you can't have what you don't hold in your hand. Haven't a clue what it means, but it sounds appropriate :-)
Ali, I remember you when you came into the Science Dept as a wee inexperienced girl. I took you under my wing and that's the thanks I get.
Dana, I'm liking you more and more!
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