We’re having four new windows put in today, replacing wood with UPVC and I’m sitting here wondering if I’ve made a mistake.
Let me explain. When we bought our house in 2006, at a reduced price as it needed work {lots of !} we planned to renovate and then sell it on at a profit. We changed our minds however and started to view it as our long term home. Move on in time and we decided on the Portugal move so now the house is back to being an income opportunity. And there lies my problem; It’s quite hard for me to stop thinking of our house as a home and more as a future income opportunity. Replacing the wooden windows, which are totally beyond repair, with UPVC ones, a third of the price and much easier to maintain, in a Victorian house is depressing to me, however much sense it makes budget wise.
This is the part of our journey where I need to start moving forward.
{photo credit: mark turner}
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I can understand how you feel. We all have an emotional attachment to our homes, and you are making the shift to seeing your home as something beyond a place to live. That’s not always an easy transition.
You had to make a judgement call. Really I think you could have gone either way and argued the case. Higher resale value with the wooden windows perhaps? But lower initial cost and lower maintenance with the uPVC windows.
I have a similar issue. I’m also planning to move abroad in 2012, but can’t decide whether to sell up or rent out. I’m leaning to the side of renting out right now, but realize I will also need to spend a fair bit of cash getting the house ready to rent out – and guess what – new uPVC windows are on the list.
I still think renting out is the right decision financially, but there is something remarkably liberating about the idea of selling up completely.
@Tony I’m with you on the renting out, {but I could easily change my mind again!} and the selling up completely – yes, completely liberating!
Laura´s last blog ..New Windows and a Step Closer to Renting
We had some uPVC windows put in our two bedrooms last year. I guess it depends on how they look in your property overall. As for ours, I can’t believe how much better they look – all clean and new. We tried to sell (right when the market plummeted – needless to say it didn’t work) and the only negative comment we kept getting was that people wanted double glazing and that our old windows looked a bit scruffy and like they would let in a lot of drafts (true). So if it is any consolation my experience is that, unless they actually look really hideous, new windows seem to make your property more marketable whether you are looking to rent or sell.
Shoestring´s last blog ..Bath baby
@shoestring – Thanks Shoestring, they are clean & new, less draughty and look much smarter! We’ve probably done the right thing
I live in an old house too (Tudor Revival) and we are planning on replacing some windows soon too. And although many in our historic neighborhood opt to pay to restore their wooden windows, many opt for upvc because they are more energy efficient and less maintenance. Personally, we are opting for those b/c of those options and because I’m sick of our ugly old windows. I love the depression glass and will miss that, but I will not miss the pealing paint and rotting wood on the outside. Can’t wait! And I think future buyers will appreciate it too. There is always something to deal with in an old house so it will be nice to have one less thing to worry about it.
Mama Bird´s last blog ..Sunday: The Beginning Or The End?
Hi Mama bird; hope you and your family are well. You’re right; I won’t miss the peeling paint or rotting wood, or the wind coming through them either
Tony and Laura – for what it’s worth: we are former owners looking to go abroad but need to stay in the UK for a bit longer so we are renting a house. It’s certainly made me realise that we did the right thing by selling ours and freeing ourselves. So much has gone wrong in this (seemingly respectable looking) house since we moved in just a few months ago – big items that the landlord has had to put right – and quickly. I know that if that had been us as landlords (and from abroad) being contacted by the agents and giving permission for works and then paying for them and paying the agent etc etc it would have driven us mad and ruined the dream of liberated green living.
I know now for sure that when we go we are not leaving any anchors behind.
@anna: thanks for that! Yes, I think that while renting out a property is, on the face of it, the financially astute thing to do, there’s no doubt that from a “stress free” point of view there’s a lot to be said for just plain selling up and putting the cash in the bank – even at current atrocious interest rates! I really don’t want to be kicking back on a beach in Thailand and wondering if my tenants are about to burn the house down
As I said my financial head tells me to rent out, but my heart tells me to get shot of all anchors!
@anna thanks for sharing your experience
I go over this is my head about ten times a day. I do wonder if we can have a simple life abroad (which will have it’s own problems) with all the added stress that I’m sure renting our house out would cause.
Laura@mtp´s last blog ..A Spending Hiatus
Tough one isn’t it Laura. On the plus side any work within reason you carry out now will have a payback regardless of whether you eventually decide to rent out or sell up. I can see there will be a few restless nights ahead trying to come to a decision on this one.
We’ve had such a bad experience with this rented house that we’ve actually been put off renting – either here or abroad. It is slowly dawning on me that it is important to me to own my own home! I need to be in control of my home: it’s important to me to be able to have ‘green’ type infrastructure; ecologically sound and frugally set up systems; and items that I LIKE in my home. No old carpet; polyester-mix curtains; gas-guzzling heating; and crappy old washing machine for instance. Also we want a garden with good soil to grow our own food/veg.
So, now we’re really re-thinking about our wish to be ‘nomadic’ for a while. How does one do that if not renting and leaving every six months? Nor are we RV people. I think that the best case scenario for us is to buy a small stone house – would have to cost less than 100k – then travel to and from there. Then my brother tells me that it’s crazy to tie up that amount of money (essentially dead money – no kids to leave it to) in a house when we’re in our 50s…
OMG.
@anna: it’s sometimes not easy to plot a way forward is it?
I guess you need to decided what’s really important to you, and plan for that. Mind you renting doesn’t have to mean polyester curtains and gas guzzling central heating – at least if you are prepared to move beyond Britain’s borders. I have stayed in 5 star luxury for a few hundred quid a month in countries like Thailand and Malaysia. In one placed I stayed I had a protected coral reef and eco resort literally on my door step. I woke up each morning and snorkelled in clear, warm blue seas, and not a polyester curtain in sight!
If you do really want a place of your own (and that’s something you need to think really hard about) then you will have to tie some capital up – there’s no way around that. It’s also possible to own your own home and still travel too. Easy? No. Possible? Yes.
And don’t worry that you constantly blow hot and cold on a range of possibilities – you are not alone (I do it all the time)!
Tony – thanks so much for your comment. I think we have just been unlucky with our tenancy and at the moment I’m feeling really nervous of taking another one. But as you say, we aren’t planning to move in the UK again so our experience renting abroad could be as fab as yours was – sounds truly fantastic.
You are so right about swinging around like a weather vane in a gale. If it’s Sunday, I’m thinking one way: Monday, another!