CazzaWazza

Thanks so much for all the info people. It’s very very helpful and gives me slightly better ideas of what to think about and what to ask the money gods... I mean bankers when it comes to it. Really appreciate it!!

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Totally agree in spirit, but unfortunately and very sadly my and my oartners bank balance would probably have other things to say.

Oh no we aren’t either of us retired at all. He’s got til 68 and I’m not til at least 60. There are other familial/health complications which mean we just need some more space, long-term-security and something that isn’t essentially renting (which is what mooring fees are) for the rest of our lives as it’s gonna be decades until we can cc.

Does being 36 make me qualify as old? Or do they take a ‘average age’ or what?

Thanks Sam but we currently pay almost £300/mo for our mooring fees not including electric or gas or anything other than water really (and obvs license for a 70 footer) so amounts to about £400/mo w/o bills or anything and they’ve raised it 3.8% evey yr for the last 3yrs. And I am only 36 so probably don’tmeed to worry too much, though my husband is 52.... Sorry, cut that of too soon. In our area a 2 bed house with a garden rents for about £500-600/mo but most are either unfurnished or don’t want pets. Plus it means 2 moves which is grim and expensive.

Ah thanks Phil. So I guess it could turn into a matter of how long it would take to sell the boat (how long is a piece of string)....!? We’ve only just started investigating this after a few set backs/illnesses/career changes/realizations/family problems etc etc so any advice is very welcome amidst the chaos. Think when we get closer to actually doing it (maybe 6-12months time when my wages go up) then we’ll consult a mortgage advisor/financial planner properly but in the meantime any and all advice or experience about what to expect, or tips and hints is helpful - especially as neither of have ever bought a house before and our families are either out of the country or bought their houses so long ago it’s just not relevant! So thanks again Phil and to any more advice thanks in advance.

Hi. We, after years onboard, are thinking about selling our boat and buying a house (for a number of reasons, none of which are the topic). I’m wondering if anyone has done this before as usually it seems the other way around. We both have good jobs, a permanent mooring (so a council tax/electoral roll record, etc for a mortgage app) but the problem is we’ve never lived in a house. So we thought the only way to do it was to sell the boat, move into a rented house and then use the sales money for a deposit when we find the house we want. But recently I’ve looked up ‘sales chains’ and am wondering if we’d be able to be pre-approved for a mortgage and use the boat the same way as an unsold house. Has anyone any experience of this? To be clear, my research makes me think we could say that the boat is worth £x amount and were mortgage free, so we’d be pre-approved, could make an offer on a house, and then sell the boat and when it sells, finalise the purchase on the house with the balance from the boat sale plus the mortgage.... any other experiences or advice greatly received. Thanks. Also, the reason we don’t want to move into rented accommodation is we have multiple dogs and very little furniture so it would be difficult to find someone to rent us a furnished house or garden apartment with animals... though not impossible of course, and if worst comes to worst we’d do it as although it may seem ‘wasted money’ for rent, that’s essentially what our mooring fees are at the moment. Thanks in advance for any advice.