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Living Aboard


Chris Lowe

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If you live aboard on a permanent mooring is it actually worth it, I'm having to sell Dad's house where I'm living in order to pay off the ridiculous amount of equity release interest.

Estate agent said I could afford a shared flat no problem but a boat is another option, but from what a lot of you experts keeps saying they are an expensive money pit.

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11 minutes ago, buccaneer66 said:

If you live aboard on a permanent mooring is it actually worth it, I'm having to sell Dad's house where I'm living in order to pay off the ridiculous amount of equity release interest.

Estate agent said I could afford a shared flat no problem but a boat is another option, but from what a lot of you experts keeps saying they are an expensive money pit.

 

An expensive money pit yes but also normally a depreciating asset too. Unlike property.

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I did it for 25 years on the same mooring, when I started it was cheap when I left in 2019 it wasnt.

It all depends on the cost of tbe mooring, Round your way Blackthorn Lake at Ringsted is probably the cheapest, unless there is something Harborough way.

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Living aboard can be worth it but it is about making compromises. Do the benefits compensate for the sacrifices? It's a really big personal decision. I moved back to land the day before the first lockdown and sold my boat not long after. If it wasn't for the pandemic I'd have regretted my decision but having to work from home for 2+ years since is just more practical in a house, at least for me where I need super fast reliable internet connectivity. Not having to worry about batteries/water/etc is another major plus.

 

Cruising the Cut recently posted a video which pretty much sums up my experience of living on a boat and reasons for selling, worth a watch as it covers many of the pros and cons.  

 

All that said, I had the best time of my life during the 4+ years living aboard. I hope to do it again though probably at a later point in life unless I can afford to have both a house & boat. Unlikely for the foreseeable!

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4 minutes ago, The Happy Nomad said:

 

An expensive money pit yes but also normally a depreciating asset too. Unlike property.

These are not normal times for boat prices, they have been rising at an exponential rate.

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4 minutes ago, Loddon said:

These are not normal times for boat prices, they have been rising at an exponential rate.

 

I dont think they will maintain the temporary rise in any where near the same manner and rate as property has.

 

I wouldnt be looking at a boat as an investment as it is a post pandemic phenomenon IMHO.

 

(Other financial advice is of course available)

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12 minutes ago, Loddon said:

In the past 40 years I have always sold any boat I have owned for more than I paid for it.

In one case almost double what I paid ;)

 

I would venture to suggest that is not typical.

 

 

Edited by The Happy Nomad
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8 minutes ago, The Happy Nomad said:

 

I would venture to suggest that is not typical.

 

 

 

In 40+ years and 18 boats I have only ever sold one boat for less than I paid for it - even taking into account expenditure on the boats (cratch covers, pram hoods, hull painting, fitting furniture etc etc) every boat has paid for itself (excluding moorings, fuel & licence) and more besides.

 

Buy right - sell right.

 

The only boat I lost money on was a sea-going motor crusier with an impeccable survey which turned out to be 'false' and I ended up taking legal action against the surveyor.

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1 minute ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

In 40+ years and 18 boats I have only ever sold one boat for less than I paid for it - even taking into account expenditure on the boats (cratch covers, pram hoods, hull painting, fitting furniture etc etc) every boat has paid for itself (excluding moorings, fuel & licence) and more besides.

 

Buy right - sell right.

 

The only boat I lost money on was a sea-going motor crusier with an impeccable survey which turned out to be 'false' and I ended up taking legal action against the surveyor.

You seem to be suggesting that your experience is typical?

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20 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

In 40+ years and 18 boats I have only ever sold one boat for less than I paid for it - even taking into account expenditure on the boats (cratch covers, pram hoods, hull painting, fitting furniture etc etc) every boat has paid for itself (excluding moorings, fuel & licence) and more besides.

 

Buy right - sell right.

 

The only boat I lost money on was a sea-going motor crusier with an impeccable survey which turned out to be 'false' and I ended up taking legal action against the surveyor.

 

Ok let me a bit more precise. (Even though I was careful to use 'normally')

 

There will be exceptions to boats generally being a depreciating asset. Just as there will be exceptions to property being an appreciating assest.

 

I doubt if I'd bought a boat in 1994 for £72k it would now be worth well over a quarter of a million. Unless that it was something of special interest.

 

 

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Just now, Goliath said:


Depends on one’s position. Sometimes it’s a good idea to cash in on that property and fritter the money on a boat. 
 

Only here once. 

 

Absolutely.

 

 

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4 hours ago, buccaneer66 said:

If you live aboard on a permanent mooring is it actually worth it, I'm having to sell Dad's house where I'm living in order to pay off the ridiculous amount of equity release interest.

Estate agent said I could afford a shared flat no problem but a boat is another option, but from what a lot of you experts keeps saying they are an expensive money pit.

By shared flat you mean part equity? I think that might be more of a money pit than a boat - be careful!

https://hoa.org.uk/advice/guides-for-homeowners/i-am-buying/shared-ownership-what-to-watch-out-for/

Edited by Slow and Steady
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I don't know any worthwhile detail on this issue, but it might be a factor worth mentioning: 

 

I understand that older people are increasingly looking for protections they can build into their property ownership, in order to prevent them being forced to sell their property by their local authorities when/if they need residential care.

One example I heard from a man in my office was that he and his wife put their property into some form of trust, with two separately owned portions, instead of a joint ownership. If one of them died, their half of the property would be inherited by their daughter, and somehow that prevented the local authority from forcing the surviving partner to sell the house when/if they needed residential care and were living alone. 

I must apologise, this was ten years ago and I dont clearly recall the details, but I think that was broadly the strategy. 

 

And it seems that local authorities are aware of these arrangements, and are looking for ways to overcome them where possible, and force the sale of the property. 

 

All of these shenanigans and counter-shenanigans have left me with a concern.

If it turns out that I don't die in an orgy of drink and drugs as I'm currently hoping, and if I do grow old and end up needing residential care, there is very little chance that I'll be able to pass my house on to my two children. 

 

There may be legal avenues I can pursue in order to help provide at least some modest legacy, but there may not- I dont know yet. 

 

So there is a part of me thinking that since there is a decent chance the government are going to take it all anyway to pay for my care, perhaps its not worth worrying about keeping a property into old age? 

Kind of a shame that we dont get to know the exact date we're going to pop our clogs or require full time residential care, really.  If we did, we could plan to run out of money on the exact date they ship us into the local care home. 

 

But I might last until I'm 95 and still not need residential care (I wont. obviously, but there's a microscopic chance). And if that happens I'll be skint by the time I'm 75, and have to rely on social housing.

I tried social housing once, many years ago, during a time of 'transition'.

It wasnt nice. 

 

Edited by Tony1
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Like Cap'n Pegg commented in another thread, treat the trivial cost of a boat compared to a house as sunk cost to be written off. This I what I've done every time. This way should you ever decide to get rid, any cash you get back is a welcome bonus. And if it sinks, so what?

 

 

 

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I think the Local Authority relies on funding from folks who pay tax, whether via the UK Govt  or Council tax, that is their main source of funding and if they are obliged to fund social care, which I assume they are, they need to harvest as much cash as they need to meet their expenses. 

Its not a fair system, and never going to be. 

My friend lived in a council house for years, her most responsible child now owns the house, so she lives there rent free, and of course if she needs social care, the house is not available for funding. 

A lot depends on the attitude of the house owner, the pension, their spending habits etc, but transferring ownership requires considerable trust, and I think inheritance tax can be involved.

The fact is no one wants to plan for worse case scenario, and its impossible to know what might happen in future, the most unlikely people need care later in life, the local authority often elect to provide daily care in people's own homes, but this can be pretty awful. 

The other thing is attitude, I know my father, having taken to his bed rather than trying to keep mobile was inclined to make unrealistic demands, eg I was asked to go on the roof to adjust the TV aerial also to attend to him when his wife had to go out for the day instead of paying for a qualified attendant, I just said I could not do it, that led to an offer of a fiver for out of pocket expenses! 

 

 

Edited by LadyG
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5 hours ago, Loddon said:

In the past 40 years I have always sold any boat I have owned for more than I paid for it.

In one case almost double what I paid ;)

 

Owning a house is much more secure than a boat. 

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Just now, LadyG said:

Owning a house is much more secure than a boat. 

 

I think the boat ownership is probably more secure than the mobile home that I lived in for 25 years, although I did have a brilliant site at the Willows in Windsor.

 

 

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