Best way to buy a small home in the UK ? (I'm overseas)

thedoc46

thedoc46

thedoc46

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Expat in the USA
Hi,

My mum will soon be homeless. She's been looking after my late grandmother in the South of France who sadly passed earlier this week at the age of 96. RIP :( As a result she will soon be homeless, as that home will be sold and all assets passed onto her and her siblings. Some of which are in Australia some in France.

Anyway cutting a long story short, i now live in the USA. Moved here over 13yrs ago. She has a place to stay here in the USA, however she's only allowed to stay here for 6months of the yr, due to immigration laws etc.... So i need to buy somewhere for my mum to live for the other 6months of the yr in the UK.. Though she's in her mid 70's she's very able and not in need of any assisted living for now at least.

So basically i'm going to buy her a flat or small home. She can spend 6months of the yr there, and the other 6 months with me over in the USA.. I've got about 120k to spend which i know isn't a lot... But location isn't important as she's not looking to work so thinking i should be able to get something? It'll be a fresh start...

Anyway given i'm in the USA, i'm going to have to do as much research as possible on buying a place remotely. Its been probably 15 plus yrs since i bought a property in the UK, and so much has probably changed in terms of best places to look and search for a place. Gone are the days you walked down the high street and looked at the local estate agent windows. I'll fly out and meet my mum once i've narrowed down an area and a few options, Just want to get a head start from this side of the pond !

Any tips / advice appreciated.

Thanks
 
120K is more than enough to buy a house in the UK, the question should more be around whether she has any preference to where she wants to live? I'd be looking in Cumbria personally, you'd probably be limited to what you could get as I would imagine house prices are higher up there but worth a look. Other options would be places close to the Yorkshire Dales, Skipton, places like that. Lots of natural beauty in these smaller towns/villages.

www.rightmove.co.uk would be the first place to look.

Sorry to hear about your Grandmother by the way, I also lost a Grandmother recently :(.
 
Rather than make her move, could you use the £120K to buy out her siblings' shares of your grandmother's house? Or vary the will so that their shares in the house only go to them on her death?

If that's not possible, don't just buy a house for her just anywhere. She should rent a flat first in an area in which she thinks she would like to live. Once she's decided that that's the area for her, then buy. The process of buying usually takes months anyway unless you're in Scotland.
 
why is the house in France being sold? She could just stay there unless her siblings are telling her to pack her bags and move out. has she always lived with her mother? what happened to her money/property? can she put her money and property into this deal too so you can afford a better place to stay for her?

The most important thing here is buy somewhere that is thriving and will continue to go up in an area of the UK she wants to stay in. e.g. the west end of Glasgow. The flat will increase in value regardless. Plus you will get good rent when she has to go into a care home which will cover the cost of the care home, etc. So your killing 2 birds with 1 stone. She gets a nice place to stay and you get a nice investment property.
 
Quartz said:
Rather than make her move, could you use the £120K to buy out her siblings' shares of your grandmother's house? Or vary the will so that their shares in the house only go to them on her death?

If that's not possible, don't just buy a house for her just anywhere. She should rent a flat first in an area in which she thinks she would like to live. Once she's decided that that's the area for her, then buy. The process of buying usually takes months anyway unless you're in Scotland.
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I don't think that's going to work unfortunately. Never been a fan of renting. Besides she'd probably have to pay for a yr and only use it for 6months.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
why is the house in France being sold? She could just stay there unless her siblings are telling her to pack her bags and move out. has she always lived with her mother? what happened to her money/property? can she put her money and property into this deal too so you can afford a better place to stay for her?

The most important thing here is buy somewhere that is thriving and will continue to go up in an area of the UK she wants to stay in. e.g. the west end of Glasgow. The flat will increase in value regardless. Plus you will get good rent when she has to go into a care home which will cover the cost of the care home, etc. So your killing 2 birds with 1 stone. She gets a nice place to stay and you get a nice investment property.
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Yes, are there any sites that goes into housing trends in the UK... She sold her little place (where i was raised a while back) and bought a small place here in the US, but if she sells that she'd have no-where to live when she comes over, she could stay with us, but i just think its better for her to have her own place Besides i rent it out for her when she's not here, so its paying for itself and helping rather than being a hindrance.
 
thedoc46 said:
Yes, are there any sites that goes into housing trends in the UK... She sold her little place (where i was raised a while back) and bought a small place here in the US, but if she sells that she'd have no-where to live when she comes over, she could stay with us, but i just think its better for her to have her own place Besides i rent it out for her when she's not here, so its paying for itself and helping rather than being a hindrance.
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every major city will have decent areas people aspire to live in and places people never wish existed. some 1 bed flats in the west end of glasgow go for £250K for instance. the closer you are to an "fancy area with lots of entertainment, fancy cafes, shops, etc" the better and the closer to a major city the better too. there is a huge difference with a flat that is in the west end to one that is in the east end. however both may be close to the city centre. you can usually tell by the value of the properties too. google maps with street view will also show you the type of shops in the area. you want somewhere with fancy coffee shops, book cafes, etc and less pound shops and budget stores.

all you need to do is ask a few different local estate agent, don't ask just one as generally they will say anything to sell a house. for example there is a few areas around glasgow if a house goes up for sale it's bought within 2 weeks, that is the type of area you want to buy in.
 
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I always see loads of retirement (over 50's) properties going cheap. I'm assuming they are shared ownership or something but might be worth looking at.
 
If she hasn't got to work, why not a flat towards Devon / the coast? Unfortunately, you won't get anything within a major city for 120k, does she want that anyhow?

That said, just outside of Birmingham, 1 bed flat which I own - £70k.

If I was in the same position, I would look toward Devon e.g. Torquay, some parts of Cornwall could be an option as well?
 
MonkeyMan said:
I always see loads of retirement (over 50's) properties going cheap. I'm assuming they are shared ownership or something but might be worth looking at.
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they can only be sold to others over 50, etc. so they could never be used as an investment for renting or selling to anyone else in future apart from those over the set age. plus would need to be in his mothers name therefore inheritance issues.

however they are cheap for those very reasons too. so when people get older they can buy a house in a decent area for cheap and sell their current home for profit.
 
tlrBeta said:
If she hasn't got to work, why not a flat towards Devon / the coast? Unfortunately, you won't get anything within a major city for 120k, does she want that anyhow?

That said, just outside of Birmingham, 1 bed flat which I own - £70k.

If I was in the same position, I would look toward Devon e.g. Torquay, some parts of Cornwall could be an option as well?
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i said major city because;

A - easier to rent out
B - easier to fly to USA from
C - will go up in value more

plus major city doesn't need to be smoke filled south of england. west end of glasgow for instance is really nice.
 
Unless you're buying the house to make a bit of money out of, I'd probably just say rent. If your mum was younger it might be different but £120k is a lot of money to dump in to a house if you aren't around to maintain it and it'll only get worse whilst you're in the US.

That said, I'm sure there are plenty of options at your budget so it really depends on the location and if you feel you could shift it on at a profit or breakeven.
 
I think it's really sad that the first consideration of some (most?) Of those replying to this thread is how much money can be made from the property, not what she wants or would make her happy. It's meant to be a home not an investment. Christ on a bike, while I appreciate the need to make sure you're not paying over the odds and will end up in neg equity or losing lots of money on a house, surely happiness and well-being matter more than profit margins, especially in the case outlined in the OP.

If I were the op and his mum I'd be looking firstly at what she wants and needs in a home, the local community, etc and where in the country she can get that. That should narrow things down nicely.
 
phonemonkey said:
I think it's really sad that the first consideration of some (most?) Of those replying to this thread is how much money can be made from the property, not what she wants or would make her happy. It's meant to be a home not an investment. Christ on a bike, while I appreciate the need to make sure you're not paying over the odds and will end up in neg equity or losing lots of money on a house, surely happiness and well-being matter more than profit margins, especially in the case outlined in the OP.

If I were the op and his mum I'd be looking firstly at what she wants and needs in a home, the local community, etc and where in the country she can get that. That should narrow things down nicely.
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i imagine he's paying for it using his life savings so yes it would be wise to kill 2 birds with 1 stone here
 
As a fellow expat, the only headache you will have will relate to obtaining a mortgage with a competitive rate (if you are nor buying outright). Your possible scope of lenders will be significantly reduced as well.

Just something to bear in mind.
 
Rifte said:
As a fellow expat, the only headache you will have will relate to obtaining a mortgage with a competitive rate (if you are nor buying outright). Your possible scope of lenders will be significantly reduced as well.

Just something to bear in mind.
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Hoping to not have a mortgage.. Again place only needs to be small... and its only for 6months of the yr...
 
Not needing a mortgage puts you in a decent position, makes a quick sale much more likely. When my last landlord sold the flat I was in they didn't except any bids from anyone borrowing money. If I was you I'd buy somewhere near the coast from a local friendly estate agent that would also sort out a short term tenant for when your mum's staying with you. The money from the rent could help out with airfares for instance.
 
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