WWYD - Potential horsey property

FestiveFuzz

FestiveFuzz

Well-Known Member
Joined
5 January 2008
Messages
4,584
Visit site
Right, I'm totally getting ahead of myself with this one and need the rationale tones of HHO to help me think sensibly about this.

Currently we live in a lovely 2 bed house, about 5 min drive from the yard I keep H at. We've been in the house a little over 2 years now and get along well with our neighbours. It's also less than 5 minutes walk from our house to the train station. We always imagined this would be our last rental property before deciding to put down roots and buying a house of our own.

Anyway, a 2 bed property has come available on a years lease at a yard 5 min from where H is currently kept. The property is only £10 more than we currently pay and would include water rates and I would be able to fulfill my childhood dream of being able to see my horse from my house. It would however mean a 20 min cycle/6 minute drive to the station each day.

The yards both seem pretty comparable and cost-wise would be exactly the same. Also because we'd be so close to our current yard I could still hack out with my usual hacking buddies.

The pros are:

I get to live on-site with H
Hopefully more time to spend with OH as we'll live on the yard (though realise this could actually mean I spend less time with him)
No travel costs for getting to the yard
We can finally get a dog :)

The cons are:

I'd miss our current yard loads
Added train travel costs and longer commute to work
May end up spending even less time with OH
I'd be moving both us and H for just a year

We're viewing it tonight and it could turn out to be completely unsuitable for us, but if it as good as we hope I'm worried I'm looking at this in a rose tinted view and being hugely spontaneous (we weren't even looking at moving when I saw this property). Please can someone come rain on my parade! :)
 
The new place does sound fab, but for me it would be far too much agro to do all of that moving (horse included) for just 1 year! And then in 12 months time to to be doing it all over again!

It's up to you OP, but like I said, too much agro for me, good luck whatever you decide to do.
 
Jackster14 said:
sounds great, I'd say go for it!!

don't know if I'm helping ..LOL
Click to expand...

Aghh no that's not raining on my parade one little bit!

Bills said:
The new place does sound fab, but for me it would be far too much agro to do all of that moving (horse included) for just 1 year! And then in 12 months time to to be doing it all over again!

It's up to you OP, but like I said, too much agro for me, good luck whatever you decide to do.
Click to expand...

Thanks Bills, this is kinda where the rational less excited part of my head lies. From what I can gather the lease can be extended if we wanted to but in all honesty I suspect in a years time we'll be looking to buy.
 
I love having my horses at home so can see the benefits. My worry would be that it's only for a year. Is it possible to extend the lease after a year? Do you want to be looking for a house and livery at the same time when the lease is up? Do you want to lose your stable at your current yard if you won't be able to get it back in a year? Also if you get a dog what happens to that after a year esp as it's difficult to find rentals that allow pets?
 
I'd be very carefully checking that the new yard is as good as your current one, if you move and there are niggles, anoying people, less turn out etc. you'd be stuck there because of your house.
Bit of a mission to move house in 12 months time (depends on how much stuff you have!)
Are you on DIY? If you drive 5 mins to current yard twice a day 365 days then driving 6 mins to train station 5 days a week is actually going to save you travel costs.
 
GG2B said:
(though realise this could actually mean I spend less time with him)
Click to expand...

I would say never underestimate this

The only other thing I would look at would be access - what would the access be like if the weather was bad? at the moment you can walk everywhere but would your work be happy if you should get snowed in for example. It may seem a random point but if the yard is down a lane or has an approach that doesnt get gritted its worth thinking about

Otherwise it sounds lovely :)
 
The tenancy can be extended past a year, though I suspect in a years time we'll be looking to buy rather than rent (we already have the deposit to buy but wanted a stress-free year after all the wedding planning before we committed to buying). If we weren't looking to buy in the near future there's no way we'd be considering getting a dog, but I just wonder if it's worth all that upheaval for just a year.

It would be easier if we were unhappy either with our current house or yard H is at but I absolutely love the people at our current place and aside from the lettings agents being incredibly slow to fix anything we have no complaints with the house.
 
Polos Mum said:
I'd be very carefully checking that the new yard is as good as your current one, if you move and there are niggles, anoying people, less turn out etc. you'd be stuck there because of your house.
Bit of a mission to move house in 12 months time (depends on how much stuff you have!)
Are you on DIY? If you drive 5 mins to current yard twice a day 365 days then driving 6 mins to train station 5 days a week is actually going to save you travel costs.
Click to expand...

The new yard was actually on my list of potential options when I was looking at local livery yards, but I never went to view it as our current yard ticked all the boxes and had a space free. OH is going up when he finishes work this afternoon to have a look at the yard and house in daylight and although he's not hugely horsey he'll be able to say whether he thinks the facilities are better or worse than our current yard. We're currently on part livery so I'm not sure the move will save me in travel costs unfortunately.

WelshD said:
I would say never underestimate this

The only other thing I would look at would be access - what would the access be like if the weather was bad? at the moment you can walk everywhere but would your work be happy if you should get snowed in for example. It may seem a random point but if the yard is down a lane or has an approach that doesnt get gritted its worth thinking about

Otherwise it sounds lovely :)
Click to expand...

Yeah that's what I was afraid of! We live out in the sticks already so have already dealt with being snowed in and work are absolutely fine, so long as I have my laptop with me so I can work from home.
 
Go for it.

However, be aware of how much more this property will actually cost you to run (land maintenance, property maintenance, fencing maintenance etc....)
 
It does sound fab, i have my horse's at home and the fact you can go and feed them in your pj"s then go back to bed for an hour is brill. But (there's always a but) for the sake of 12 months until you buy i wouldn't bother. By the time you've paid out for moving, agent fee's, months deposit upfront i think i'd be inclined to save it all and put it in the house buying fund.
 
I would'nt move.
As you said you will be looking to buy a house eventually.
So why move you and yout horse.
When you could end up moving again.

It would be nice to be on site, but it possibly won't be forever, so I wouldn't want to get used to it.
 
When u buy a place, are you looking to keep horses at home? If so, it might be a good opportunity to try it and see how well you get on before you go to extent of buying/building.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top