Vespa club

I know we all have a different answer to that one, but just curious what others would do.

Here's my situation.

I've lived in Vancouver for 24 years after moving here from Yorkshire.

I bought a house 12 years back here, and like anyone who was fortunate to buy and still own a house from back then it's since gone up about a million dollars between what I bought it for and what can sell today.

I live in one part of house and rent other part out, expenses are covered by rents, I'm over 55 so can defer property taxes until I sell/ pop my clogs, so lucky for me I don't have a lot of expenses.

I have a one man show handyman business that I quite like with good established customers, and can make my own schedule and make decent money.

I'm single, no family in Vancouver, one daughter and 2 grand kids that live way over in Ontario nowadays, daughter seems to spend half her time not talking to me over what seems to be quite minor stuff.

So moving there would probably mean I'd spend a lot of time not being talked to, I'd just be in closer proximity and still not be seeing much of them, so that ones out unfortunately.



I have a friend out here who's also from UK, similar age and background, he also bought a house and could cash in and retire.

He went back on a holiday today to scope it out to see if he wants to move back there.

He said he likes the idea of buying a flat in the NW of England, then in winter lock the door and go to Spain.

I was like, that's a good idea! That's a nice idea!

But I have this comfortable but quite boring life here in Vancouver, and I've been gone from U.K. a long time. It might be just be just nostalgia, I don't know. I might be me that's got boring and location's not the problem

Also I'm 24 years older than when I left and probably more Canadian in my ways than I realise.

Anyone ever done that returning to the U.K. that can share how it went? What you might do to avoid regrets etc...

One other important factor is that my house might be re zoned to allow apartments to be built on this block, in which case I could really cash in, perhaps even $750k more than now.

Only thing is that it's a possibility, likely to happen, but not a certainty and who knows when or how long I'll live.

I was just looking at a survey online of what people thought of Vancouver life and I'd agree with the survey;

it goes that it's got beautiful scenery and outdoors, freaking expensive , towards the boring no fun side, rainy and often people find it lonely and unfriendly and lots of homelessness.

That about sums up my own experience of living here.

And the rain is much like Yorkshire, and I can't stand the rain.

Also my house is in a neighbourhood that's mostly Chinese family's nowadays, many don't speak English and it's not that I don't like them, but it's not like we will become close friends or even casual acquaintances.

At night after work I open the door and from November to April it's dark and raining with no one on the streets.

What to do, what to do ???

Helen1964

What a delicious dilemma.
As you say, everyone will have a different opinion but here’s what I personally would do.
1. Take a long trip or two to the UK and scout out different locations.
If you want to live somewhere where people will chat to you, I would strongly recommend N. Ireland but given that you hate rain, you’re best sticking to the eastern parts of the UK. I would start with a whistle-top tour just to get an overview then go back again and rent a holiday home for a few weeks in maybe 4 chosen spots. Two urban (Edinburgh, York, Norwich?) and two in smaller, more rural locations. Market towns.
When you’re there, maybe spend some time with local walking, cycling clubs, etc Whatever floats your boat.
2. Once you’ve found somewhere, try and persuade your mate to move there with you (rather than the NW).
3. If you REALLY hate the rain, consider skipping the UK and move straight to Spain. One of the bits with a large English-speaking community. I think I am in correct in saying that UK nationals will still have the right to settle there until the end of the transition period.
4. If you don’t like any of these options, come and live near me in eastern France. We have a large and active English-speaking community and are always DESPERATE for good handymen.
5. Before you leave Canada, get Canadian citizenship in case it all goes t*ts up.

durham_lad

We were in a similar situation except in the USA for well over 20 years. What we did was to sell our big house just before we retired and moved into a rented place in a fairly large managed complex so that it was easy to "lock and leave". For the next 5 years we left the USA for between 5 and 7 months at a time, traveling to Canada, Australia/New Zealand, Europe and England. In 2016 we decided to set up a house in England and split our time between the USA and England, summers in England, winters in Texas, but after a few weeks back we decided that we fitted in so well back in Yorkshire that we went to Texas in November 2016 to sell up and we completed the move back to England in January, 2017.

For us it worked very well and we are fortunate enough to have been able to afford to test the waters so thoroughly.

Benson55

The whole of the UK is wet, more in the north.
If it was me I would buy the flat and go to Spain but be careful as the UK leaves the EU in 11 months and rules may change.

spouse of scouse

bb Surprising at it may sound, the UK doesn't really have an extraordinary volume of rainfall.

Take the UK city with the highest volume of rainfall, Cardiff. Its average annual rainfall of around 1150mm is actually similar to that of Sydney, Australia.

The difference being, of course, that it rains on more days in Cardiff than in Sydney. So Cardiff is going to feel wetter

holly_1948

If you are going to sell up I would suggest doing just that.
Bird in the hand versus two in the bush and all that. Property bubble may burst at any time, the past is not a reliable guide to the future.
Once you are liquid you have any number of possibilities. But do try not to put all your eggs in one basket.

Vespa club

Yep, and I lived in the Pennine hills, it's that really fine drizzle that soaks you through.

Helen1964

I do think that if you’re lucky enough to be able to spend the winter in sunnier climes, then the decision about where to live in the UK becomes less about weather and more about other considerations such as friendlinesss of the locals, cost of housing, potential for pursuing activities that interest you, proximity to a decent hospital, etc.
I had very mixed feelings about moving to N. Ireland because I was worried about the weather.
But once I’d realised we could just tootle down to Rosslare (on uncongested roads) take the ferry over to France,
and then head south for a few months, then all sorts of possibilities opened up.
I’m now in the process of buying a little - very affordable - house on the North Down coast, right beside a forest and 10 minutes’ walk from the beach and a railway station that will get me into the city in 20 minutes.
If we really hate living there, it should rent out easily.
Winters will be spent in Spain, and maybe summers too if last week’s headline is anything to go by:
MET EIREANN FIVE DAY FORECAST REVEALS IRELAND TO SIZZLE AS TEMPERATURES SOAR TO 15C THIS WEEKEND

Moses2013

We're in Galway, might hit the 18 this week. Back to the idea of the OP. Of course the plan is not bad and great if you have the cash, but Spain is not all paradise either and also depends if you are buying or renting in Spain.


It makes sense to buy something in the UK and even with Brexit, you have the whole of Europe on your doorstep. If you need a change, just book a holiday.

BristolUK

I think I'd identify how much money I was going to have from the property sale. Then work out how much a nice flat in a nice place would cost, but then instead of buying it, just reserve that sum.

Then rent somewhere "in the sun" for a period in winter and see how you get on. Maybe do it with your friend.

You might find you could adapt to that life, buy a place in the sun, and then make UK visits rather than the other way around.

I'm biased, because my original intention was to sell my old UK house (similarly inflated from what I paid, but not on the Vancouver scale) and buy something in Spain for an early retirement. But then I met and married a Canadian and did it in Canada instead.

getoutofbritainquick

We are in the same situation. We have made a fortune on property in BC and just hope the market doesn't tank completely. We expect prices to remain roughly where they are now or drop somewhat depending on demand. BC is in self destruct mode. Not surprising considering where the Premier comes from and the Green Devil. Canada seems to be heading the same way Britain did when we left and cant se much optimism here. We are looking at buying in Cornwall on the Coast then perhaps spend sometime in warmer climates during the winter, maybe Malta or somewhere similar. I have a daughter of 18 just about to go to Uni and a 14 year about to start high school so we need to wait for him to finish. That gives us 4 or 5 years to plan our trip back and we realise anything can happen in that time. But Brexit will be done and Canada will probably be in recession by then.

BristolUK

So you'll be looking for a name change then.

feelbritish

We retired back to Buckinghamshire from Vancouver Island. Now selling up here to move to East Devon to be closer to coast. Best decision we made as we love it being back in UK. Canada was very boring plus no-one visited us as we were so far away! We spend winters in Cape Town as have family there but once "mother goes" we will probably spend a few weeks in winter somewhere in the Mediterranean too!

Hubby has same problem with his daughter in UK so we have made no plans to be anywhere near them! If they want to visit they must make the effort now after us trying so hard to stay in touch for last 17 years! Don't rely on your kids!

holly_1948

Quite.
It is not exactly good odds that the property bubble will not burst within 5 years

Novocastrian

Another property rich(isn) ex-expat here.

When I retired in 2015 we sold our house near Toronto for about 5 times what we paid for it in the 90's. !0 years ago we released enough equity to buy a house outright in Normandy (where I am now) and on returning to the UK we bought a very pleasant flat in Newcastle, where I was born.

The change from the transactions was still in excess of two and half times the original purchase price in Toronto. And I have a healthy private pension too which is alone more than enough to live on.

The alternative of freezing my wrinkly ass off in Ontario on retirement would not quite compare.