My wife and I need to keep living near work until she can retire in three years, but we want to buy a property in a cheaper part of the country and move there permanently after she retires.
We live in England near London where property prices are very high.
We would like to move somewhere in England or maybe Scotland when we retire.
We rent and have never owned a home and we have saved an amount of money to buy something for cash without a mortgage.
If we didn't have to pay rent, we could afford to pay other housing expenses, food and utilities with our small pensions.
I also have an additional small income (about £5000/year, currently unused) that I could use for home repairs/improvements if needed.
Beyond that, we have no other source of income unless we return to working.
Our options are to buy something now before prices keep getting higher and keep renting near where we work, or to try to buy something in three years when we finally retire and are able to move in wherever we buy and stop renting.
I am worried that we will get much smaller value for money in 3 years, but also worry about the costs of maintaining a home while renting somewhere else.
If we buy a property now and keep renting near where we have to be for work, I am trying to get a sense of how much it will cost to maintain the house with minimal utilities while we are living elsewhere.
I would prefer not to rent the property while we are not living there, but could that be an option that would pay for itself?
I would appreciate any advice that you could offer about my situation.
THANKS.