to buy or to rent, that is the question

[erik_tonny]

4-5 years ago we decided to go for a long term rent (5 years). (We kept our house back home)
- we wanted to be free to leave when we wanted and not be stuck by a pile of bricks.
- we had a 8% yield on investments; why lose 24.000 yield by investing 300,000 in a house instead of paying 12.000 rent
  and leaving all the costs and upkeep to the landlord ?
But times are achanging....and we are thinking of buying
- finding a new long term rent is going to be next to impossible (Corralejo area)
- if we can find a long term rent, the rent will now be well above 15.000
- the yield on investments may be as low as 2% for the coming years; this means a 6.000 offer of yield versus more than 15.000 rent
- but if we want to leave, we will be stuck with a 300.000 pile of bricks
But why the future leave?
- when the health starts getting bad (as it once will) and we are in need of care
- if the living conditions keep on going downhill due to overpopulation and a changing public/attitude
Who said life on Fuerteventura was easy and free of problems? Decisions decisions....

[Ivemovedon]

Life isn't a mathematical equation. Over analize everything and you will end up tied in knots through chasing the money.  Sometimes you just have to go with your heart and forget the dinero

[calculator]

Indeed. Most people don't understand the concept of LIVING.

How often have I heard the phrase.........when I retire I'll do..........lol. At that stage, your either dead or too knackered to do anything.

Tomorrow never comes.

The market bottomed about 5 years ago. Yes, of course u can buy a goat shed much cheaper now, but would u want to live in it.

Surely the point of living in FUE is to forget about money and enjoy life?!!

[Johnrgby2]

The issue of course is trying to tell the future, the figures now make buying a no brainier, but if you rent what will be the cost of .A. renting again in 2021/22 and .B. deciding to buy and find that prices have sky rocketed. I suppose it reaaly depends on your age, and what your aspirations are. I said when I retired I would move to Fuerteventura, which we have done our problem was my business was thriving in 2011 when I was supposed to retire, and was even better in 2016 when under duress i did, I do not envy your dilema, but only you can answer it, you have all the answers to your question we from the out side can only guess. life has been good to me/us but again what are your aspirations? my late Father once said to me " The only sccess in life is to leave your childrenbetter off than I will leave you" but then again if you do not have children???

[CORNISH BOY]

Life is short and we get one chance ,always a good idea to keep and own property in the uk as with all the ups and downs the housing market will always increase over time ,today the cost of money is cheap and if borrowing is needed  carry on renting our uk house and buy your dream in Fuert ,

[spitfire58]

We were in kind of the same situation. Always wanted to have somewhere pleasant to retire to. I also have my own business which is doing well enough & at 59 am a little on the young side to retire, I think.
We decided to buy at the end of last year as we saw a place that was as they say "too good to miss"' just what we wanted to spend, all on one level (thinking of the later years) & new condition although a bank repo.
We chose to take the plunge now because if we didn't do it in a couple of years I don't think we would have been able to afford to. That was our choice & everyone's situation is different. We will keep our place in the UK as we intend in a few years to winter in Fuerte & summer in UK. Don't intend to rent out either when we are not there with very little in mortgage there is no great need.
That was our reasoning anyway, also I have never been one for renting, it's dead money to me but that again is just me. IMO

[Tamkid]

Nearly all of the couples and singles I knew over the years that had kept a property back in the UK after purchasing in Fuerter finished up going back to the UK, the ones that had burnt their bridges are still living there when I left, a number of them because they cannot afford to move back and family reasons i.e. fell out etc. I suppose the moral of the story is unless your 100% certain that you want to live in Fuerter for the duration, keep your property back in the UK and if you can afford it, take the plunge, your only on planet earth once. I enjoyed my time there for the first few years, but boredom, lack of seasons and greenery finally cracked me.

[Snowdrop]

Down size in uk / buy in a cheaper area then you can keep property in uk and buy another in fuerte.  Simple 😉

[MalT]

We bought last year and where else can you go in Europe and have almost year round sunshine. We both just retiring and idea is to spend increasing amounts of time in furte, whilst returning to our house in Wales because of family and friends, I'm sure we can reach a happy medium between the two. We bought because we think it's a long term good investment and was in a great location and with Brexit and the value of the pound that seems to be correct.

So heart and head said best option was to buy, just have to make sure we keep ourselves busy and happy!!

[Tamkid]

Great attitude, have a long and happy retirement.

[Ivemovedon]

Long and short of it is renting is a drain on your bank balance whilst making someone else wealthier. If you make the right purchasing choice it could end up making you wealthier. With inflation and the current interest rates any savings are stagnant or gradually declining anyway. Property is the best ..almost only..place worth investing it.

[MinRich]

We would have bought somewhere in El Cotillo but prices of properties reflect the fact that they can be rented for income and thus more expensive, we don't really want anyone else using our place so that made our decision to rent when holidaying.

[scottishnudist]

Interesting discussions. We are approaching that point where we spend more and more time out of the UK than at home. Fuerta is a firm favourite. We will keep a UK property.
Our thoughts are long-term rental as that gives us the option of changing locations as we wish.

I would be interested in any experiences of long-term renting. What areas, rates, experiences with landlords etc.

[caza]

Ditto to Tamkid and Holierspark,

We purchased our property last May , just before brexit .

Although we're not near retirement age ,it's been a holiday home / investment and also added years to my husbands life and a good place for me to recover from cancer !
I / we have been out  10-15 times since the purchase and it certainly has changed Our lives !!!

You don't know what's round the corner ?
Only you can judge ?
It's also about quality of life  !

Good luck !  Whatever you choose  😀