We got a letter from our estate agent last weekend telling us that our yearly lease was soon to be up and would convert into a rolling monthly lease. This would mean that they'd only need to give us 2 months notice to kick us out or change the terms. While common business practive over here, it was a bit of a bummer because it took away a bit of the sense of security we had at having a lont-term contract. We like the house we live in now. It's decorated to a standard we like. It feels like home.<\/p>\n
We emailed the agents asking if it would be possible to get another long-term contract but started looking at other options at the same time. The good news is that the agents said yes to another yearly lease, so that's a load off our minds. The bad news, which is not really bad, but meh news, is that while we were looking into the prospects of getting a mortgage and buying a property, we found out that one of our neighbours is selling their house. <\/p>\n
To be honest, it'd be close to perfect for our needs and wants. We want it. We want it a lot. We probably couldn't get it though, because we can't get a mortgage any time soon. Lenders will do 100% mortgages, or mortgages to people (like me) on visas, but very few will do both. It's an either-or thing.<\/p>\n
If we had a deposit, we'd be fine. If I had an indefinite leave to remain (ILR) visa, we'd be fine. We can save up for the mortgage and I can get the visa (in about 3 years), but in the meantime, we're stuck. <\/p>\n
If we were in Canadia, I could leverage some of my RRSPs to get a down payment without even batting an eye. The problem comes from the fact that if I try and bring my canadian savings to the UK, I get triply hammered by losing 5% of them to early-sale penalties, half of them to the canadian tax man and more than half again at face value for the exchange rate. So yeah, no.<\/p>\n
Fooey, I say!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We got a letter from our estate agent last weekend telling us that our yearly lease was soon to be up and would convert into a rolling monthly lease. This would mean that they'd only need to give us 2 months notice to kick us out or change the terms. While common business practive over…<\/p>\n