RetireJapan

The depreication allowance might be worth a bit for your tax return.

Isn't one catch with those resort/vacation area (era?) cheapies that their past management fees and taxes are backlogged, and have to be paid as a part of the purchase?

Wales4rugbyWC19 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 12, 2023 4:45 am The depreication allowance might be worth a bit for your tax return.

Only if we rent it out though, and we're not planning to do that.

RetireJapan wrote: ↑Tue Sep 12, 2023 5:48 am

Wales4rugbyWC19 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 12, 2023 4:45 am The depreication allowance might be worth a bit for your tax return.

Only if we rent it out though, and we're not planning to do that.

I do not see the point in buying then.

Shiny thing to look at?

Well just a thought, even though you wouldn’t want to buy then rent it out, you could rent it out then you would essentially get to choose who your neighbours are whilst also gaining rental income. Not sure how much you can shortlist applicants but could make you feel more comfortable about who is going to live next door.

Thanks for the input, everyone! Just sent an email to the estate agent as we promised to get back to them by Thursday.

I slept on it for two nights.

After the first night I freaked out slightly and decided not to buy it. Felt like a bit too much of our net worth for something non-essential.

After the second night I reconsidered and decided to put in our low ball offer and see what happens. It's money we don't need and would make our life more pleasant and convenient. Subtracting likely resale value means it is not as expensive as it first seems too.


We offered to pay 13m cash for it. This appears to be way below market rate for the area, so I doubt the owner will go for it, but if they do we are happy to pay that price. If we can't get it for that price we don't mind not buying it at all.

Happy with the decision.

Good luck. Let us know how it goes. I did something similar 10 years ago and have never looked back. But there are so many variables that only you and your family can know about.
I would second the idea of renting it out, and the depreciation I think is for 10 years, which can then make it very worthwhile. I'm not exactly sure, but I think I heard that some owners buy properties, rent them out for 10 years and then sell them on, and repeat the process with a different flat for this reason.
As for avoiding neighbour trouble, only someone who has never had neighbour trouble would think this was an insignificant reason

jane doe wrote: ↑Mon Oct 23, 2023 5:41 am Let us know how it goes.

The estate agent replied that the seller said that 13m would be difficult. I guess they might be in touch if it doesn't sell for some reason.

jane doe wrote: ↑Mon Oct 23, 2023 5:41 am As for avoiding neighbour trouble, only someone who has never had neighbour trouble would think this was an insignificant reason

I have had a number of difficult neighbors. incredibly stressful. I would happily pay (have in fact paid, to lawyers) an enormous amount of money to avoid that

So will you stick with the 13m bid or try to nudge a little higher to tempt them?