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Networking is the term? We are seeking advice from every quarter and desperately trying to put all the pieces together to make some sense out of the - often conflicting - information.
For various (unrelated) reasons an old friend was invited round for dinner. Having been through a divorce, leaving the family home as he put it "with a bin-liner full of clothes and an old rusting mini-metro" he had some words to say about selling houses and building yourself a new life.
In essence, the difference in value between the property now and with an extension, is perhaps not as great as we had imagined. Add the cost of furnishing the interior in the style we had intended, and we began to think he was quite probably right?
At this time (March/Apr 2002) the company I work for, is
going to be bankrupt very soon (if it is not already). It is
almost certain then, that I will be made redundant by July of
this year (hooray!)
In the UK IT industry, a good many of my friends and
colleagues are facing redundancy, or have been made redundant
already. Some good people we know have been out of work for
well over a year now, with no prospect of returning
to gainful employment - in the same industry.
There seems little point to us, in pouring money into job-hunting and simply "surviving" only to find yourselves in the same situation as others in a year or so - Unemployed/Unemployable but now having thrown 12 months of life savings down the drain?
We have very little to keep us here (apart from my parents and the dog) since our Son and Daughter are both seeking their fortune anywhere but in the UK. At present our housing market is still buoyant, if we sell off now - at the top - stooge around Europe for "a few" years and then return, who knows where the markets will have moved on by that time?
This is total insanity, we have worked all of our lives to be where we are and what have we got? A house that - and having very carefully done all the sums - We can't actually afford to live in if, or when we retire.
A Major part of the problem:- This goes against the grain of everyone around you, who are similarly stuck on the house-ownership tread-mill, which is "the norm". Selling up and sailing away is most definitely NOT! Suggesting to those around you that they might not have got it right does tend to cause them some concern! In fact they just look at you in disbelief, or is it envy???