Regrets I have a few….

I have regrets about money, men and life decisions. I rarely think about them and enjoy the good times I have now has I know I can’t change the past but I can change the future.

I regret not working harder in the marriage to my first husband. The 2nd one was not a happy marriage. Perhaps thought the grass was greener. He did not know how to be a husband\family man.

I regret not staying in our tiny London home longer,the move to the country was a mistake. The London house would be worth a lot now ,it was lovely but not big enough for our growing family.
I also regret not having a better career, putting that last when bringing up 3 children who needed a lot of support following their dad's death at 46.
I'm still doing a mw job at 77 but a decent pension would have been better!
I make the best of it now though x

We lost a lot of money to a rogue builder. DH just took the hit as it would have been very stressful to go through the courts. It nearly broke me mentally but I picked myself up, took it on the chin and hoped that karma would catch up with him. That was 18 years ago. Now for the last few weeks I’ve seen him and his wife (both looking very happy) as they attend the same new club that I’ve joined. Maybe there’s no such thing as karma after all…..

I had literally hundreds of driving lessons and passed my test on the third attempt but hated it so much that I gave up after a few years (and a few accidents). It just wasn't for me.

Same helped family out, lots of only a loan promised, 10 years later Nothing paid back…
Now and then there’s a fool such as I ….

I regret leaving the lake district but my DH was promoted and we then had to move south. All that is done and dusted and contributed to the pathways through life, for me and for the AC so all on all, no regrets

I regret buying a static caravan on a holiday park while waiting for our new build to be ready. We thought we would still holiday in the static but in reality it was difficult as it had to be rented out to cover the huge annual service charge. In the end we sold it at a loss of thousands. I would advise never, ever buy a holiday home static, they fleece people!

I have a massive regret in that i carried out my late husband’s insistence that i didn’t tell our children when he collapsed and lost consciousness for a bit. He absolutely promised me that he would see a doctor if it ever happened again. It did happen again ten months later and he died immediately. I will never forget the hurt on our son’s face when he learned about the earlier collapse.

I regret using money my late husband and I had worked hard for and saved, to pay for a mortgage free house for daughter and granddaughter. I don't expect to be forever thanked, but some appreciation would go a long way! Also, if I hadn't done that I would have been able to move to an easier managed home, without, and before, selling my current - too big property! Now, although not poor, it is still more difficult and expensive to cope with my period house and land attached. C'est la vie!!

In 1986 we were very keen on the idea of emigrating to Australia. We had two young children and thought that life would be better out there. However, ultimately I decided that I couldn’t leave my Dad, who was on his own, I’m an only child. However the following year he met and subsequently married my step mother, who was a very jealous woman and resented my bond with him. By then life had moved on for us, the children had started school and we had a third one on the way, so we didn’t pursue it. Over the years with the benefit of hindsight I have often thought we should have gone, my Dad and stepmother were completely absorbed in each other and he would have been fine without me. Thats about the only thing I regret in my life. We have holidayed there since and I would go every year if I could.

We went to Australia thinking DH's working life would be better. We soon decided that,however awful the NHS was, it was better than what was on offer there. And we did get sick of the snidey pom bashing.

Meandrogrog

I regret buying a static caravan on a holiday park while waiting for our new build to be ready. We thought we would still holiday in the static but in reality it was difficult as it had to be rented out to cover the huge annual service charge. In the end we sold it at a loss of thousands. I would advise never, ever buy a holiday home static, they fleece people!

Yes, I have heard similar warnings from friends, they all sold up at a loss and had loads of aggro from site owners too.

Sago. What doe NC stand for?

If Sago doesn’t see this I assume No Contact.

Sorry to hear that ordinary girl. I have a similar problem though maybe worse because I want to move to be near to my family 2 hours away. I regret ever moving away to live by the sea. Why is yours impossible to sell?

Usedtobeblonde

If Sago doesn’t see this I assume No Contact.

Thank you, it is no contact.

Meandrogrog

I regret buying a static caravan on a holiday park while waiting for our new build to be ready. We thought we would still holiday in the static but in reality it was difficult as it had to be rented out to cover the huge annual service charge. In the end we sold it at a loss of thousands. I would advise never, ever buy a holiday home static, they fleece people!

Swings and roundabouts here I think.

My darling late mum and my stepfather (now 94) bought a static caravan on a lovely quiet site in Wesham when they were both 60 and had 20 years of using it to their absolute delight.

They made many friends over those years used to make me laugh as a ‘young ‘in’ in my 50s “This is Tom and Jean/Hilary and Bill’ etc 😊 People I didn’t know but they were all holiday friends together such happy times especially for my mum it gave her another lease of life in her retirement.

Yes. after that I was considered a ‘rust bucket’ (it wasn’t) by the site owners and had to be carted off site at a cost of £500 (then) to them but the ownership and pleasure it brought them both wa immeasurable. 💕

My parents didn’t give us money, I didn’t give my children money. They all worked as soon as they were old enough, DS did a paper round from 13 and both DDs were waitressing from 15 to earn their spending money. They’d all had Post Office accounts from birth and put any birthday and Christmas money in there.

They are all have fantastic careers, have bought beautiful homes, one divorced but two are happily married. And no money in the world could buy more wonderful grandchildren than mine!

fartooold I also regret saying 'yes' in court when I was 11 when the man my mother had just married wanted to adopt me. I'd been coached to say yes and didn't know I had a choice in any of it. A magistrates court is intimidating to a kid. But I didn't like him [good reasons not to].

When I found out I could have said 'no' [years later] I was fuming [still am] as he was an idiot and made my mother unhappy, broke and stressed the rest of her life. I was always 'in the way', a 'nuisance' and very unhappy too for years afterwards. My previously happy relationship with my mother was never the same again either.

FriedGreenTomatoes2

Meandrogrog

I regret buying a static caravan on a holiday park while waiting for our new build to be ready. We thought we would still holiday in the static but in reality it was difficult as it had to be rented out to cover the huge annual service charge. In the end we sold it at a loss of thousands. I would advise never, ever buy a holiday home static, they fleece people!

Swings and roundabouts here I think.

My darling late mum and my stepfather (now 94) bought a static caravan on a lovely quiet site in Wesham when they were both 60 and had 20 years of using it to their absolute delight.

They made many friends over those years used to make me laugh as a ‘young ‘in’ in my 50s “This is Tom and Jean/Hilary and Bill’ etc 😊 People I didn’t know but they were all holiday friends together such happy times especially for my mum it gave her another lease of life in her retirement.

Yes. after that I was considered a ‘rust bucket’ (it wasn’t) by the site owners and had to be carted off site at a cost of £500 (then) to them but the ownership and pleasure it brought them both wa immeasurable. 💕

I am so glad your mum and stepdad had such enjoyment from their holiday home.

Its probably fine if the site fees can be afforded without having to rent it out most of the time. The site fees for our holiday park rose to £7000 per annum plus there were other bills too, gas bottles, internet, water, electricity etc.

We had to let it out most of the time to try to offset these charges which also meant we could not keep any personal effects in the caravan and could not just use it as and when we wanted to.

In addition it got a lot more wear and tear than if we had just used it. Also after just one season the site downgraded the caravan so we could not charge the higher rate of letting.

We did nit think it through enough snd wish we had just rented.

We decided in the end to cut our losses and took what the site offered us to buy it back, losing in the region of £40,000.

The trouble is that at any point a friendly family site can be bought out by one of the big chains and everything changes.

If anyone is considering buying a caravan or lodge, please check out HPAG (Holiday Park Action Group) as they are bringing a class action against mis-selling and other sharp practices such as making profits from insisting that owners buy wifi, decking, sheds and other items through the site office at massively inflated prices.

Many people do lose tens of thousands, particularly if they have been told they can live on site - you can't do so legally, whatever they say - and at the first sniff that you might have come to the attention of the council you can be evicted with nowhere to go, as second hand units are worth very little. a new lodge or caravan can easily cost £100k, but as soon as you buy it it is worth £40k and the following year you'd be lucky to get £20k for it, unless you can sell it privately, which many sites make extremely difficult, by offering potential buyers incentives such as 'free rent' if they buy direct from them. The rent is, of course, added to the price.

Also, people on some sites are told that they can rent out their units, but the reality turns out to be very different, as the site takes over lettings, and brings in people with vouchers from newspapers, giving them a week's holiday for £10, from which cleaning and fuel charges are deducted.

Some people do stay lucky, and get a lot of pleasure from their sites, but that could change overnight. My advice to anyone considering it is to hang fire until the class action has happened, and see whether holiday parks become regulated with teeth behind the regulations. As it is, site owners are laws unto themselves, and they know it.

Doodledog

The trouble is that at any point a friendly family site can be bought out by one of the big chains and everything changes.

If anyone is considering buying a caravan or lodge, please check out HPAG (Holiday Park Action Group) as they are bringing a class action against mis-selling and other sharp practices such as making profits from insisting that owners buy wifi, decking, sheds and other items through the site office at massively inflated prices.

Many people do lose tens of thousands, particularly if they have been told they can live on site - you can't do so legally, whatever they say - and at the first sniff that you might have come to the attention of the council you can be evicted with nowhere to go, as second hand units are worth very little. a new lodge or caravan can easily cost £100k, but as soon as you buy it it is worth £40k and the following year you'd be lucky to get £20k for it, unless you can sell it privately, which many sites make extremely difficult, by offering potential buyers incentives such as 'free rent' if they buy direct from them. The rent is, of course, added to the price.

Also, people on some sites are told that they can rent out their units, but the reality turns out to be very different, as the site takes over lettings, and brings in people with vouchers from newspapers, giving them a week's holiday for £10, from which cleaning and fuel charges are deducted.

Some people do stay lucky, and get a lot of pleasure from their sites, but that could change overnight. My advice to anyone considering it is to hang fire until the class action has happened, and see whether holiday parks become regulated with teeth behind the regulations. As it is, site owners are laws unto themselves, and they know it.

That is really well summed up, you are really well informed on the reality of buying a holiday home.

You are correct in saying the true value of the units after just one year drops to around £20000. That is all we were offered and trying to sell to a private buyer is made difficult.

It became such a weight on my mind that decided us to just take the financial hit.

I am really impressed that you are so well informed about these holiday homes!

We bought a lodge on a lovely site in the Peak District with a view to renting it out to holidaymakers and also booking time for which ever members of the family wanted it as well as using it when it was vacant.

This worked well for a while but then, as Doodle says, the site was taken over and the new owners wanted everyone to have new lodges. At that point we opted out and took the hit.

Well that's certainly not been our experience Doodledog and Meandrogdrog.

We bought our first second hand static caravan 12 years ago, did part exchange 3 years later for a new lodge and then 2 years ago part exchanged again for a new double lodge on a different site, owned by the same family.

Of course we got a good price because we upgraded to new models but were still pleasantly surprised by what we were offered.

We sold our house and downsized to this lodge which we live in and are able to do so, because we also have a flat which is our permanent address.

They do depreciate like cars but in the 12 years we've been owners, I've never come across or heard of the depreciation in value that you've referred too Doodledog.

It pays of course to do your homework. The multi generational family business we've always dealt with have 8 sites on the East Coast. Their annual site fees are extremely competitive and owners are not allowed to rent out.