Coronavirus Discussion
Comments
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To be honest AD, I think you will find good and bad anywhere, tourer or static, uk or abroad. No matter what you prefer, thoroughly exploring all the positive and negatives, all the legalities will apply. And overseas has lots of not quite so obvious technicalities. We have friends with properties in various countries, getting things done isn’t always straight forward.
I vividly recall visiting what looked like paradise, a Greek Island. Most of the time it was, but then that one not so positive time tainted it forever for us. The locals didn’t bat an eyelid, but we scarpered as quickly as we could.
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Very true - which is why doing one's research before investing is absolutely crucial. When we were looking we visited one large site that were advertising a great looking deal. High on a hill with uninterrupted views of a 3 mile long beach. When we asked which type of van and which pitches were available we were told we could have pretty much a complete choice as most of the vans were just used as fortnighly holiday lets - we made a speedy exit.
As for returning to the same place, well that just depends on what one does when away - we haven't run out of new places to see and new walks to do in Cornwall yet!
And I accept that we are extremely fortunate in being financially sound enough to still book cottages for UK breaks and holidays overseas as well. But then we've worked hard and saved hard over the years and feel we deserve to be able to do it now. It's only money after all and you can't take it with you as Mrs M's old dad used to say!
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Research is certainly critical, M, both on paper, or on line, and in person on the ground. Research into the site/park owner is good too, although that isn’t a constant as the business can change hands.
Your example proves well the benefit of checking out your prospective little haven for pros and cons.
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Absolutely right, but i think purchase price for many is a key factor, e.g. when we moved from Scotland to Lee on the Solent we looked at buying a park home, price 10 years ago for a really nice one approx £150k, views across the Solent to IOW, price of equivalent bungalow £300k+, 10 mins walk to beach, we nearly opted for park home with a view to then living our dream on the money saved, however, one of the contractual issues we did not like was, when you came to sell for what ever reason, park owners wanted in some cases 25% of the sale price, many said no pets, we had 2 dogs, some had high monthly maintenance fees, limits on parking and so the list went on, definitly not for us, but we have friends who love theirs and the social life on the site is very good.
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That’s where research comes in, Rufs. Some parks have restrictions on pets, age of residents and so on and if the restrictions aren't acceptable, walk on by.
All parks charge monthly site rents because people own their houses but rent the ground. Again, if the fees seem unacceptable, don’t go there. Site fees are now regulated in law and can only be increased in line with RPI as a max unless there is a major improvement to the facilities offered.
Similarly, the % which the site owner can claim on the sale of a property is also regulated. It is negotiable up to a max of 10%. This is known when someone buys a property and, if they're not willing to accept the terms, they should do as you did and give it a miss and I must say the examples you quote aren't enticing by any means.
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Mmm, did I really use that word🤣🤣🤣😉
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We had the misfortune to stay at the Park Dean site at Camber Sands last year in a static, took Gkids as a supposed treat, OMG, no matter how hard they deep clean those vans as a result of Corvid-19, i would still not be staying in one, ok it was dog friendly, but even the dog was walking around on tip toe.
and many of the facilities were in a bad state of repair and needing a major overhaul, many of the vans in our area were privately owned, yuck.0 -
Defensive, really? I hope I’ve been informative.
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Nor you you you🤪
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I hope you don't mean my posts, David. Why would I need to be defensive (any more than you would be in your frequent posts about returning to the same sites you like?)
It was our choice, made open eyed when I retired, partly because we knew we'd be returning frequently to the area and it was so much easier than towing every time, partly with a view to when we decided to give up vanning and partly because it allowed us to visit for 11 months of the year - months when we, like you, did not often use the touring van.
Defensive? Not at all - just explain why, for us any way, it has been a decision we have never regretted for a moment. Why would I be defensive about that?
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We have beaches and countryside all around us and I love it but.. it is 50 miles to a decent town for proper shopping. No decent theatres etc. OH is an avid Shakespeare fan. So we picked Stratford upon Avon. Theatres, restaurants, Oxford, the Cotswolds, everything we lack at home. Also much nearer for our son and family to visit/stay. Our daughter and family live here so they also use it for a change of scenery. Lovely park, right inside the gate are a few older caravans but we found that they belonged to older residents who had been there for 30 years. The owner said, when they give up we will replace the vans with modern ones but we will never ask them to move. That sealed it for us, people put above smart looks, rare these days. It is a huge park, with a clubhouse, but we chose the quiet side, away from the clubhouse across a bridge over the river. Very peaceful, just the occasional chink of glasses with the neighbours.
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I don’t think anyone was criticising your suggestion AD, just pointing out that holiday parks, small private static sites, and residential park home sites are all very different. And I happen to think your idea of leaving your van somewhere and commuting backwards and forwards is a good one, it worked brilliantly for us, even if it was in UK. I also have no doubts that you would research anything you choose to do just as carefully as anyone else would, even if what they chose to do wasn’t for you. As I said earlier, every choice has its positives and negatives.🙂
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That's exactly why we avoided company run sites, Rufs. On our site all the vans are privately owned and used only by the owners. Most are lived in permanently and when the park is closed in February the owners either head off somewhere warm "over there" or, those who are still working, book cottages in the area.
One of our regular walking routes goes through a Park Dean site near Holywell Bay - it's very popular in high season but nothing on earth would make want to go there and the same applies to the Haven site nearby.
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You have, very. I had no idea that the Land owner would get a % of the property sale price upon selling, that’s something I haven’t seen mentioned before. 👍
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I expect you wish you could get there now Debsc. Our eldest daughter has been shopping in Stratford this weekend and said how quiet it was, I can picture the river free from summer crowds, quite strange and I wish I could see it too! It's an area we come from so we'd probably be happy there too.
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I suspect some holiday hotspots are absolute bliss for locals at the moment. Brace yourselves everyone🙁........
We have spent a lot of time in past in various parts of Cornwall during Winter months, very very different. A cold Spring day, walking the coastal path......stunning, and hardly a soul around.
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That’s residential and it's OK providing it's allowed for and doesn’t come as a nasty shock to the seller. I’ve no idea what arrangements exist for the sale of holiday vans.
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Our friends, who live there, regularly send us photos, don't know if that makes it better or worse. It is what it is, and we will go when we can. Probably when everyone floods here, but doubt we will visit the town, maybe just to the park opposite the church. No theatre, restaurants, takeaways or crowds for us. We can sit by the river on the site. Different times. Please roll on that vaccine clever scientists.
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Getting back on subject I note that the R number in Germany has shot up to 2.88! Believed to be courtesy of a major outbreak linked to an abattoir.
Couple this with the 2 outbreaks in the UK linked to food processing plants & we are nowhere near out of the woods yet.
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Our contract specifies 15% if we sell it privately. But we bought it as a long term investment and by the time we decide to sell it that will be 15% of relatively little.
In fact the vans which have been sold since we've been there have almost all been sold to the site owner. He seems to offer a very fair deal since he exports the vans to Spain and then gets 15% commission on new vans brought on site.
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Sounds reasonable to me, M. I reckon you’ve got a fair site owner there.
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It’s 3 UK food factories, two in Wales, and another in Kirklees area.
Anyone want to take a bet that it will be decided safe to reduce 2metre advice?
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It seems one of the covid patients in the care home in Cornwall where there is an outbreak has died. Another sad loss.
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