Scribblings from the Mitchy Side

Forgive me, for I am about to ramble mightily in a bid to organise some thoughts cluttering up my brain.

Over the next 1-2 years, I want to:-

1) Redecorate the flat, top to bottom.
2) Buy a house somewhere.
3) Rent out the flat

1 is ongoing - first project is the bathroom which can be done as soon as I stop dithering and make decisions on what I want. Too! Many! Choices! :P

3 is going to require research because I know there are many, many issues to being a landlord that I will need to know. I have an advantage here - a colleague in another department at work has extensive knowledge of this area and I'm hoping she'll be kind enough to let me pick her brains :)

2 is what's causing me stress before I've even started. I have a hankering to move out of Hertfordshire (I couldn't actually afford to buy IN Hertfordshire unless I go incredibly down market) but I cannot, for the life of me, figure out where, exactly, I want to go. Tied in with this is the issue of employment. Wherever I go, I've got to have a reasonable chance of getting employment that will pay the bills, assuming I'm not in commuter range of my current (crappy) job. The public sector right now is so fucked it isn't even funny. Also, I've noticed that jobs I could do right off the bat seem to be paying about £2k less than locally. This is distressing. Looking outside of the public sector and the salaries seem to be even worse - I haven't seen a decent admin job for equal or more to what I'm earning now at all. Or rather, the ones that are a step up all seem to require experience in this and proficiency in that for x amount of years. *mutters darkly*

Ideally, I'd like to get a job in a new area BEFORE I buy a house - seems smart, right? So I need to commit to an area, sign up with some agencies and see what falls out. BUT let's say I pick Cornwall or somewhere in Wales: getting to any job interviews (assuming I get any) is going to be a right, royal pain in the backside.

Which leads me to another train of thought, which is to find a house, move and then get a job. Risky, but I could do it HOWEVER I would have to have a decent expectation of finding employment inside about 3 months. I think it's feasible but only in certain areas. Looking at the employment market in some of the areas I'm considering doesn't fill me with confidence.

I coooould consider London; I think there are parts where I might be able to afford a property providing I wasn't too picky about the neighbourhood. London gives me an added option: I can stay in the flat and both house and job hunt. If I get a job in London, I could commute from Herts (might be fiddly but do-able on a shortish term basis). If I find a house first, I can commute up to Hertford (again with the fiddly but do-able). Yes, this will be added expense so the job/house would have to be worth it.

*glares at the world in general* I'm hopeless when I have too many choices! (c.f. picking a bathroom suite. Don't get me started on the issue of tiles). All this is some way off, to be fair, I have got to get the flat into shape first and that will involve major work, like having double glazing installed and getting the boiler replaced, on top of the general decorating. But I need to start making some decisions soon. I foresee some weekends being spent in other counties doing some local research this winter.

Course, if I suddenly acquire a fabulous new role within HCC, then all will obviously change. The job really is the key thing: as much as I'd love to move nearer the coast or into London, I'd be happier finding a role that gives me some sort of job satisfaction or where I won't have anxiety dreams every Sunday night before the start of the next working week.

And on that note, I need to get back to the salt mines :P