| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| arwen |
making money from my househi - I just found this fantastic website this evening, so I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction!We moved from London to Scotland 3 years ago, and bought an old hospital (30 rooms) which we've nearly finished converting back to a house - the aim was to turn it into a B&B (we live in a rural village (2500 people) in Perthshire. Unfortunately, turned out the house doesn't have central heating, and in Scotland that's not a good thing, so B&B dream out of the window. My partner travels all over the world with work, and at the beginning of the year I got so fed up with the house it's now on the market. HOWEVER, I'm not having a bit of a change of heart and don't really want to sell. The house is far too big for just 2 people, we've 8 bedrooms, ancillary accommodation, in about an acre of land in quite a touristy area, hence the B&B idea. But I'm now frantically racking my brains to find some way of making money from the house - such as renting it out for local groups (in the summer obviously!), I've a large veggie garden so had thought about selling my products, but unfortunately I work quite long hours (have to to pay for the renovation work!) so that idea can't really work as I only really grow enough for us. With not having heating I can't really rent rooms out, and I wondered whether anyone had any other suggestions - I love my house, it's a former maternity hospital so has quite historical sentiments within the local area as well, but (a) it's far too big for us and (b) money's always in tight supply and we have a lot of space to do something with! I'd really appreciate if anyone has any ideas - I've been racking my brains and surfing the web for hours now and can't think of anything - I'm quite creative and loving knitting and sewing, but again time's a factor in making things and selling them. Many thanks, Alyth. |
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| tawny owl |
Film/TV location? Try http://www.theknowledgeonline.com for location companies and location managers. Sounds like it might just be their thing - they need large properties with large rooms so they can physically get people & equipment in and have room to move, and old buildings with a bit of history and large gardens are a definite plus. You may have to move out while they're filming, and they can make a bit of a mess, but the pay is excellent, and most contracts (check, though!) will specify they have to put everything back to the way it was (assuming you wanted that, of course - you might decide the free decorating's to your taste!). | ||
| JonO |
Maybe rent rooms out to people for storage ? Could alter your insurance etc though. Just a thought ! | ||
| alison |
Why can't you rent out rooms in the summer. No heating needed then. | ||
| Viking_Chick |
I don't see why you can't let it out - I live in Shetland and tourists rent out old crofting cottages with no central heating, but with simple electric and oil fired heaters in the house for when the rooms need extra warmth.
I rented a room when I lived in Inverness again with no central heating - a gas fire in the living room and the biggest bedroom, electric portable heaters elsewhere. I don't think its a big problem. |
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| Guest |
Call me a cynical bastard, but you, know, I'd be delighted to hand over contact details and such if I was stuck in such a dilemmal.
Guest, register and give out contact details to get the best from your investment. nick (howe) I may have not logged in...h |
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| tahir |
It'd be nice to see some piccies too. |
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| Treacodactyl |
There's some good ideas. You could try and rent out a few rooms during the summer and then invest in a couple of electric room heaters for the winer and htey only need to be on if you have guests so the cost of the heat should be covered.
Don't forget you could pop an advert on this site. 
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| tahir |
If you make insulation your primary concern during renovation then you should be able to heat quite cheaply. | ||
| alyth1970 |
being only registered for 24 hours, I think I'm allow to do this..
http://www.residential-property-scotland.co.uk/sale_central/viewpark.htm Above is the link to my property for sale, hopefully it'll work, if ayone wants a lifestyle change to Scotland this would be ideal - I've a fantastic veggie patch, a paddock that would be suitable for small animals, the location is fantastic, views right over towards the hills, village is lovely, that's why I'm having second thoughts on moving! Thanks for your replies, I've been ironing this afternoon thinking like mad and have a few options to try. Cheers. Alyth |
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| alison |
Your house is gorgeous.
So B&B is out then is it? |
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| Treacodactyl |
Looks fantastic, a couple of elecy room heaters and what more could people want? | ||
| ButteryHOLsomeness |
wow that's amazing!!!
perhaps you could start with the electric heaters and then as you could afford it you could add central heating (perhaps fueled by an aga or rayburn) to a room at a time. i used to live in the highlands and i know from experience that you won't get that much business in the time of the year that you need the heaters most. the only thing that would concern me is that you'd want to use the heaters in each of the rooms for at least say 1/2 hour per day during the cold weather to keep the worst of the chill off so you don't get problems with damp and wallpaper peeling etc if it's easier you could start with the annexe area and work your way through the other building. i would definately place an electric heater in each room though as even in the summer it can become a bit nippy sometimes and the heater is nice to take the chill out of the air. if you hadn't already refurbished the entire place i would recommend underfloor heating through fired by an aga (or 2!) i wish you the best of luck... if we had won the lottery and i could get my hands on some more land i'd snap this up in a heartbeat
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| tahir |
Lovely place. As I said you need to make insulation the key in your refurb, if you do that then your ongoing heating costs will be quite low, you sound like you've got enough land to put a wind turbine up too, wonder if there are any grants available for that in your area.
Does seem a shame to sell up. |
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| alison |
To help find out what grants are available for your area try
www.j4b.co.uk |