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AIBU?

To not give up hopes of owning our own house!

45 replies

Rentingranting · 14/07/2015 23:32

Dh has given up. Refuses to talk about it. Says it's too late now we are in our mid-forties. We haven't got any savings - too busy paying the blasted fees on this ridiculous house.

If we did buy it would be far smaller than the lovely house we are renting. But it would be ours. Dh says so what, it's an English thing and we're better off renting a lovely house.

Can't handle the thought of renting still when we are 80 (God willing). I'm now working again but we are in an unusual situation (self-employed and other factors).

It's the one thing that really bothers me. Is it much nicer to own your own house? We've rented for 20 years.

And even if we could get a small mortgage; would it be selfish on the children to all move into a smaller house.

We're on outskirts of London so would need about £500,000.

Should I just resign myself to renting til we die?

AIBU to be hanging on.

OP posts:
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Downtheroadfirstonleft · 14/07/2015 23:41

Move a bit further out and commute? Look into shared ownership?

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WinterOfOurDiscountTents15 · 14/07/2015 23:45

Mid forties and no savings, even if you could get a bank to give you a half a mill mortgage, where would you get the deposit from?

Owning is over rated.

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grumpysquash · 14/07/2015 23:52

"Is it much nicer to own your own house?"

It's a good question. There are pros and cons. It seems to take ages to get a place how you would like it after you buy. Also there are lots of hidden costs, e.g. new boiler, replacing a bathroom or a kitchen, carpets etc. And it is very expensive to up and move. But you have control and you can do as you please. And after you retire, it is still yours, and if you are lucky enough to have paid the mortgage by then, it is just the running costs, so you wouldn't be forced into something cheaper.

Also, just a thought, but what if you bought a smaller place, but rented it out while still living in your current house? Then you could move into it later on (maybe even when DC have left home), and it would be partly paid for. Would that work? Longer term security with shorter term space?

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BMW6 · 15/07/2015 07:08

Well I didn't buy my own home until I was 51. However, it cost only £118k (Large city in South, mid terrace victorian 2 bed) so no way could I buy a home for half a million!

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QuiteLikely5 · 15/07/2015 07:12

Have you got enough for a deposit on a 500k house?

You're going to need around 50k and that will not give you access to the best rates so it's going to be a high initial repayment until you have paid the figure down.

How much rent do you pay

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MaggieJoyBlunt · 15/07/2015 07:21

£500k!? From nothing!?

If that is all that is feasible or acceptable to you than you might have to give up.

But without knowing your current rent, salaries, industries, outgoings etc., it's really going to be hard for anyone to comment. Maybe it IS doable.

OTOH, maybe you could buy by becoming drastically frugal, changing jobs, relocating, emigrating or some combination thereof?

How much does it matter to you?

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Spartans · 15/07/2015 07:28

I much prefer owning my own home. As long as the mortgage is paid no one can turn up and tell me I have to move in two months as they at selling. I can decorate how I want. The garden is how I want etc.

It's not cheap. Not even talking about the mortgage. All the other stuff. Like boilers, new carpets etc. but when something needs replacing it's replaced rather than several calls to landlords or agents and days waiting.

Even if you manage to get a mortgage in your mid forties, would it be a 20 year one? What would the payments be approximately? I can't see you been able too get a 25 year one. The self employed but makes it harder now too.

How much do you need to save for the deposit? How long will that take?

Personally I wouldnt. I would be tempted by the idea above. Buy a smaller house, rent it out for you to move in when you are older. You still own a property, if this is important to you, but get to live in a bigger house for now.

Owning a house worth half a million would never be an option for me.

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MaggieJoyBlunt · 15/07/2015 07:34

Getting a BTL mortgage without owning your main home is supposed to be quite difficult now. A friend's son tried it to get on the ladder while tied to a London job.

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SnozzberryPie · 15/07/2015 07:41

I prefer owning to renting for the security, plus around here mortgages are a lot cheaper than rents if you are lucky enough to be able to afford the initial deposit. However it sounds like you would have to make the choice to move out of London or the south east to be able to consider it.

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SnozzberryPie · 15/07/2015 07:43

If you are renting a 'lovely house' could you move into a flat for a few years to save for a deposit? Is there any other way you could save money eg giving up the car or holidays? Work overtime? And are these sacrifices you would be willing to make to save for a deposit?

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AccordingToOurRecords · 15/07/2015 07:44

Owning is over rated IMO. Circumstances can and do change and the mortgage lender can take the house. I own mine outright now ( not a stealth boast, sad circumstances), I'm going to sell it, split the money with DCs and then rent. No worries about maintaining it and I'd rather use the money to live life now, see my DCs set up with deposits if that's what they want and do something good for them whilst I'm still alive.

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HeadDreamer · 15/07/2015 07:48

Are you sure you can get a mortgage for a £500k home? Even if you have 10% deposit it is still a £450k mortgage. How much do you earn to afford that?

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mizu · 15/07/2015 07:53

YANBU but I can understand how difficult it would be as I am 42 and we have been saving for over 3 years now and have nearly £10,000 saved. This, however, is not enough by any means and houses seem to be getting more expensive and always out of our reach.

I would rather own as I hate paying so much rent and having the uncertainty of whether we can say here for longer or not.

However if we had decent tenancy laws in this country like in others, I would not mind renting.

I just worry about not having anywhere of our own when we - eventually - retire. Not sure how we would pay rent on our meagre pensions.

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Rentingranting · 15/07/2015 08:20

Thanks everyone. Food for thought. We would have to use the Help to Buy scheme and £25k us doable quite soon. We earn about £150k a year together. We pay £2,500 a month in London. It's the cheapest house around that meets our needs. It isn't an option to move because of several different factors.

OP posts:
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MaggieJoyBlunt · 15/07/2015 08:27

If your joint income is healthy then it's doable.

Just bite the bullet.

Move out a bit, downgrade the rental a bit, do what ou need to do and don't let the snob factor stop you.

Otherwise, bite a different bullet and start piling money into pensions to get the extra retirement income you will need to pay rent throughout old age.

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Howcanitbe · 15/07/2015 08:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

19lottie82 · 15/07/2015 09:13

We pay £2,500 a month in London. It's the cheapest house around that meets our needs

Define "meets your needs"?

If you could move to another area and get a flat for £1500, after 2 years you would pretty much have your 5% deposit.

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HeadDreamer · 15/07/2015 09:27

howcanitbe that depends entirely on the person circumstances, like you say.

My MIL gets HB and pension credits. Her flat is paid for by HB with a short fall of £10 a month. She lived reasonably well with spare money to spend. She seems to have more disposable income than us! Only thing is we live in a nicer neighbourhood (her flat is bigger comparatively for a 1 bed). So yes for some with very little income then you are better off spending all you can. That's my MIL philosophy, I don't agree, but it seems to serve her well.

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HeadDreamer · 15/07/2015 09:28

Mainly I think the NHS and HB won't exist when we get older.

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LovelyBranches · 15/07/2015 09:29

Would you consider relocating? There was a house near me that was listed for auction at £7000, obviously it was in a hell of a state.

Housing isn't unrealistically expensive everywhere and you can move to find cheaper areas if it really is your dream to own.

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Poppet1974 · 15/07/2015 09:43

£150k is a really healthy joint income, I would definitely look in to buying. Are there any reasons why you haven't before?
I definitely prefer to own my own home, it gives me security to know it's ours and can do whatever we want with it, plus our home has risen in value since we bought it so it's also an investment (although I didn't look at it that way when we were buying).
Good luck Smile

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prepperpig · 15/07/2015 09:51

On that sort of income I would definitely buy. You will not be retired for another 20 years or so. Who is to say housing benefit will be around in its current form. Its unlikely to be honest, particularly if you have any level of savings and pension income.

As a result you need to be confident that you can still afford to pay rent when you are in your 80s. That requires a hefty pension, particularly since rents are likely to be even higher by then.

I would buy a much smaller property and rent it out (although be aware that since you're self employed, a mortgage might not be easier to get). That has the added benefit that since its would be your only home, if you moved into it once your DC's have left then you wouldn't pay CGT on it (at least under the current rules)

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butterfly133 · 15/07/2015 10:04

When you say you're on the outskirts of London, what does that mean? To me that means outside of Zone 6 where a house should be cheaper to rent or buy, unless it's somewhere fancy or you have several children.

I think owning is better due to the control and I'd be worried about someone moving me on in old age. Your combined salary is excellent, it should be doable but I don't know your essential outgoings. It's better to leave something to the children, I think. A bought house may be smaller but still an asset.

I don't know why you get help to buy on that salary though.

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x2boys · 15/07/2015 10:10

I owning your own home is all that tbh when major things like the boiler need replacing you have to pay it yourself i owned my flat but than was in negative equity had two children in a small flat it ended up being reposssesed, we than went into private rental which was nice but as you say isnt your own i now have a council house i live in the northwest so got it fairly quickly i can decorate nd carpet how i want but the council do all the big jobs plus we have security.

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Howcanitbe · 15/07/2015 10:11

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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