My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Property/DIY

Does this sound sensible?

34 replies

CatchingBabies · 27/07/2017 14:51

We have been looking to buy our first home. The problem we are having is we need 4 bedrooms but our budget only allows for a 3 bedroom so we have been trying to find a 3 bedroom that has big enough bedrooms to divide one. We've not had much luck.

We are in a 3 bedroom rented now but DDs are sharing, one is a teen one is a toddler and it's FAR from ideal. OH wants to continue to look for a house to buy. I thought it would be more sensible to find a rental 4 bedroom.

Eldest DD is 15 and so probably won't be with us for a very long time. We only need a 4 bedroom for her so if we rented a 4 bedroom for say 5 years or so we could then look at buying a 3 bedroom that we can actually afford.

Does that sound more sensible or am I missing anything?

OP posts:
Report
EssentialHummus · 27/07/2017 14:58

The way housing costs etc are now, eldest DD could be with youfor ages still... I'd look for a four bedder.

Report
Needsomeflapjacks · 27/07/2017 15:02
Report
fabulousathome · 27/07/2017 15:12

Look for one with a converted cellar or loft? Use a downstairs room as your bedroom then you can have three rooms upstairs, and the extra other space as the lounge. If you have a kitchen diner on the ground floor this could work.

Report
Slightlyperturbedowlagain · 27/07/2017 15:12

Have you seen any 3 beds you could add a loft conversion to in a year or two?

Report
Slightlyperturbedowlagain · 27/07/2017 15:15

Or yes like fabulous says one with a separate room downstairs to use as a bedroom, perhaps you could add a conservatory relatively cheaply to the other part of the downstairs to make up for the lost living space?

Report
CatchingBabies · 27/07/2017 15:44

The problem is there is nothing in our budget at all. The maximum mortgage we can get won't cover a 4 bed, it will only cover a 3 bed and a small one at that, 1 reception room so no bedroom downstairs.

We can keep looking but house prices are going up in the meantime. We can get help to buy as I work for the NHS but that means a new build and they are tiny plus they are all 3 bedrooms in this area, no 4 beds at all.

We can rent a better house than we can afford to buy. I know its dead money but surely it's better to "lose" money on a house that meets our needs then buy one that dosnt. Even if we plan to do a loft conversation etc. it will be in the future as the house deposit will wipe out our savings and we need to move now as it's not fair on teen DD to have no privacy at all.

My income will go up in 2 years once I get my band 6 pay so it would be more affordable then but again that doesn't help now.

We had everything planned to buy a house and could afford the 4 bed we needed but I needed to qualify first to get the mortgage, by the time that happened we'd been priced out of the market.

I've even debated moving to a cheaper area but OH isnt keen at all. We are in Cheshire now so whilst it's not hugely expensive it's not cheap either like some surrounding cities are.

OP posts:
Report
CatchingBabies · 27/07/2017 15:46

And eldest DD plans to go to university and live on campus so will be moving out then. She may well return of course but by that point eldest DS may have gone to university to free up a room. Plus the father of the eldest 2 lives elsewhere so they may choose to stay with him post university.

OP posts:
Report
BunloafAndCrumpets · 27/07/2017 16:07

I get it, it's scary not owning anywhere these days. Could you buy a small flat as a rental for the years you might need to rent a 4-bed? It would only work if you have a substantial deposit, but if the rent you get covers mortgage repayments, letting fees and maintenance (plus you have contingency for dodgy tenants) you could peg yourselves into the property market that way. And if your children all stay home for longer than you anticipate, you will have a home for your retirement at least.

Alternative might be to look at getting a sofa bed for you downstairs til the children free up a bedroom?

Report
HipsterHunter · 27/07/2017 17:06

Are there really no 3 beds where you can't get a partition wall up in the biggest bedroom? Even if one 1/2 room is accessed through the other 1/2 room?

Splitting across a window isn't ideal but is possible.

Plug in oil filled radiator in one of the rooms if plumbing isn't easy to get a radiator in.

Report
Bluntness100 · 27/07/2017 17:10

No it's not sensible, rent is dead money.

Assume you pay 1000 a month for rent. For five years, that's 60 grand right there. If you bought now your property would increase in value over those five years. So say 40 k min. Depending on location and purchase price. The value of the property you would buy will also increase by that 40 k.

So all in renting for the next five years will cost you at least 140 k. Not sensible at all.

Report
CatchingBabies · 27/07/2017 17:11

None that I've seen. The ones in budget tend to be 1 double and 2 single rooms and the singles won't fit a double bed so can't even put me in a single and split the double. A sofa bed downstairs may be an idea but then is that really prefable to renting? I'm not as hung up on home ownership as DP is, would love to buy but it's not the be all and end all for me.

OP posts:
Report
CatchingBabies · 27/07/2017 17:13

That makes more sense bluntness. Rent would be £1000 a month yes, mortgage around £800 a month. We can afford up to around £1000 a month but the bank won't lend that high so we can rent better than we can buy.

OP posts:
Report
Bluntness100 · 27/07/2017 17:23

Yes, most people can rent a better house than they can buy, but it's really not sensible financially op, as said.

Report
fabulousathome · 27/07/2017 17:26

I think I would go for the 1 reception room house and the most comfortable sofa bed you can find. It won't be forever. If you wait, whilst paying out for rent, you may be priced out of three bed houses.

Report
EssentialHummus · 27/07/2017 18:35

Other ideas...

Houses with a loft/basement room (or potential)?
Houses with a large lounge which could accommodate an open-plan kitchen/diner, with kitchen becoming a bedroom?
A larger garden, either to extend into or to build a habitable shed in?

Report
colacolaaddict · 27/07/2017 20:23

Would it be an option to buy a flat and rent it out while you live in a rented house? Our old landlord did this. It is faffy and there are risks,

I think if you do buy, you need to find a way not to marginalise the eldest. Putting her on a sofabed in the living room at 15 is a bit harsh. You only need 1 house with a second bedroom big enough for a double bed, and you might be able to do the partitioning thing with the biggest room. When we bought our first house, we literally walked into every estate agent and asked for their cheapest 3 bed, then we bought the biggest and cheapest, polystyrene ceiling tiles and woodchip 'n' all. There really wasn't any choice of "big enough" houses in our price bracket, but we only needed 1.

Would you consider giving the children a room each and sleeping in the living room yourselves? It's arguably a big waste of space to only use half the house in the daytime and the other half at night.

Report
HamletsSister · 27/07/2017 20:32

Are you eligible for Help to Buy or any other schemes? Shared equity? Have you looked at new build estates where there may be a deal to be done?

Report
mooneypie · 27/07/2017 21:20

If you get somewhere with a kitchen big enough for a sofa you could make the living room into a proper bedroom for the next 3 years until dd has left home. You could stick a conservatory on for an extra living space if budget allows

Report
QueenofBlah · 27/07/2017 22:26

Anywhere with an integral garage that could be converted into living or bedroom?

Report
OVienna · 27/07/2017 22:51

I think you should post the search area get the MNers to work Rightmove for you.Wink

Report
wowfudge · 27/07/2017 23:03

Where are you looking OP? Cheshire is a pretty big county.

Report
CatchingBabies · 28/07/2017 23:20

DD will never be on a sofa bed in the living room etc. We would sleep there before she does. The main motivation for moving is because right now she dosnt have her own private space as toddler DD is in her room and while they adore each other a teen needs her own space and needs to have her stuff proctected from toddlers.

Shared ownership is an option we are currently exploring and reading more into.

For those lovely people offering to house hunt. We are looking for somewhere within reasonable travelling distance of Winsford (eldest children's father who has access), Northwich (eldest DD school that she will be staying at) and Crewe (work). We are not set on any area or town but want a nice area obviously.

Requirements are 4 bedrooms, secure rear garden or able to be secured ideally not large as we are not gardeners, decent sized kitchen as we spend a lot of time in there and 2 bathrooms (or ensuite shower with bathroom) as DD likes to hog the bathroom. Also need parking, don't mind if it's on street however.

Max mortgage we can get is £120k and we have £15k deposit to add to that and saving heavily to add to that.

OP posts:
Report

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

CatchingBabies · 28/07/2017 23:21

I hadn't thought about converting a garage that's an option also. I also saw a house earlier that's 3 bed with a large ensuite that could be removed and turned into a bedroom but that would leave us with one bathroom which isn't ideal. It's an option though.

OP posts:
Report
PitilessYank · 29/07/2017 01:05

My husband and I slept on a sofa bed in the living room for four years, leaving the bedrooms to our children, until we bought a larger house. It was fine.

Report
wowfudge · 29/07/2017 06:03

There's not a lot in the area and price bracket you are looking at - lots of sold places though. There's a house in Leftwich which has a loft room and there bedrooms which might fit the bill though.

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.