Would you downsize if it meant you could buy?

[TheyCallMeMellowYellow]

I rent a lovely decent sized house. Found one for sale that is quite a bit smaller. No reason to move just never owned a property before. Would you downsize (same number of bedrooms) if it meant you owned it rather than renting?

Yup.
Mortgages are cheaper than rent and my house will hopefully help go towards my care in the future.
Plus when I get old there will be no mortgage. If we were still renting we would have to pay rent still

Oh that's a very good point @IhaveALooBrush I never thought about old age... I'm already pretty screwed in that department 🤦‍♀️

Yes. It will mean when you retire you won’t need to pay housing costs as your mortgage will be paid off

Surely that’s how most people get on the property ladder? I don’t know anyone who said “ Oh look I have a small rented property in a poor area , why don’t I go out and buy a much larger house in a better area?”.

Everyone I know has done short term pain for longer term gain.

Would I downsize to pay my own mortgage rather than my landlord’s? Yes, 100%. You generally pay half the price per month with a mortgage as well, rent is ridiculous.

I don’t know anyone who said “ Oh look I have a small rented property in a poor area , why don’t I go out and buy a much larger house in a better area?”

Actually we did this! Rented a small house in a cheap town so we could save enough for a deposit on a larger house in the area we wanted to be in.

But absolutely I would downsize to buy if that was my only option for buying.

Fuck yes

Absolutely. You'd be paying towards your own equity rather than your landlord's, accumulating your wealth rather than your landlord's.

Yes.
Go for it.

Of course. Otherwise everyone would just rent.

Yes, definitely. I think most people probably do this initially. That doesn’t mean you can’t sell up and move somewhere bigger in time.

Yes!

Yes! Have you got the deposit saved?

Yes. A mortgage is finite, renting is forever.

Pretty unanimous!
And yes! I have a deposit saved.

Our flat is roughly the same size as the one we rented before, except we rented in Zone 2 London and bought in Zone 4. So we ‘traded down’ so to speak.

However, we’re paying 2/3 of what we paid in rent in mortgage, and we’re trading our way up the ladder so we don’t have housing costs when we retire (at least 35 years off, mind!)

Madness not to, frankly.

Yes of course. In 20 yrs the value of the first home I owned has quadrupled. I would not be able to buy it now in the position I was in the mmm. I would recommend you buy as soon as you can, and yes it may be small. But it will be yours.

For the same number of bedrooms, absolutely!

Yes.

Yes in a shot.

Maybe a thing to bear in mind is that rent isn't just mortgage, it's repairs, insurance, tax, etc.

But I would buy in your situation.

The only time it makes sense to rent is if you need to move often (buying costs are huge now) or can't afford repairs on an ongoing basis.

Or if you're in and out of work, as rent can be paid by housing benefit.

I rented a massive detached three bed with two bathrooms and I bought what I could afford which was a terraced two bed, but it’s mine! I’m not funding my landlord and I finally have my own property!