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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to buy a house I can't afford?

101 replies

blinkineckmum · 23/09/2017 23:24

I am hoping to put in an offer on a house as it's the right place and right timing for various reasons. I am usually really cautious with money, and have a smallish mortgage on my current house. The house I want to buy is just about affordable, but I would double my mortgage debt and repayments. I could just about do it, but it's a huge house, and it would all be much easier if I rented out a room or even a floor. AIBU to consider buying this house, if I can only comfortably afford it by having to rent some of it out? Thanks for any opinions

OP posts:
JoJoSM2 · 23/09/2017 23:56

It does sound like you're over-cautious. You've been making overpayments, you've got savings and your income will go up and childcare costs decrease. To me it sounds like you're in a good position to move to a bigger house.

With regards to bills, they do go up a bit. When we moved from a period semi to a large detached house, the most noticeable increase was the council tax. Electricity and gas has stayed the same as the current house is more energy efficient. We're also paying more house and window cleaning but that's not a bill relevant to everyone.

astrotel · 23/09/2017 23:57

Big houses cost big money. My gas/electric is £400 a month and the house is never warm, central heating off april- october.

Original poster
blinkineckmum · 24/09/2017 00:03

I like to think you're right JoJo. It's just not very me to go from very comfortably affording to live, to either having to watch myself, or rely on a rental income.
I just checked the council tax and it's twice what we pay now. But we are in a 50s house now, and this is a new house so I think it would be more energy efficient. If we rented out a room rather than a floor, then we wouldn't have to heat every room either I suppose.

OP posts:
JoJoSM2 · 24/09/2017 00:03

Astrotel, is that a mega mansion? I can't imagine how big a house would need to be to cost that much. I'm paying £150 and that's with a considerable premium for 100% renewable energy. I've had heating on this month already and the underfloor heating in the kitchen and bathrooms in permanently on.

PyongyangKipperbang · 24/09/2017 00:07

It just so happens that this big house is only slightly more expensive than the other, smaller houses we were looking at.

I would be questioning why that is.

A bargain is rarely a bargain when it comes to houses or cars. If its cheap then there is usually a good reason for it, and none of them are good for you.

PickAChew · 24/09/2017 00:09

Assuming you can get a mortgage for it, you'd need to make sure you're locked in for 10 year fixed rate, or else your repayments could rocket.

Getout21 · 24/09/2017 00:09

I agree with Jojo, that you sound like you could do it. You could fix for 10 yrs if future interest rates are an issue. Isn't the rule that your mortgage should be 40% off your monthly net income?

Also you could offer a Mon-Fri let so your weekends are your own. A neighbour used to rent a room to chefs when I was younger & they were never in the house as they worked crazy hours & ate at work.

PickAChew · 24/09/2017 00:10

Boiler insurance is a bit of a swizz, tbh.

Seeingadistance · 24/09/2017 00:13

Mortgage interest rates are incredibly low right now, so as a pp pointed out, the only way they can go is up. We're on our way out of the EU, so that's another area of huge uncertainty.

If I were you, I wouldn't do it. You say you're over-cautious. I'd say you were sensible.

When I bought my first property, my mortgage rate was 11% and that was the incredibly good deal I got as a first time buyer! Rates then were sitting at around 14%.

Selling if things become unaffordable is a really bad back-up plan, tbh. You can only sell if people are buying and you could end up unable to sell and unable to meet your mortgage payments.

wobytide · 24/09/2017 00:20

I'm in a similar position financially where due to divorce I'm about to more than double what was my previous mortgage as a single person. It's a risk. I don't need lodgers/rental to make it work but they will help in my plans, likewise, interest rates will rise, but this whole country is on a tipping point and they know that racking up rates quickly will be disastrous. I know that in a few years my income increases as kids disappear and pass age of responsibility.

if your figures add up, you like the place, you see yourself staying there. Go for it. You're a long time dead

Original poster
blinkineckmum · 24/09/2017 00:28

Good luck wobytide! I am so glad I asked as there are so many ways of looking at this. Thanks for all the replies so far.

OP posts:
invisiblecats · 24/09/2017 00:37

If you're flexible and happy to have a lodger in, why not? We had lodgers and really enjoyed it.

We had mature or post grad students, which was good, it meant there were there for a reason, intelligent and if we didn't get on we knew there was only so long we had to put up with each other! But almost all of them were lovely, we made some good friends renting to lodgers.

astrotel · 24/09/2017 00:47

Astrotel, is that a mega mansion?

No- 6 bed victorian semi -rooms are 3m plus high. 2 boilers and 2 heating systems. 27 year old boilers but v expensive to replace. gas aga which costs a fair bit- some underfloor heating but rarely on.

Want2bSupermum · 24/09/2017 01:39

You need to look at your future and be realistic. We just put ourselves out there and bought a home that has stretched us. We have no money right now.

We have a fixed rate mortgage for 30 years. The place we bought has two separate rental units which reduce our costs. It's tight right now but in 5-10 years we will be ok.

greentea4me · 24/09/2017 01:43

Boiler insurance? Don't bother!

Motoko · 24/09/2017 02:47

Have you sold your current house? If not, it's unlikely they'll accept your offer. You haven't even got a DIP yet.

Also, you need to prepare for contingencies. One of you might lose your job, or become ill, unplanned pregnancy, interest rate hikes etc.

You shouldn't stretch yourselves to the max, and don't have selling the house as a back up plan, for the reasons other posters have mentioned.

So, get the DIP first (and your house sold if it hasn't yet) so you've got hard numbers to play with.

HidingBehindTheWallpaper · 25/09/2017 07:19

Could you extend the length of the mortgage but still over pay?
That way the monthly payment you have to find will be doable but you can over pay by a good amount to clear it quicker.

Buscake · 25/09/2017 07:35

We have three kids (aged 6 and under) and have done what you’re thinking of ie increasing our small mortgage and buying a bigger house. Our outgoings are more (buildings insurance was a lot more, elec/gas, water all more, plus a lot more maintenance) but a month in and I feel so much happier here. We have space, the house needs bits doing, but it’s so right for us. I can realistically see us here with the kids as teenagers. Yes things are going to be tighter for now, but it’s doable and, for us, it’s worth it. Good luck whatever you decide Flowers

AnUtterIdiot · 25/09/2017 07:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Crumbs1 · 25/09/2017 07:52

I'm going against the grain here and say whilst a degree of reasonable consideration is essential over caution may stop you getting where you want to be in life.
Stretching yourself is good and property is a very sound investment. If weed been able to easily afford each house we've owned we'd still be in a little three bedroom semi (which was lovely at the time but we wanted more). We reigned in our spending until the finances balanced out and what was a struggle for a couple of years became manageable. Then we moved up the ladder again.
Our daughter has just bought at £500k aged 24 which to us seems an incredibly huge amount for someone so young and who isn't actually married to her partner yet. They have ability to do additional shifts if things went pear shaped and know neither parents would see them homeless so they had thought it through.
If you can see a light at the end of the tunnel hen go for it.

woodenplank · 25/09/2017 07:58

Not really answering your question, but would weekend b&b be less intrusive than a full time lodger?

5rivers7hills · 25/09/2017 07:59

I'd say go for it if you love the house and you're the kind of person that would like having a lodger. Works better if they have their own bathroom and can be a bit separate from your bedroom so if you've got two floors of bedrooms that sounds ideal.

averythinline · 25/09/2017 08:21

If you can do it now then I would - you will probably get a better fixed rate now as rates are due to rise..
I think I would look for a few years then you'll know where you stand and as you say your childcare costs will be decreasing - you will be entitled to 30hours ...

LazyDailyMailJournos · 25/09/2017 08:26

We're doing it at the moment, although the property is not a 'maximum' stretch for us it is more than doubling our mortgage debt and repayments. There are lots of sound reasons we are moving and why it has to be now. We spent a lot of time looking at our income, savings and anticipated expenditure - mortgage, council tax, utilities, insurance, maintenance. We also looked carefully at quite a few scenarios on repayment calculators for changes in interest rates to make sure that if the worst came to the worst and they went up to 8/10/12%, we could tighten our belts sufficiently to still keep on top of the repayments.

As long as you are happy with all of that, then yes, go for it.

astoundedgoat · 25/09/2017 08:31

Is the house in an area that is in demand for lodgers or Airbnb? And is it in an area that is likely to continue going up in value, even a little, over time? I would be inclined to go for it. Presumably your salary is going to go up over the years, and the payments will steadily become a smaller proportion of your income.

In a few years time I would love to buy a house near where I am now, and have no problem with the idea of letting out a "granny flat" part of it to fund the mortgage etc.