to ask for your advice with house buying?

[indianburritode]

My parents have lived in the same property since I was born and we never moved as they had relatively low paying jobs and we lived in poverty a lot growing up - their views don't fit in with my situation.

I need the wise mumsnetters advice!

I'm about to turn 25 and currently own a flat in the South with my fiancée. We have relatively good paying jobs however my salary will increase by 20k in September and my earning potential is six figures +, he is a teacher so whilst we earn similar now this will change.

We know we want to move because we need a garden (dog) and to be by the train station (London). We are looking at £350k budget for a semi 3 bed house which does give us options, we found a few we like. Then our buyers pulled out so we're back to square one.

I have seen a house I adore for 500k, there's quite a few in this price bracket in a town with consistently rising prices, less than a mile from where we are currently looking.

When my payrise comes we could borrow enough for around 400/425k house but more if my DP also got a promotion/payrise (he's looking at new jobs).

Would you stick out living in the current flat you own despite how much you dislike it to save enough to buy the more expensive house which is a forever home or stick to getting out and buying the cheaper home which is still lovely and in the area you want but would not be a forever home.

I'm thinking about stamp duty / moving costs/ hassle etc. WWYD?

Wait for the forever home

I would move. The only reason for that is because the house we moved to went up in value at a faster rate than the flat we lived in so we profited more (£60k vs £30k in same time period). This wasn't surprising because the home was freehold and the flat was leasehold with only about 80 something years left, and it would have been very expensive to renew the lease (about £12k). Buying property is like climbing a ladder, so your next property might give you that boost but it needs to be properly planned to be advantageous.

Another word of advice, don't have your heart committed to any property until you have exchanged contracts. You own nothing until then so keep looking at houses even as your solicitor is doing searches.

Last piece of advice, the people you buy the house from are just as big of a factor as the house itself. Avoid sentimental people like the plague.

@Noholidays what does that last bit mean?!

Jealous. Quite bunged up at the mo.

Had my fair share of coat hanger incidents though.

The shame. Wrong thread.

Kirsty Allsopp said once, people that are successful with property move up the ladder in as few a rungs as possible. With every move you will lose money so Id wait.

I’d be surprised if a house you bought at 25 was your forever home. But also you say the house you like is £500k but that you can only afford £400-25 unless your partner got a rise (not yet a sure thing). Are you thinking of starting a family soon? If yes how does that affect you and your partners earnings? Childcare? Can you afford such a mortgage if interest rates go up?
House are always nicer the more expensive they are but it seems unreasonable to stretch yourselves to absolute max when you can get a nice smaller house now. You don’t know what the future holds and your circumstances may have changed in a couple years.

Wait. Costs of moving, stamp duty mean fewer moves the better. Especially as what you want and what you can afford may change considerably over next few years. When are you planning on getting a dog? What will happen with it if you both work full time? I know people with dogs in flats and also couples where both work full time out of the home - but just to remind you doggy daycare would (or should) be another cost to consider. At not quite 25 I’d be saving up for both house and dog, don’t be in a rush!
My husband and I almost bought a two bed flat after our one bed first home- so glad we waited a few years and bought a house instead in right area etc. So glad we saved the thousands of pounds on stamp duty an additional move would have meant.

@Nearlythere1 I have found that sentimental people (usually older individuals who need to downsize) don't sell the property because they can never find a place that will live up to their current home in their minds. It forces a younger buyer to waste time and money for useless searches.

Interesting! I'll keep that in mind! Thanks :)

We are in a somewhat similar situation in that we bought something that we aren't 100% convinced on, we could move the next step up but the thought of moving twice more fills me with dread! We are waiting 3 more years by which time we should have enough equity to buy a "forever home". It costs SO much to move.

It sounds like it would be a very big mortgage, it may be worth factoring in whether you're planning children in terms of maternity leave and lifestyle etc. We try to keep our mortgage to less than 20% of our income so we have enough for our lifestyle (though I appreciate that's relative to income). If you give it a few more years you'll have more of an idea of your own income.

You seem to be trying to make a decision based on potential and possibly rather than reality.

You don't yet have that raise.

Your DP does not have a new job.

How big is your deposit?

Hello,

So my payrise is guaranteed based on my contract - it is the qualification payrise in my industry (and I have now qualified).

Partner could easily get a payrise by moving schools but is not yet sure on his career move. He partly wants to move into london to work for weighting as we're close and it's similar distance travelling but at the moment he earns £1k a month from tutoring which is another factor.

We could afford a mortgage up to about 1.6k a month without it killing us.

We already have the dog, she was a rescue so not planned, we live next to my mum and would still be within a 5-8 min drive no matter which house we pick - she cares for my dog every day (she's the best mum ever).

We won't have children for another 5 years so not too urgent in our considerations.

It would take us another year to get the extra cash to be able to afford the 500k home. We could get the 350-420k home this year (dependent on whenever we sell this flat)

Bit obvious there, but DP is a teacher

Buy the best house you can afford without beggaring yourselves.

Not wanting to be a PITA but does £1600 a month get you the size mortgage you want with the deposit you're putting down? Have you considered interest rates are at an all time low and only going up (most likely) it may be worth projecting interest rate rises and the size of mortgage you want.

And unless you are planning on paying your mortgage off within 5 years, you really do need to think about how you will afford it then, especially if you are planning on mortgaging to the Max.

Sorry I sound like a buzz kill.

I'd buy now rather than wait. Do you really know at 25 that you're going to spend the rest of your life in one place? Maybe you do, I was 40 before I bought my forever home (my 4th house) and even so I'm not sure I won't get itchy feet again.

Don’t wait, the market could move while you’re saving and that £500k house could go up my £50 or 60k.

Go by your current or guaranteed upcoming new salary and look for what you can afford now.

I doubt you’ll want to stay in the same house forever that you buy now. Who knows what your circumstances might be later on in life.

Presumably you will want children in the future? If that's the case it may affect the earning potential of one or the other of you and a huge mortgage may be a struggle You need to look into it more carefully and factor in several scenarios.

@PugPupsMum they already own though, so it's all relative.

Have you spoke to a mortgage advisor or just guessing using online calculators?

If getting the £500k house is your main priority can you do things like increase your mortgage germ initially? These are the sorts of things a mortgage advisor would know.

I’m not an expert but around me houses aren’t selling. I can’t see the £500k house being £550k next year

Another one saying factor in any children, even if you don't want them for 5 years. Good schools around there? good transport links? And going for London weghting is fine, but it's there for a reason - cost of transport and housing for one, and an extra £1000 your DP might get will just get swallowed up.

PPs are right - legal and estate agent fees and the cost of moving (unless you have friends with vans) are huge. Calculate the cost of a short term move and then a second one for the forever home.

And though it's dispiriting, do consider legal advice about protecting yourself financially should you split up.

The thing is a 10% saving in a £50K house is £50K

There’s no harm being cheeky and chancing your luck

@feduuup True, but there is always a upper price ceiling on flats. Especially if it’s a new build (don’t know that OP’s is).