To live in a tent instead of buying my first home

[Mushroomlady]

Would love someone to give my head a wobble.

Female, single, child-free, full time job on an average wage, currently renting a spacious flat from lovely private landlord in posh area. Rent is low & I'm happy, but like most ppl I'm stuck in the trap of working to pay for a roof over my head.

I've saved and saved and saved and finally have a small deposit to buy a house or flat. Went to view one last week which was perfect, but when I did the calculations I started questioning whether it's really a good idea.

I'd still be working to pay the mortgage which won't be much less than my current rent. House requires redecorating and furnishing which is more expense. My rented flat is pre-furnished. As well as decorating I would have to spend thousands as I don't own any of my own furniture or household items.

The thought of spending all this money and amassing all this 'stuff' while having to work to pay for it all and being trapped paying a mortgage for the next 30 years is v depressing. I could Airbnb the spare room once it's in a presentable condition, but that's not guaranteed income.

A friend has offered for me to live on their land in Wales in a yurt (large insulated tent) w/ wood burner, rent free in exchange for help growing veggies, etc. Would have access to be own toilet and hot shower in the house as well as WiFi and indoor office space. Wood for fuel would be provided. Work will let me work remotely and part time. Winters could be spent indoors and/or could stay at my parents house which they would love. I'm very outdoorsy, love nature and wildlife, gardening, etc. I also love writing which I don't have time for alongside my job.

Would I be mad to forgo home ownership for yurt living for a few years, go part time and do more of what I love? Could still keep saving.
So as not to drip feed, parents own property so there's a chance I will inherit something before I retire though don't want to make that assumption in case they decide to leave it to a donkey sanctuary.
Wwyd?

1. Buy the house you fool
2. Keep renting
3. Live in the yurt

Live in the yurt.

If you want no financial stability then go for it but have a back up plan if things don't work out

Live in the yurt for a few years. You're only young once.
I'd do it and I'll never see 50 again!

Go for the yurt.

Buy the house. You say you'll be paying a mortgage for 30 years, but if you're renting wouldn't you be paying rent till your dying day?
I wouldn't even consider the yurt.

Sounds amazing. Do it while you have the freedom to choose.

Yurt

Sounds like you have options, which is fab.

I am also a free spirit but hate to say it (and I can hear my mother’s voice in my ear), if you can afford it, get some kind of property.

How about you do your lovely care free, Sienna Miller heyday thing but… also purchase a small property to rent out? You could always live in it if you fancy/need to in the future. Best of both worlds and what I’d do (if I had the choice and were able to get on the property ladder!).

An idea/compromise!

Yurt. Go for it.

Depends. If you're 20, yurt. If you're 35, buy house.

I'm not going to say keep renting either way. If your current landlord decided to sell or died you'd likely have to rent unfurnished and give Ikea £3k anyway.

House prices are only going to increase in the time you’re yurting. Will they increase to the point where they are out of your reach?

I think the yurt thing sounds very attractive but I’d worry about the security of it. Your friends are very generous but would the expectation of free labour be akin to slave labour or conversely, could your friends get mighty peeved with providing all this free stuff for you in return for you pulling a few carrots?

Renting again is insecure and private rents seem to be rising faster than mortgages.

Honestly, I’d buy the house but I’m boring that way.

This was my thought too. The money you have saved is likely to lose value in comparison with the housing market making it even harder to buy anything later on.

The OP’s mates might be a bit pissed off at providing free bed and board for you whilst you gain a tidy little rental income from a btl property, @daretodenim

Yurt in Wales= likely to remain single and childfree- is that the life you want?

Considering all your options……..Yurt.

Sorry, obviously ‘you’ in my post is the OP

depends how much help your friends want in exchange for rent free and perks....you could try it I guess.......

Surely do both? Buy it, do it up cheaply but safely, rent it out, live in the Yurt for a year or so.

Live in the yurt, it sounds amazing 😀 you don’t have to conform to what society expects you to do!

Buy the flat, rent it out, pay off mortgage. Live in yurt, do job, write, be happy. Have flat in case yurt living goes tits up. The end 👍.

The yurt, the yurt!

Besides being an ideal chance to save it will be a brilliant experience for your life and it sounds like you'll be well looked after and living in pretty lovely conditions.

You can always go back to renting if it doesn't suit but you might never get this great offer again.

YURT!!

I'd buy the house and rent it out, and live in the yurt til you don't want to anymore. Save the money for furniture. You can't live in a yurt forever and chances are your parents money will go on care home fees.

Pop down to the Yurt for a couple of days and do a couple of Zoom calls/data upload/downloads and check phone signals.

If you are considering a mortgage/flat do the calculations to see how you would cope with a rate hike. I say this as somebody who watched their mortgage rates shoot up from 7.5% to 15% in the space of about 9 months, possibly 6, in the 80's.

Yurt!! I want to live in the yurt if you don’t! 😆

You can always do the yurt for a couple of years and see what happens, sounds like an amazing opportunity to do something different & I think it sounds wonderful.

If your parents would be so chuffed to have you live with them I'd capitalise on that before I spent 8 months a year sat in a tent hiding from the wind/rain/permadrizzle/gales/snow.