To stay off the housing ladder for 4-5 years?

[Meadowdog]

We currently live in accommodation provided by DH's employer. The accommodation we're in is great, the location is brilliant and I love the fact we don't have to do any maintenance. We're very lucky.

We've sold our house and could afford to buy another one mortgage free - but should we? DH intends to retire in 4-5 years at which point we don't know where we'd like to live - either where we are now or somewhere closer to London. So do we keep the money in the bank and hope house prices don't increase too much over the next 4-5 years? Or do we buy a house that we don't really need now in order to ensure we'll have a place when we need one? Very unsure what to do. It feels odd not to be homeowners this close to retirement.

YANBU = keep the money in the bank
YABU = buy now

Maybe I should have asked this in the property topic, sorry

The obvious answer is no one knows what is going to happen

Where I live there is a massive housing shortage so house prices ( for the standard family homes aren't dropping) but they may in the future. I would buy a house rather then leave money in the bank

Buy one and rent it out? Mates rates to a friend if you don't like the idea of being a landlord. Prices are dipping now but they will still be lower now than in 5 years.

I agree with PP - I would buy and rent out.

Thanks for the responses. Renting out a house sounds like it could be stressful but I suppose I could get a company to deal with everything.

If you’re mortgage free you could get a really good (for you) deal if things stay stagnant or even crash. Rents haven’t dropped so you could rent it out then move in yourselves in future. So long as you’re talking about where you want to live long term, I’d go for it.

Thank you. The thing is we're not sure where we want to live long term. I guess the rent on the house would be unlikely to match what we'd earn in interest on a savings account after paying a management company and taxes and also paying for wear and tear on the house. There could also be problems if we got tenants who didn't pay, etc but I suppose there's landlord insurance for that. Then there's stamp duty and, if we then sell the house without having lived in it, capital gains tax, estate agents costs, etc. Is the rise in house prices over the next 4-5 years enough to make up for those extra expenses? I'm finding it very complicated and difficult to decide.

Keep your cash in the bank until prices start to move upwards rather then downwards.

if buying would a new build in London be a better investment? Alternatively a house near you would be easier to keep an eye on.