To want to get off the property ladder?

[Saggyoldclothcatpuss]

Since we got on about ten years ago with a 35 year self certificated mortgage, we have been worse and worse off every year. Yes our term has gone down, and we have equity, but what's the good if we have no money? DH works and since we got on the ladder my hours have gone up and up. I never really see the kids, the house is a flaming pigsty and we never have any quality time together. We get no help as we have a mortgage, if we rented we would get help with housing costs and be better off generally. If I'm being UR please say, cos a mental smack round the head would help me pull myself together, but I I'm not, your opinions would still help.

It isn't about a ladder though is it, it's about providing housing for your family.

Why have your hours gone up and up? You'd have to pay for housing no matter how you paid for it, rent or mortgage.

If you and your DH both work then what help would you get with rent?

well, in 25 years, you'll own your home. you have equity now.

by all means sell, but there are downsides to renting, and if you are both earning etc.. you might not get any help with renting

also, the biggest thing for me with renting, is being at the mercy of someone else, who can give you notice and you have to leave and start again.

see an indepdendent finacial advisor, you might be able to get a better mortgage deal or change things around

if your hours have gone up, surely you are earning more?

With the current mortgage rates being so low you should definitely be better with mortgage payments than renting. If you have a bad deal you could look at what other companies are offering especially if you have a lot of equity. The problem with renting is you never know how long you will be staying in a property before moving on. If you really need to do this you could consider letting your house and renting another as you would still be on the ladder.

Well, we self Certed for a long term because we couldn't buy anyhring with the usual 3x terms. Theoretically we should be able to cover outgoings but in reality it doesn't work. We started using our overdraft, which the bank made bigger and bigger. We had the odd loan to consolidate which we then paid off when we remortgaged. It's been a bit of a vicious circle really, and we have worked hard. I've done more hours to help, but I'm not qualified for much so I just do this and that. Dh has been in the same office for years but doesn't earn huge amounts. We don't have holidays, new clothes or luxuries and my car is nearly dead. When I looked on entitled to.com a while back, if we rent we could get help with housing, council tax etc, but owning we get nothing! I suppose we should never have bought really. Back then though advisors were encouraging people to be generous with the facts. I'm sure we should keep at it as things must get better eventually, but sometimes it's such a grind, and yes we might own our own home one day, but there is also a good chance that we might not make it financially long term.

It depends really...have you got enough equity to sell? Some people enjoy the freedom of renting, it can work well and there are things you can do to make sure you have a good chance of getting a good landlord.

I've sold and gone to renting for a while...the industry I was working in was changing, if I wanted to keep paying my mortgage I would have seen my DD and DP on Saturday afternoons and Sundays so for that reason (and a whole host of other complicated issues) I am renting. It has saved my sanity! It's not everyone's cup of tea and I am a bit of a live for the moment, things will all work out in the end sort of person...but it is quite nice for DP to be able to work normal hours and still afford the rent.

Might be worth seeing if you could live cheaper or work out if your child tax credits would change if you cut your hours though. Leaping off the ladder is such a huge decision to make. I was dying to own for years, saved, got there and discovered that even though my house was ok it wasn't worth my sanity.

I don't know about getting off... but I think you might have been unreasonable getting on the ladder, no matter how noble your intentions in terms of stability for the kids etc. TBH if you have to borrow multiples other than 3 times salary or 'lie to buy' owning a property might simply never be financially feasible for you. And I say this as someone who has finally bought - after 12 years renting and watching the housing market go nuts due to other people overestimating what they thought they could afford to spend on housing. Just think if we'd all stuck to no more than three times salary mortgages and told greedy sellers where to go younger generations wouldn't have had to hand over a veritable windfall to the baby boomers who had the luck to buy cheap homes simply because they were older, the property bubble would never have happened and this country wouldn't be in the mess it is.
As it was even after the price falls we had to move to a cheaper area to buy, and have taken a five year fix, on three times my hubbies' salary, as I fear property ownership for those on trackers is going to get much more expensive in the next few years. And for what it's worth, I think house prices are going to fall for some time to come - so accept we may well have bought a depreciating asset - it's a home not a cash machine, even if in recent times that's how people have treated their houses. Sorry if the above sounds harsh, it's not meant to, but I think this ongoing recession is likely to get a lot worse before it gets better.

YANBU - home "ownership" is very much over-rated. I sold up 2 years ago - I did the "sensible" thing - I'd bought at 3 times my NET salary yet still felt crippled and living in fear of ever-increasing fucking bills or something going wrong. It was just a never ending cycle, the central heating was fecked - but because it was fucked my bills were huge - because I was paying the bills I couldn't afford a new system.

Am very, VERY happy in rented accommodation - rent is nearly 300 a month less and bills 200 a month less!

Do you know how much it would cost to rent? It always amazes me how expensive it seems to be!

At least this way you'll have somewhere rent-free to live when you retire.

I thought renting would be more expensive, but overall it makes expenses more controllable. In my old house I'd have my money nice and organised and the heating would pack up or the fence would blow down! Currently any problems and my landlord picks up the tab, meanwhile I'm busy helping fund his retirement...we're both happy.

As for my retirement, I'm not too worried, after this latest economic episode I think there will be a lot of people going into retirement with a few years of their mortgage left to run. I'll see what happens.

Renting can be a PITA though. Can you downsize or move to a cheaper area?

Thanks everyone.
I know now we were unreasonable really to buy self cert, back then we were young and reckless, wanted to get on the ladder, and advisers were happy to set you up with this type of mortgage, ours said the banks rarely check so we would be fine! Anyway, we were for a while, upsized but then had to downsize. We now have a small house in a cheap area.
Anyway, like I say, it's been a bit of a vicious spiral really, things aren't 'serious' yet, but they aren't good either. It's just such a leap to sell up and rent, almost like failing I suppose, everyone wants to buy their own house, bur ours feels like a millstone round our necks!

You wont qualify for housing or council tax benefit if the equity in your house is over £16k.That is the savings 'cap' for benefits.

It seems that your problem isn't so much your mortgage but the other debts you have. Maybe go and see a debt counsellor/money advice worker/CAB.

Is it worth trying to extend your mortgage term to reduce your monthly payments?

Have you shopped around for a better rate - assuming here you don't need to be on a self certified mortgage anymore!

My view of owning a home is that I have the security of not having to move like I would probably have to if I were renting. If eventually we have to downsize (to a 1 bed place) to clear the mortgage than so be it.

You can still apply for council tax benefit if you have a mortgage we get £2.20 per week CTB!

We have no other debts, we have cleared everything. And obviously, we would be living off our equity if we sold up.

Have you looked at remortgaging to get a better deal & longer term to make it more affordable?

Also get down your council offices tomorrow and collect council tax benefit form. Your local council may well have a calculator you can use on line to see if you are eligible this evening.

YANBU - that sounds very stressful.

We jumped off the housing ladder into rented for 6 years and we are only now buying again.

I still think prices will come down again further - would you be better off selling up and renting for a while?

I hope buying a house will become more affordable, we have rented for years as houses are so expensive and it is taking so long to save a deposit.

I personally would keep going.

How old are your dc's? Surely once they are grown up it makes sense that you will have more money and will be able to pay your mortgage so it's only a real struggle whilst they are young?

YANBU. If renting is not always the best option (unless has some distinct advantages, like much cheaper or catchment for good school), maybe downsizing or remortgaging would be an option?
I also overestimated myself when getting on property ladder. Although my mortgage payment for 2 bed house is the same as it used to be rent for 1 bed flat, bills are significantly higher and the house appears to be a constant money sucker. We are coping at the moment, but I have made decision that we will downsize if it gets to unbearable point.
Good luck!

YABVU

You are very very lucky you bought 10 years ago before house prices went mad. So many families now are priced out. So please be a bit sensitive before you post and moan. You can always sell up and release all your tax free profits!

Me and my OH are very stretched on the property ladder but we're sticking with it because it's our retirement fund. Or at least, we can live rent free when we retire. And maybe downsize and use the extra money to go on holiday or some such. I'm not a massive fan of renting, myself, although I concede that it provides good flexibility if, say, you're about to relocate / go on a jaunt round the world / etc

Sorry mum I wasn't trying to be insensitive, we struggle, a lot! Is it really worth being mortgaged to the hilt for your old age if you are peniless now, won't be able to enjoy it if the stress kills me now, will I?

Have you already moved to interest-only repayments? If not it should really bring costs down. Not a good idea for the long term (you need to repay the mortgage somehow) but it would give you some breathing space for a couple of years.

I'd try and stick with your place if you possibly can, few people are going to have enough money in retirement and being strapped for cash might be even more stressful then.

We got off last year - we want to move area but it's taking time to find the right job/place so renting gave us the flexibility to be able to move quickly when the chance arises, and also means we have a garden which we didn't before. Rent is about the same as the mortgage but we paid off a lot off debt so we're better off for not having to service it.

I do ocassionally get the fear that we sold at the bottom of a market, but then who knows what will happen? And our quality of life is better for now than it was. Must be philosophical...

In response - I know you were not being insensitive, I was just making the point that because you bought 10 years ago you probably got reasonable value and you could sell now if you wanted to and release some equity. Imagine if you had bought in 2007 and were stretched - you wouldn't have the option to sell.

Its not a ladder, its your home.

Re: being mortgaged to the hilt - well the reason prices went up so much is that people were prepared to mortgage themselves to the hilt. IMO it would be mad to borrow more than 3x your salary because it would be hard to service the debt.

Interest rates are low now, and probably will be low for the next bit, but its likely that some time between now and your retirement interest rates and mortgage costs will be much higher. Its important now while rates are low to try and pay down as much capital as possible....