Single Mom - Shared wonder ship b owning outright - help me decide!!

[humpetyhump]

Hey,

I am really struggling to decide whether to go for a shared ownership property or owning outright as a single mom.

Essentially owning outright would mean buying a flat within 5-10 miles of hometown. This is where all my family and ex and his family live. So all support in addition to my work and DDs preschool. obviously owning outright would be better but a shared ownership property would allow me to stay in my hometown close to everyone. I appreciate 5 miles is really nothing tho..

can anyone offer any advice? Or important things to consider? I’ve never bought a property before.

I know shared ownership has a very mixed reception. Any experiences?

thank you!

I bought one of the first shared ownerships in the 80s, and latterly worked for a housing association. Shared ownership a definite no! Rent and service charges, rises and charges, alongside responsibility for repairs, trying to get the HA to fix defects, mean you really would be between a devil and a hard place. If you can buy outright, do so.

If you go for shared ownership chek that the conditions allow you to staircase to 100% ownership and then have a clear plan on how you can achieve this and by when. Also, check that rent and service charges are reasonable and the total in addition to your mortgage does not exceed the mortgage on a property you own outright. If you can say yes to the above then you can consider shared ownership especially as it means being close to family, work, school etc ... if not then I'd say owning outright would be the better option.

All the best.

This. There are lots of downsides.