Would it be crazy to just step off the property ladder?

[jobhuntersrus]

We live in a 2 bed semi with a loft conversion so now have 3 bedrooms. Downstairs is pretty small but we do have a bigish garden. We have 3 ds and really starting to feel the house is too small and if we are honest have felt this way for sometime. The chances of us buying the size house we need are pretty much zero. We are considering selling up, clearing a few debts and then renting. If we do this we can afford to rent a 4 bed family home. The surplus money from the sale will go into savings. Should we ever feel buying a house is best in future we will have a large deposit ready.
The more we think about it, the more it makes sense. We have debts which if cleared would release alot of money each month so would be great to see them gone. We have already spoken to the bank about borrowing more money to buy a bigger house but it wasn't enough extra to make moving worthwhile.

But....I have this feeling that for some reason we ought to own our own home. Why though? We need a bigger house now, not in 10 yrs time and there is no guarantee we will even be able to afford it then. Would we be crazy to move to rented? Anyone rented long term with a family? We would hope to be able to stay in one house for many years. Is that unrealistic? Hope that makes sense. Any thoughts?

Experience of friends is that renting is very insecure (6 homes in 6 years) and that landlords often prohibit children/pets even from the size of house that is only suitable for families.

Could you slightly move your area to the very edge of a neighbouring cheaper one, or buy a house that is v dated/needs work but is essentially big enough? Abandon all pretensions IYSWIM.

I'd think you'd be unlikely to get back on to buying a home unless you came into some money/got more buying power. Interest rates are as low now as they'll ever be.

It is really hard though with house prices so stupidly high in some places.

It can work with a few conditions

1. you find a stable secure landlord who is not likely to get repossessed/sell from under you. Try to negotiate a long term rental contract, at least 2 years.

2. you are really strict with your savings so that you don't dip into them and continue to save - if you do this you'll be better off than a lot of people I know with interest only mortgages living in la la land that at some point they'll be able to pay them off even though they are not saving towards them at all

3. keep an eye on inflation. House prices are probably not going to be rising over the next few years outside of prime central London but if inflation keeps up, outstripping savings rates, then you might be in trouble in the future.

The housing ladder isn't always a ladder, sometimes it's a snake.

Prices might fall so is not a bad idea to sell now and wait.

But i agree with Green re insecurity.

Is extending no option?

We've been renting for 6 years now after having sold our first house.

The pros have been lack of maintenance costs and the chance to try out a new area before committing to it long term.

However, we have struggled with landlords who haven't done repairs or maintenance. Also the insecurity of renting and the few rights we have as tenants. We are now buying again because of the lack of security - we were served notice by our landlord!

Agree prices may fall so a short term rental may not be a bad option - will put you in a good position too. Wouldn't advise renting longer term unless you have a great landlord or tenants are given better rights over property!

We did this last year and sold a terraced house with a tiny yard and are currently renting a bigger house round the corner with a garden.

We did this as we are hoping to move out of the area as soon as DH gets a job and renting gives us the flexibility to up sticks and move without the faff of having to wait for a house to sell.

I do sometimes freak a bit and wonder if we've done the right thing. But then I hear that house prices have fallen for the last three months, and we've had a garden all year for the DSs to run around in and to grow veggies and generally have a better standard of living without servicing debts that we had before we moved.

I dunno - i'ts not all about money is it, it's quality of life. That's what I keep telling myself anyway.

We haven't bought yet as haven't been able to. We have been renting the same house for nearly 3 years - we know the landlord wants someone here longterm - and it is a fab area with fab schools.

Now if we had the money of course we would buy but we would never be able to afford the house we live in now. The downside is that the house is a bit run down and the landlord is a bit slow to do stuff. I would say go for it, as long as you keep on saving. It is about quality of life and we are giving the dds a good quality of life in a great area.