Is it worth buying property for 3 years?

[HotChoc10]

My husband has got a 3 year job contract in Scotland, which he is going to take (I fully support him in this). We currently live in London, and I have just started a new job which I don’t want to leave. Initially we were thinking he would rent a room Mon-Fri and come home on the weekends. This looks like it would be in the region of £400 pcm.

I know everyone says not to buy unless you’re going to keep it for 5 years, but I feel like it would make more sense to buy a small flat so I could go up on the weekends too. Based on rightmove, we would be looking for something around the £125k mark and we could afford to put about a £30k deposit down after stamp duty. Based on current mortgage rates, it looks like this would also cost about £400 pcm on a 25 year mortgage, which I think we could overpay by about £200 pcm.

For what it’s worth, we have a very small mortgage for our house in London and our rate is fixed at a very manageable rate until the whole thing is paid off in 8 years. We don’t have children.

renting would be £14400 down the drain to pay someone elses mortgage so i would say buy a small flat if the cost is the same , also if his contract was extended thats even more money in rent down the drain, and flats are always sellable after the three years is up so you would either get your money back or even make some money if it went up in value

I think it makes a lot of sense to buy if you can afford it, just remember that stamp duty on second homes is much higher so factor that in. I would NOT sell after the three years are up, I would buy the place as an investment and then change to a buy to let mortgage and rent it out.

I’m not following the Maths. You can rent + pay utilities + travel from Scotland to London every weekend for £400 per month?

I’d find out about the local market in the area you’re interested in to see if the flat will be easy to sell afterwards + explore the taxes involved as many things are different in England and Scotland.

And it’s a bit strange on a relationship level - choosing to be separate most of the time when you don’t have any financial pressure to take a job so far away.

And probably for 0 or very little financial gain when you factor in the costs of running 2 households and travelling.

DH did that commute for three months and found it very hard. He was doing it by the sleeper most often though which didn’t help.

If you can afford it, why not? It is an asset and once you are done using the property, rent or air B&B it. If the prices rise, worth the sale as well.

@jojosm2 no, just rent would be ~£400, so more with travel and bills.

Our fixed mortgage is £600 but when we were renting in London we were paying £1400 + bills and still saving a decent amount, so there is a bit of leeway for the extra set of bills and travel. It would deplete our savings though.

It wouldn't be my first choice on a relationship level but it's an excellent opportunity for him that I don't want him to pass up.

Fair enough if that's a great way of building his career. Have you got a plan for what you're going to do afterwards if the good jobs for him are up in Scotland and not in London?

Would your husband be up for a house share at all? I know that I'd be way past that so would want to rent a whole flat or buy a place with the view to either sell or rent out afterwards.

tbh 125k for a flat in edinburgh isnt going to be in a decent area or at the very edges of the city

Not Edinburgh @chipsandpeas!

@HotChoc10 apologies, for some unknown reason i thought you had said edinburgh

Stamp duty and solicitor's fees will be in the tens of thousands, no?

I would get your husband to try his job for 6 months first before making any decisions - one or both of you could feel differently about your jobs / being apart in 6 months. So would rent first.

There's also a lot of additional costs in buying and selling especially an additional property which incurs much higher stamp duty rates and running costs over rental.

I would have a think about the longer term - if say you both want kids where do you see yourself being and would thoroughly research this - schools, lifestyle, costs etc. I would also be wary about assuming house prices will rise with Brexit looming and wouldn't rule out a larger fall in certain scenarios. Personally I would vere towards renting but all week so you can go up there and see the area. Then when you are ready to make longer term decisions make one.

If you could afford a two bed, two bath, he could rent out a room and get a good contribution to the mortgage. See the Government's Rent a Room Scheme.

I’d be nervous of a property price crash post-Brexit, so I’d rent for 6-12 months and then decide.

Any property crash would not be immediate. I would say rent for 6 months though so you can find an area you would want to buy in and make sure the job is going to work out because, life happens!

Can you say where you would be buying, OP? The market varies in different parts of the country, but there aren't the falls in values that are happening in London.

I'm Scottish & a LL; I'd check out if you'd have to pay extra taxes as you already own a property. And be a aware of our "offers over" system, where you can be paying a lot more than the asking price at a closing date.

www.stampdutycalculator.org.uk/stamp-duty-scotland.htm

Looks like its £5k to me.

I always pick to buy instead of rent unless I know the market is lowering which would of course mean you might lose out on money.

If you can afford it, do it (buy, that is)

Where I live it’s a rubbish time to buy as next year we’re expected to hit a low.... it could raise by the time you sell but it also could keep you stuck in a mortgage or losing out on money when you have to move