Should we buy?

[24GinDrinkingOnceTheKidsInBed]

We’ve viewed a 3 bed detached and a 3 bed semi detached today.

The detached was gorgeous although we weren’t initially going to go for a detached as the price is obviously a bit higher.

But after viewing the semi detached it’s really quite a bit smaller and we want a second baby; this has put us off the semi-detached and we’re now slowly falling in love with the detached the more we look back at the photos we took and talk about it.

It’s likely to be our forever home (in an area with family and 5 minutes from work).

The only downside is it would be 50% shared ownership.. and we’re about 7k shy of having enough to put down on it, we’ve got options. I’m about to receive some money as inheritance, and DP father will also lend us what we need; we can also put our house on the market for a slightly higher amount given the current market in our area.

So we have options, and it’s do-able. We’ve spoken to a leotard advisor and the monthly outgoing for the mortgage is more than affordable with our joint income.

We want to do it, but because it is over our initially thought on budget we’re feeling a bit anxious. It’s affordable which is the main thing but for some resin we’re both looking at each other with our thinking caps on saying “we love it, we should do it.. shouldn’t we?” Why are we questioning it? Is it becaus we’ve not done shared ownership before and obviously we won’t own 100% of our home after the 20 years of paying it, that we’ll have to then buy the other share.

For background; I’m 6 months post-maternity leave in a new job that pays considerably better than my last job, I’ve had 2 pay rises in 4 months and we have an annual pay rise in our contract.
My DP has recently also left his current job and upgraded to the same job but in a more specialist area, again pays more than he’s ever had before and is currently working on another area of speciality which could increase his income by 20/30k a year. In other words were only going to be better off in the future provided we don’t get sacked or our company’s don’t go under😂

I don’t know why I’m posting now I’ve blabbed on. Maybe just reassurance to just take the plunge and buy our dream home.

I would not want a shared ownership. It is easy to fit two children into a 3 bed semi, I fitted two into a 2 bed semi. I would rather own all the house and make the next move up the ladder under my own steam, you can save while you are in this step of home owning, and move up later.

I am all for a straight forward repayment mortgage and it will mean yu are not borrowing from family either.

Just my thoughts.

Will you be able to afford to buy the other share in 20 years? What if it goes up in value higher than inflation?

I'm just here to find out about the leotard adviser!

Yes we should be able to afford the other share later on.

Embarrassing but just to be transparent; DP has to do it off his sole income as I mucked up my credit score a few years ago (younger and stupid and didn’t actually know what a credit score was and how it would affect me) I’m still paying the price now (can’t get much credit other than a store card and credit card which I use to try and build it back up) it’s a slow process but it’s slowly raising and I’m hoping the marks on my report should be cleared in a couple years. I was wreckless and when we diced to start trying for DC1 was when I really started screwing my head on to manage my finances better.. which now I manage my finances quite well; I just need that to reflect on my credit report

So yes, hopefully in a few years when I’m not seen as a liability to lenders we can look to have a joint mortgage for the rest of the share.

Some people might say wait, but the house we live in now is too small, and we don’t really want to put the next stage in our life on hold.

& I’m sorry to disappoint but the leotard advisor is non existent.. the mortgage advisor exists though, not as in stressing but..

We’ve spoken to a leotard advisor and the monthly outgoing for the mortgage is more than affordable with our joint income.

😂

Oh god. Really wish I’d proofread.

Bloody leotard 😂

Started on the gin, huh? 😂

I don't think I'd do shared ownership, OP. When Ive read about it seems like a bad scheme. The money saving expert forums seem to think it's a bad idea too. You both sound like in just two or so years you'll be in a much stronger position. I know you think the house is small, but you'll manage.

Yeah we probably would manage. I suppose we’re just overly keen because the market is so good at the moment and from the valuations we’ve made a decent profit on the house if we sell; thanks to the market being a bit bonkers.

We’re a bit worried that if we don’t sell now; we’re going to be kicking ourselves.

Given the amount we brought our house for (bit of a do-er, up-er.. we definitely won’t be able to afford a bigger house for what we sell for outright. So even if we were to go for the 3 bed semi-detached it would still be under shared ownership.

We’re pretty set on shared ownership and we’ve been discussing it for a long time; lots of mum’s and ahh’s but we really do feel like it’s the only way we’re going to get a decently upgraded house. It’s the right decision for us.

In that case then go for it!

Like others, I would be nervous of shared ownership as a thing but now you've said that both are, then it negates the difference between the two.

Given all you've said about new jobs and big increase in income and the fact you can afford the payments just going on his salary (so you've also got yours to top that up, then, if comparing the 2 houses and taking out the shared ownership thing, then I would go for the detached. Better to stretch yourself now than have all the expense of moving again in 5 years.
But I don't really know the detail of how the shared ownership works, and if you can buy a bigger chunk of your house earlier than the 20 years; how the 'rent' on the none-owned bit works in terms of inflation; how the value is worked out in terms of improvements or lack of repairs; etc etc etc, so I might not be the best person to advise

I think the biggest decision is whether to go for shared ownership at all. What's your current position - are you renting? If you're renting I'd probably go for the bigger, detached house. If you already own a property and are able to stay for another year or two without a major problem, then I wouldn't entertain shared ownership tbh.

Only thing to flag up is you would probably need DP father to give you, not lend you, any of the extra money. It's a big no no to borrow to fund a deposit.

I’d make sure I got really top notch legal/financial advice to look at the implications of doing any shared ownership purchase.

You should really think through what happens if you got divorced or lost your jobs etc.

I think shared ownership is fine if its what you need to do, but if you don't really need to its quite an expensive option. Often they are new builds so lose value as soon as you buy them, then the fixtures and fittings are cheap and quickly break and you have to replace them even though you don't 100% own the house. Then in terms of buying the other other 50% the house could have doubled in value by then and then and the cost of the other 50% become astronimical. None of this would matter if your only other alternative was private rented, but it doesn't sound like that is the case.

Ok so I emailed the lady who showed us the home and discussed options with us.. and after we had viewed we chatted about doing shared ownership ect and asked about the detached house e.g features ect.

Emailed her today to say we’re interested in the detached home.. for her to come back and say they don’t even offer shared ownership on the detached homes.. only semi detached 😣🥲🥲

Oh no sorry OP