Buy or rent?

[CrochetandLabradors]

Looking for some sensible advice please.
I’m 66 and planning to leave my husband this year.

We jointly own a house worth about £230, and each have about £80 in savings and investments, in our own names.
My pensions (work and state) total about £1500 a month. His pensions are worth more but I want a clean break from him.

I want to move to the North west, but houses I’ve looked at to buy would eat up my money, leaving almost nothing for repairs/ emergencies.

I looked at rentals online this weekend, for £750 -£800 and then thought that maybe my house money and investments combined could provide an income to almost cover the rent, leaving the capital intact?

Am I thinking this straight?

Id try to buy if you possibly can, you could buy somewhere fairly new and easy to maintain.
You could save a small amount every month for maintenance.

Rentals will go up with inflation, your income from investments hopefully will but not guaranteed.
Plus there's no security in a rental.

Thank you @mandoforever.
I’ve not rented since the very early 80’s so it’s a scary thought!

My thinking is that if in a decent rental I won’t have to pay for repairs etc.
Looking at buying, I would be able to buy a fairly decent 2up2down terrace for about £150, which after solicitor/estate agent/ removals would leave me with about
£15 - £20k in savings to buy a car, furniture etc.

I’m really unsure. I’ll talk to my adult children soon, (Not my husband’s children) but I need a game plan.

Would you be mortgage free? If so 100% buy

I’d try to buy for the security. It wouldn’t be fun being in your 70’s and 80’s and the landlord wants to sell and you have to move.

@lastqueenofscotland

Yes I’d be mortgage free but would have almost no savings.
Trying to think that if investments produced almost £600 month that would almost cover rent, leaving capital intact.
I really don’t know.

I'd buy. The £800 you'd pay in rent would soon add up. You'd be better leasing a car than a house to retain your remaining savings.
Don't forget you may need to move multiple times in rentals which is always costly. If you wait and are then priced out of the market you may regret it

Isn't it unlikely an investment of approx £190k will provide an income of £600 per month? Unless I've misunderstood something about your calculations.

You can pick up furniture and white goods cheaply on local selling pages.
Get basics to do you in the early months and replace them in a year when you've had chance to save a little.
If you can keep 10k back and buy you'd be in a decent position

If you are going to be mortgage free i would most definitely buy. At 66 years and going forward renting would not be the way I would go forward.

I divorced at a similar age to you and bought a 2 bed flat. My net income is the same as yours. Its manageable and I'm in London.

I would definitely buy as it gives you security, and the rental market in the north is so precarious. Lots of buy to let landlords who cannot afford to maintain the houses they own. So you could end up having to move after a year or so.

If you have time, you can pick up good quality furnitire for next to nothing. There are so many families selling properties of relatives who have died or gone in to care homes. Many of them are full of furniture but they end up donating it or paying someone to take it away.

With an income of £1500 per month you should be able to fund repairs. And you can get a second hand car or a vehicle on on hire purchase - you do not need to shell out a lump sum

Assuming the 4% rule of thumb for drawing down on your £190k pot of house money plus savings for 30 years you would draw £7.6k a year or about £600 a month.

If you wanted to go more conservatively you could easily half that.

Personally I’d probably buy in that position as my perception is that rents have tended to outstrip growth elsewhere and there is no cure for the supply and demand mismatch for housing on the horizon.

Why not rent initially whilst you get used to things and can fathom out your long-term finances. If you rush to buy, it's more difficult to undo, but you could rent for 12m and work it out. Things will look and feel differently in 12m and you'll have had time to adjust.

I have relatives to separated at 68/70 after many years of marriage. Life apart took an awful lot of adjustment and they were both glad they rented initially whilst they got used to the new financial and domestic set up.

Definitely speak to your children & hope things work out

I would buy if I was your age, as the insecurity of tenure in renting wouldn't be much fun. However, I wondered if you would be in a position to service a small mortgage of say £30k over 4 years? That would at least let you have a decent buffer, should anything happen. My mortgage provider would have allowed me to go up to age 70, if I had wanted, so I'm sure others have the same provision too.

Do not rent. Renting is not the same as it was in the 80s, there are no new secure tenancies. At your stage of life you want a HOME. This is difficult to achieve if you know you could be turfed out on a whim. Do you really want to be 80, paying ever more on rent each year and suddenly informed your landlord is selling and you will have to leave. Do you want to be living somewhere that you can’t paint or choose your own fittings and fixtures? That’s what renting will be

As someone who currently rents BUY BUY BUY it's absolutely a nightmare to rent! Constant inspections etc !

Currently trying to buy my own but the market is 🔥 currently !

Good luck to you OP ❤️

Thank you all for replying. You’ve given me a lot to think about.

I would not like to rent in retirement. It’s very unstable. Buying will give you security which is priceless when you get older.

Renting would be madness. You need a secure home.