Would you be comfortable borrowing this much?

[Yikesno]

We have £375k and decent houses in the area we really love are £650k (London area).So we'd be looking at getting a mortgage of £275k.

My job pays £100k. DH only works part time and earns £11k. No children, no debts, no health issues and I have a great defined benefits pension and very stable job I enjoy (public service). On paper it looks fine but...I'm 50. Would you go for it at my age?

Sounds affordable

We have just gone from a mortgage of £95K to £275K, we earn around £120K between us. 2 kids at primary and early 40s.

It’s the fact that the mortgage amount is going up so much that has taken a lot of getting used to for me, but it was now or never for our forever home.

Totally affordable with your large deposit!

Its ok, we went from 118k (me only) to 412,000k joint with earnings of around 120k (plus overtime NHS) late 30s, no kids (though trying). I was a bit apprehensive but that’s what it takes to be in more expensive areas. I would now consider upsizing if needed. I think it depends on future earnings which currently are low for my DH and will likely be considerably higher in the future for both of us.

It sounds fine - I’d do it and plan to overpay the mortgage as long as it doesn’t affect your lifestyle.

Not with a work shy husband.

If there’s just the two of you and you’re downsizing why a house?

have you looked at flats? What area are you looking at? If I was retiring I’d be looking at the closest to the centre I could afford, even if it meant flat rather than house.

Op has explained her DH's work situation and is perfectly happy with it. It. Helps if you RTFT.

Thank you @ApolloandDaphne 😊 . DH isn't work shy (nor is this the relationship board 😅).

We'd like a house because we have a dog and also because we don't want to deal with a Leasehold.

Absolutely NOT. That price will be down 35% over the next 2 years and then you'll need to borrow much much less.

Check out Moving Home with Charlie for current market status and expectations.

No. I'd wait. Property is on the point of collapse. Two years and go in at the bottom. Rent your existing property and rent in London for the time being.

I might also add that I work a £100k public sector job and am 63. I have said I'll retire at 65. I am more tired than ever I used to be after 55 hour week. I have no need to work, except that I like work, but if I had to do it with no choice to pack it in, I think I would weep.

Just a small correction. The market has been collapsing since June last year. It's just that the data everyone sees is lagged.

Yes, true, but there's further to go - a lot further imo.

Thanks, both. I am really wavering on what to do - buy now or wait. If I were buying a flat I would definitely wait. However it seems from what I can see that small freehold houses in London are still being snapped up for over asking. I ring the estate agents to ask about various houses and any that look decent and have been on over a week they tell me are under offer. Post-pandemic everyone wants a garden, and people are wary of Leasehold. So while I think what you're saying is true generally, I suspect the places I'm looking for may be an exception.
Interesting about being tired in your 60s....I feel fine now and think I'd be bored if I didn't work. Plus I work from home around 75% of the time. But all that could change of course. Hmmmm, decisions decisions!

Hi OP. You are me! I earn the same, with low earning DH. We both love our careers and find them
hugely rewarding. We live in London in a small-ish house. Both wfh 3 days with 1 day in office.

The difference is we took on the £250k mortgage (with very low loan to value) pre pandemic.

I do think about the mortgage a lot especially now interest rates are going up but the debt to income ratio is ok, and when I calculate 6-8% interest rates it's manageable.

We are happy and settled and enjoy our lives. No plans to retire or cut back on work. You have to live now so sorting housing is beneficial to health and happiness.

London makes me very happy.

That was my first thought , I'm wondering if OH is semi retired but then where's his pension . It's a concern that if anything happens your husbands income is insignificant in covering the loan .

Definitely and I wouldn't really think twice about it tbh.

Jeez just do it.

@Yikesno that's exactly what people said and did in London in the second half of 1988. They were weeping within the year.

I bought my house in 1987 for £127,500. The house next door but one was renovated to the nines and sold for £189,000 towards the end of 1988. By the end of 1989 values were back to £120,000 to £125,000. Personally I think things will be worse this time round.

Why will they be worse?

Unless there are mass layoffs people will suck it up. And I’m a FTB who’s personally love a crash (if we kept our jobs).

Idk. We earn 100k between us (benefit in kind tax reduces actual take home). We took a mortgage over a short period, I'm 50 and we have 8 years to go and it's killing me to be committed to 1500 a month, plus late to have kids so there's no wiggle room. But our house is tiny and not worth as much.

Interest rates are already over 5% on average so if not bank on it remaining around there. Even if you fix for five years. But maybe your pay will go up too?
Though only issue then is if something happens and you can't do your job or you lose it or whatever - so maybe take insurance on that.
My husband was the main breadwinner and died suddenly we had a huge mortgage (though below 1% - those were the days)! I had to sell almost straight away, hence my warning,

@ThankmelaterOkay because there wasn't the same inflationary pressure then. Also back then there was not an entire industry based on high disposable income: nails, disposable fashion, waxing, grooming, after school activities, gym subscriptions, coffee shops, multiple restaurants, etc., people didn't replace furniture as often, have mobile loan contracts and car loans for flashy cars to the same extent. Therebwas little or no wedding industry. All that will fall flat and increase unemployment/reliance on benefits, etc.

I would be comfortable with that. If needs be you'd need to cut your cloth, you'd be able to downsize or move back out of London if you had to and buy a cheaper house outright.