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Original poster

Would you buy if you were me?

73 replies

Psychgrad · 23/07/2023 07:30

Some back story… dh and I are mid thirties, first time buyers and plan to have a baby next year.
We both have ties to London (non negotiable) for at least 4 years due to our jobs.

We have a lovely flat in a nice part of zone 2 that we rent now but the lease is up in February and rent will increase by ALOT by then (they’ve told us). Anyway, we have dogs and want a larger property with garden for more space when baby comes etc.

We recently decided to buy, have our AIP etc, our thinking was that it would be better than renting in the long run and even with inflation rising, buying is cheaper than renting.

my dilemma is.. I’m not sure I want to be in london for much longer, as I said we are tied here for a least 4 years but I’m just not excited about property here, we seem to be only able to afford small, cramped spaces on busy roads, in crap areas, even further out in zone 6 we could definitely get more for our money but then it’s the long commute and the costs of transport you have to factor in. We’ve also thought about moving out to essex or kent and commuting in but I’m thinking would it not be best to buy within london in the hope of making a profit in a few years? I realise it might not work out like that due to the current market but wouldn’t the properties in london do better than kent or essex?

We’re both from Dublin and want to move to the outskirts of there, close to the sea when we are finished with London. I feel impatient but I know it’s likely better to buy now as house prices are coming down. We viewed a property yesterday that was 400k in feb and now it’s reduced to 325k. It was also on the Elizabeth line so I can only imagine the value going back up in time?

So my question is, would you buy or just keep renting for the remaining few years? I say we’re here for 4 years but when you factor in time spent looking for properties/ selling with baby in tow we’re likely looking at 5 or 6 more years here. If we don’t buy now and wait four years, we’d be in our 40’s by the time we get around to buying our first home.

How do you get excited about buying properties in areas you don’t particularly like in a city you are becoming tired of?

OP posts:
DustyLee123 · 23/07/2023 07:35

I’d buy, look at it as an investment until you’re ready to make the big move. No point paying someone else’s mortgage for the next 4 years.

PimpMyFridge · 23/07/2023 07:37

The financially sensible thing to do would be to buy.
New mortgages in your 40 isn't ideal as retirement age can limit your choice of term length

FFSwhatisthis · 23/07/2023 07:39

Psychgrad · 23/07/2023 07:30

Some back story… dh and I are mid thirties, first time buyers and plan to have a baby next year.
We both have ties to London (non negotiable) for at least 4 years due to our jobs.

We have a lovely flat in a nice part of zone 2 that we rent now but the lease is up in February and rent will increase by ALOT by then (they’ve told us). Anyway, we have dogs and want a larger property with garden for more space when baby comes etc.

We recently decided to buy, have our AIP etc, our thinking was that it would be better than renting in the long run and even with inflation rising, buying is cheaper than renting.

my dilemma is.. I’m not sure I want to be in london for much longer, as I said we are tied here for a least 4 years but I’m just not excited about property here, we seem to be only able to afford small, cramped spaces on busy roads, in crap areas, even further out in zone 6 we could definitely get more for our money but then it’s the long commute and the costs of transport you have to factor in. We’ve also thought about moving out to essex or kent and commuting in but I’m thinking would it not be best to buy within london in the hope of making a profit in a few years? I realise it might not work out like that due to the current market but wouldn’t the properties in london do better than kent or essex?

We’re both from Dublin and want to move to the outskirts of there, close to the sea when we are finished with London. I feel impatient but I know it’s likely better to buy now as house prices are coming down. We viewed a property yesterday that was 400k in feb and now it’s reduced to 325k. It was also on the Elizabeth line so I can only imagine the value going back up in time?

So my question is, would you buy or just keep renting for the remaining few years? I say we’re here for 4 years but when you factor in time spent looking for properties/ selling with baby in tow we’re likely looking at 5 or 6 more years here. If we don’t buy now and wait four years, we’d be in our 40’s by the time we get around to buying our first home.

How do you get excited about buying properties in areas you don’t particularly like in a city you are becoming tired of?

@Psychgrad

i got tired of London & moved out to burbs to buy.

Really regret it! Yes you can get the train in 'to do stuff' but it's not the same as living there!

in your situation I'd buy the house there and be more focussed on making the most of it! I can't see you being in a worse situation doing that than continuing to rent.

what area in London can you buy a house for that £££ that's not really rough??

GoodChat · 23/07/2023 07:41

I think you would be mad not to buy a £325k property if you can get one in such a convenient location in London.

alwaysmovingforwards · 23/07/2023 07:44

IMO you need to love where you live first, and think of it's future value as one of many key considerations.

You sound like a property developer obsessed with what will make the most money as the priority.

5thclassstamps · 23/07/2023 07:51

OP we made a big move in 2019. The purchase of the house we were planning to buy fell through and as we were stuck living with relatives we ended up buying a house that we really didn’t love. DH persuaded me to buy it on the basis that if we lived in it for 2 years we’d have paid the same in stamp duty as in rent and paid off a bit of mortgage in the process. Then Covid happened. We spent a lot of time in the house and I grew to hate it. To cut a long story short we sold the house 2 years later for £175k more than we bought it. Always buy if you can. You don’t need to love it, you just to be paying your own mortgage, not anyone else’s.

DrySherry · 23/07/2023 08:03

Your rolling the dice if you are thinking of selling again in 4 years. However rents are so high in London that your purchase would need to fall a long way to loose more than rent paid over that period. That may or may not happen.
I would say as long as you have a largish deposit and accept the possibility that you may not profit its probably better to buy. I would wait until next spring at least though. Buy when rates are at a peak and vendors are struggling, and obviously try to buy something that will sell again when you want to move back to Dublin.
Dublin is also likley to have had a correction by then. In addition to the ECB looking to continue raising rates - the market there has been inflated by the golden visa scheme which has now been stopped.

Persipan · 23/07/2023 08:20

You know where you want to be in five-ish years so I would look at this property purchase as an opportunity to get over step closer to that. I wouldn't be expecting wild gains anywhere over that period, things being what they are, but I'd look for a property with a decent chance of holding value fairly well, and that I could do relatively inexpensive things to myself in order to present it in the best possible light when I came to sell it. Mainly, though, I'd be looking to build up some equity over that time, to put you in a better financial position when you make your eventual move. Not wildly exciting, no; but useful.

Original poster
Psychgrad · 23/07/2023 08:45

@FFSwhatisthis do you mind saying what area you moved to? Or why you regret it? The places we are looking at still have some things to do in the neighbourhoods and aren’t terribly far from London. Oh and the house for 325k is in a rough enough area but definitely not the worst, has some schools nearby that ‘require improvement’ so perhaps that’s why.

OP posts:
Original poster
Psychgrad · 23/07/2023 08:48

Good point @5thclassstamps, I think in some ways we are buying at a good time because at least house prices are falling. If we bought two years ago I don’t think we would have gotten anything decent.

OP posts:
Original poster
Psychgrad · 23/07/2023 08:52

Thanks for all the replies, so insightful.. I think I’m too much in my own head at moment.. so many life changes all at once.

One more question for you savvy people.. would you do share of freehold or leasehold? There are some freehold’s coming up but much further out and not always as nice.

OP posts:
StartupRepair · 23/07/2023 08:54

Don't wait 4 more years to get into the market. Buy this one.

watersprites · 23/07/2023 09:00

I wouldn't expect to see any huge gains in London prices particularly flats in 5 yrs time.

I would still try & but though as it's a long time to pay rent.

watersprites · 23/07/2023 09:02

what's your max budget?

Original poster
Psychgrad · 23/07/2023 09:10

@watersprites 350k

OP posts:
KievLoverTwo · 23/07/2023 09:13

No I wouldn't. Life is too short to live in a miserable home in a grim area. I would move out to Kent or Essex now to reduce rent and save furiously for a beautiful home in Ireland.

Boomboom22 · 23/07/2023 09:14

Personally I'd only buy full freehold so would avoid flats. Where in London do you need to be? I'm way out in Kent but when I go to London offices they are near charing cross so it's a 1 hr 15min journey door to door with 1 hr 8 or so on one train.

alwaysmovingforwards · 23/07/2023 09:23

Psychgrad · 23/07/2023 08:52

Thanks for all the replies, so insightful.. I think I’m too much in my own head at moment.. so many life changes all at once.

One more question for you savvy people.. would you do share of freehold or leasehold? There are some freehold’s coming up but much further out and not always as nice.

Freehold best, you own your little bit of planet Earth, but you're 100% responsible for it.

Leasehold means your ground rent is always in the hands of another.. but they are obliged to look after the building / grounds. So it's potentially expensive, but you are buying a service.

Share of freehold.. good in theory but can bring the headache of residents meetings to decide how much you all pay, what it's spent on, general griping about the managing agent etc. Depends how active you want to be in all that I guess.

pavillion1 · 23/07/2023 09:23

Nope i wouldn't buy in London esp to a home that was lacking in what you really want . We are in essex a little village next to a town that is zone 6 . My DP stopped going into london at the start of the pandemic and he now only goes in very occasionally. I do feel like we have the best of both worlds .

watersprites · 23/07/2023 09:24

@Psychgrad and you definitely can't move back to Dublin now? The property market there is pretty crazy, what will prices be like in 5 yrs time?

watersprites · 23/07/2023 09:30

What do you class as the burbs? I consider z3 outwards as that (where so grew up).

Somewhere you could get a flat would be upper norwood/streatham/norbury. You might find a house in Mitcham for your budget.

MTGBTTATP · 23/07/2023 09:34

Do you need to go into London every day - or once a week? There are commuter towns outside London that people previously would not have considered for a daily commute but would endure the longer train once a week for a better property

calmcoco · 23/07/2023 09:35

I'd buy if it made financial sense, and always freehold if possible.

All your rent is lost money. There are times this is the correct decision but 4 years = 48 months of rental payments. How much will you spend on rent over 48 months?

How much will you spend - in your worst case scenario - on mortgage interest part of your monthly payments plus cost of purchase plus any predicted loss of property value? It is usually the case that purchasing makes sense.

Original poster
Psychgrad · 23/07/2023 09:35

No can’t move back to Dublin now @watersprites, I am not qualified yet in my role so need to complete my qualification.

For those asking where we need to be.. DH needs to travel all over the outer boroughs of london (croydon, enfield, havering etc etc) there’s nowhere we can live that will be absolutely be perfect commute wise but one hour drive from London max. I am the one that’s mostly tied to London as I need to qualify here first, my placements will change every 6 months so we can live anywhere within london or just on the outskirts.

We just want to make a profit if in anyway possible but I realise breaking even isn’t the worse thing either. It would be great to make a profit in a few years and buy somewhere lovely, with great schools etc. but that’s everyone’s dream isn’t it?

OP posts:
calmcoco · 23/07/2023 09:49

At the present time I wouldn't bank on a profit but rather increasing equity through your mortgage payments. How much is your monthly rent? If £2k you will spend £96,000 over four years. You have to factor that in to your calculations.