Do (or Did!) you feel pressured to buy a home?

skint

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No pressure to buy for me.

However, I really wanted to buy. I’ve got my flat and I’d love a house, I’ll just never afford one in London. :(

But thems the breaks. Hopefully in 10 years I can sell my flat, buy a house somewhere mortgage free and enjoy life before I die! :D
Good plan.
 

Jon

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No pressure to buy for me.

However, I really wanted to buy. I’ve got my flat and I’d love a house, I’ll just never afford one in London. :(

But thems the breaks. Hopefully in 10 years I can sell my flat, buy a house somewhere mortgage free and enjoy life before I die! :D
Whenever I see location / house programs on TV the price of living in london I always find eyewatering.

The amount of money people pay for 1 bedroom studio flats etc I just find baffling!
 

The Reverend

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Whenever I see location / house programs on TV the price of living in london I always find eyewatering.

The amount of money people pay for 1 bedroom studio flats etc I just find baffling!

When I first came to london I rented. The area I rented I could have bought a studio apartment for about £200k

By the time I could buy, 3 years later, the same studio apartment was £350k.

In fact, Currently you can get a bargain flat for £245k...

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-51441690.html

When you can count the TOTAL square metres on less than 10 fingers!

:D
 

Jon

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When I first came to london I rented. The area I rented I could have bought a studio apartment for about £200k

By the time I could buy, 3 years later, the same studio apartment was £350k.

In fact, Currently you can get a bargain flat for £245k...

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-51441690.html

When you can count the TOTAL square metres on less than 10 fingers!

:D
by comparison

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-62228788.html
 

Jon

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I’ve not heard of the LS postcode? Is that in Scotland?

:p
giphy.gif
 

Debtbuster18

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Hello, newbie here :)

I am 28, Husband is 31. We currently rent our 2 bed house (have done for the last 7 years) with 2 children. I do want to own a house but we aren’t in the position to save atm, poor financial choices and going to university (both) at separate times later in life mean we’ve never had the opportunity. This year we are paying off the last of our debt whilst Husband finishes his degree then we can start saving.

I do feel massively pressured into buying, my mum always says ‘you need to get on the property ladder asap’. But, I was having a fiddle around with the mortgage calculator on the green site and I think we will save for a fair few years and build us a good deposit, ideally I’d want 50% so that we aren’t paying as much interest, it’s crazy knowing how much money you’ll have paid off in interest on your house! I’m hoping we can live off of one wage when OH gets a decent job. I don’t want a big one, 2/3 bedrooms is fine. We have 2 daughters and want no more children. I love where we live, the location, the price of rent we pay isn’t massive. I’ve had next to know hassle but repairs done from the landlord in the last 7 years.
 
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Jon

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Hello, newbie here :)

I am 28, Husband is 31. We currently rent our 2 bed house (have done for the last 7 years) with 2 children. I do want to own a house but we aren’t in the position to save atm, poor financial choices and going to university (both) at separate times later in life mean we’ve never had the opportunity. This year we are paying off the last of our debt whilst Husband finishes his degree then we can start saving.

I do feel massively pressured into buying, my mum always says ‘you need to get on the property ladder asap’. But, I was having a fiddle around with the mortgage calculator on the green site and I think we will save for a fair few years and build us a good deposit, ideally I’d want 50% so that we aren’t paying as much interest, it’s crazy knowing how much money you’ll have paid off in interest on your house! I’m hoping we can live off of one wage when OH gets a decent job. I don’t want a big one, 2/3 bedrooms is fine. We have 2 daughters and want no more children. I love where we live, the location, the price of rent we pay isn’t massive. I’ve had next to know hassle but repairs done from the landlord in the last 7 years.
wow 50% is a huge chunk for a deposit

will be worth it in the end as you will pay a lot less in interest!
 
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Queen Jess

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wow 50% is a huge chunk for a deposit

will be worth it in the end as you will pay a lot less in interest!

I am personally in favour of bigger deposits - I mean allowing people to buy houses with 5% deposits who couldn't really afford the mortgage on that amount is partly why the country got into a financial mess. Although actually I still think the banks will lend more than I think is affordable (I was offered more than I thought was wise to take on)... anyway.. rant over.

I think I bought my house with a 30% deposit in the end and am trying to make overpayments to bring it down further. I didn't specifically decide 30% was the right number, it sort of happened like that, although I definitely wanted at least 20%.

The thing to balance in your mind is that as you are saving, your buying ability is declining as house prices rise. 2.5 years in and my house has gone up in value such that if I had continued to save instead of buy, I am not sure I could buy it anymore (although I was at my absolute budget max when I bought). It's a difficult thing to decide, but in the end it has to be up to your risk attitude. At least if you are happy in your rental house there is no big rush to do it.

Good luck to you and just remember to maximise your cash interest rates whilst saving.
 
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kirsty

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I was very pressured into buying. My dad has moaned at me for years to buy something, even though he himself never owned a house till he married a woman that did. I was never interested, was happy to rent knowing that although I could have gotten a mortgage (back in the days of 100% ones) I would be unlikely to ever have a pot of cash sitting about for any repairs etc. Then one day it suddenly hit me that just in the flat we were in at that time we had paid over 20k in rent and got nothing to show for it, our landlord could literally have put us out on the street and we weren't exactly going to get our 20k back! We couldn't afford to save (I am an nhs nurse just like someone further up the thread) but I got a very small inheritance and used that as a 5% deposit on our flat. in some ways I regret it because we are in so much more debt now with ending up with extra unexpected legal fees plus all the things we needed to buy over the first few months and I know it will take us a while to recover from that financially. For the most part though I think it was the right thing to do. We have bought at a time where prices are still reasonably low (we also paid 5k under market value), but our mortgage rate is pretty good, especially given our tiny deposit. My concern comes with selling it on, as we would like to buy a house in a few years and I am concerned about finding a buyer and how do we get another mortgage etc etc, but that is years in the future.
 
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The Reverend

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I was very pressured into buying. My dad has moaned at me for years to buy something, even though he himself never owned a house till he married a woman that did. I was never interested, was happy to rent knowing that although I could have gotten a mortgage (back in the days of 100% ones) I would be unlikely to ever have a pot of cash sitting about for any repairs etc. Then one day it suddenly hit me that just in the flat we were in at that time we had paid over 20k in rent and got nothing to show for it, our landlord could literally have put us out on the street and we weren't exactly going to get our 20k back! We couldn't afford to save (I am an nhs nurse just like someone further up the thread) but I got a very small inheritance and used that as a 5% deposit on our flat. in some ways I regret it because we are in so much more debt now with ending up with extra unexpected legal fees plus all the things we needed to buy over the first few months and I know it will take us a while to recover from that financially. For the most part though I think it was the right thing to do. We have bought at a time where prices are still reasonably low (we also paid 5k under market value), but our mortgage rate is pretty good, especially given our tiny deposit. My concern comes with selling it on, as we would like to buy a house in a few years and I am concerned about finding a buyer and how do we get another mortgage etc etc, but that is years in the future.

Hi Kirsty,

Just want to pull you up on this bit.

"Then one day it suddenly hit me that just in the flat we were in at that time we had paid over 20k in rent and got nothing to show for it"

You'd had somewhere to live. Thats what you had to show for it.

I think owning a place is good, but renting is still perfectly acceptable. There is nothing 'bad' in renting, but for some reason, in the uk, we don't think it is a good idea.

I have rented. I have owned.

Both serve a purpose.

:)
 
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Jon

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I was very pressured into buying. My dad has moaned at me for years to buy something, even though he himself never owned a house till he married a woman that did. I was never interested, was happy to rent knowing that although I could have gotten a mortgage (back in the days of 100% ones) I would be unlikely to ever have a pot of cash sitting about for any repairs etc. Then one day it suddenly hit me that just in the flat we were in at that time we had paid over 20k in rent and got nothing to show for it, our landlord could literally have put us out on the street and we weren't exactly going to get our 20k back! We couldn't afford to save (I am an nhs nurse just like someone further up the thread) but I got a very small inheritance and used that as a 5% deposit on our flat. in some ways I regret it because we are in so much more debt now with ending up with extra unexpected legal fees plus all the things we needed to buy over the first few months and I know it will take us a while to recover from that financially. For the most part though I think it was the right thing to do. We have bought at a time where prices are still reasonably low (we also paid 5k under market value), but our mortgage rate is pretty good, especially given our tiny deposit. My concern comes with selling it on, as we would like to buy a house in a few years and I am concerned about finding a buyer and how do we get another mortgage etc etc, but that is years in the future.
Was there a reason you bought a flat instead of a house?

I was scared off flats for a multitude of reasons around leasehold / inability to expand the property / ground rent etc.

I’m guessing the flat was in an area you really wanted to live!
 

katykicker

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I agree that rent isn't dead money, you lived somewhere, it provided a purpose.

I'm renting ATM and waiting for the perfect place to come up before I jump to buying (late next year/early next)
 

kirsty

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Was there a reason you bought a flat instead of a house?

I was scared off flats for a multitude of reasons around leasehold / inability to expand the property / ground rent etc.

I’m guessing the flat was in an area you really wanted to live!


We couldn't and probably wouldn't ever be able to raise the deposit for a house is the short answer. We were stuck in that horrible position of being able to get a mortgage but had very little savings and very little chance of building that up.

Prior to viewing the flat we had never even been to the area we now live in actually. It was purely down to finding something we could afford, within reasonable travel time of work that wasn't a total rip out and start again job because we absolutely had to move in pretty much right away as we couldn't afford the mortgage and the expensive rent for long. We have been quite lucky really, we have a freehold so no ground rent, its in a reasonable area and was pretty cheap because we are outwith the city. We obviously can't do much with the property externally which I guess is one downside and of course we have neighbours to worry about moreso than with a house as they are directly above/below us.
 

kirsty

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I agree that rent isn't dead money, you lived somewhere, it provided a purpose.

I'm renting ATM and waiting for the perfect place to come up before I jump to buying (late next year/early next)


I think different things mean different to different people if you know what I mean? I couldn't wait for the perfect place is the honest answer, I had got it in my head that I wasn't willing to pay out anymore money in rent when I could buy something and spend less monthly - once I had convinced myself of that it was almost impossible to shift that mindset. thats not to say i am right, just that thats how I felt. I was very happy renting for a number of years but once my mind flipped to the notion of buying something but still being better off being a better deal it was hard to see it any other way. we are £150 less for our mortgage than we were for our rent, our council tax is also cheaper as we are in a lower band somehow which was a happy accident, and we don't need to put up with our old landlord anymore. With rents going up and up it just made sense to me and that 20k could have paid off almost half my mortgage, like I say it was just how I was thinking about it at the time
 
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katykicker

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I think different things mean different to different people if you know what I mean? I couldn't wait for the perfect place is the honest answer, I had got it in my head that I wasn't willing to pay out anymore money in rent when I could buy something and spend less monthly - once I had convinced myself of that it was almost impossible to shift that mindset. thats not to say i am right, just that thats how I felt. I was very happy renting for a number of years but once my mind flipped to the notion of buying something but still being better off being a better deal it was hard to see it any other way. we are £150 less for our mortgage than we were for our rent, our council tax is also cheaper as we are in a lower band somehow which was a happy accident, and we don't need to put up with our old landlord anymore. With rents going up and up it just made sense to me and that 20k could have paid off almost half my mortgage, like I say it was just how I was thinking about it at the time
For me I'm in a HA place, and moving to a council place, that I'll be able to buy at an 80k discount. This makes the perfect place even more important for us, as we'll have to be there for 5 years before we can sell or re-pay some of our discount.

We're in a bit of a unique situation so time is definitely on our side money wise. Our rent is cheap and we're saving monthly too.
 

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Yeah see we were almost the opposite. we were renting, but the house we were in had been on the market and landlord had every intention of selling it at some point. Although I don't doubt we could have stayed there another good while, the thought of him turning round one day and saying he was taking our home away from us was too much on my mind. our rent, although not cheap as such was much cheaper than it should have been for the area, we literally couldn't afford to rent where we were renting. We couldn't get a housing association or council house if our lives depended on it as we have no kids so aren't a priority, and even if we could have there is no right to buy in Scotland anymore. I had signed up to all the owner occupier schemes with all the local housing associations and never even had a sniff of an offer, despite on paper being a good candidate for such a scheme. When i started looking at what a mortgage would cost us compared to our much cheaper than average rent, that sealed the deal for me. I know we will have the hassle of putting this on the market and buying something else one day but it seemed worth it at the time. Whether it turns out to be worth it or not in the end I guess only time will tell. If we could have done what you are doing, we would have jumped at the chance though!
 

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Well I do feel pressured now. I accepted an offer on my house 3 months ago and still haven't found somewhere I like to move to. My buyers are now threatening to pull out if we don't exchange contracts soon so I need to move fast. I've got a viewing tomorrow but if that doesn't work out I will probably have to complete on the sale of my house and rent.

Does anyone know of any cheap storage places? Big yellow and the other self store warehouses cost more a month than some houses cost to rent!
 

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Well I do feel pressured now. I accepted an offer on my house 3 months ago and still haven't found somewhere I like to move to. My buyers are now threatening to pull out if we don't exchange contracts soon so I need to move fast. I've got a viewing tomorrow but if that doesn't work out I will probably have to complete on the sale of my house and rent.

Does anyone know of any cheap storage places? Big yellow and the other self store warehouses cost more a month than some houses cost to rent!
Ready steady store (don’t know if they are just a Leeds firm or not) are pretty reasonable
 
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