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Is it always worth buying just to get on the ladder?

Louise1234
Louise1234 Posts: 36 Forumite
First Post Combo Breaker First Anniversary
in House buying, renting & selling
A maisonette has come up in my town, 3 bedrooms for the price of a 2 bedroom in the area. It has been on the market since May and keeps being reduced. It has no parking and no garden but you can see the local park from it. We have seen it and nothing seems wrong (obviously no surveys done yet). The only downside that I can see is that it is opposite an old school that has been given permission to be knocked down and 64 new homes / apartments will be built in its place. Each house has a driveway / 2 parking spaces and each 1 bed flat has one space. The maisonette we like has no parking, dead end road directly opposite the new site. Nothing has started being built yet but permission was given in 2015 so presume it will be soon.

My question is.... is it worth buying (as it is cheap and a step on the ladder) or would you wait and hold out for something else but will be more expensive. We have recently moved in with my mum so no longer paying £1250 in rent.

I am a bit concerned we may get stuck there and not be able to move. It is big enough for our family but not our perfect home.

Any opinions welcome :)
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Comments

  • anselld
    anselld Posts: 8,275 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    You should only buy if you like it, want it and can afford it, just in case it is a snake rather than a ladder.
  • Louise1234
    Louise1234 Posts: 36 Forumite
    First Post Combo Breaker First Anniversary
    Yes to all, its nice, decent size, well maintained, long lease, can easily afford it will be £350 a month less than we have been paying in rent. Just a bit concerned at the building site across the road but have no experience on the impact it could have if that makes sense? Only negative is the no private garden as we have 2 young boys.
  • anselld
    anselld Posts: 8,275 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    Louise1234 wrote: »
    Yes to all, its nice, decent size, well maintained, long lease, can easily afford it will be £350 a month less than we have been paying in rent. Just a bit concerned at the building site across the road but have no experience on the impact it could have if that makes sense? Only negative is the no private garden as we have 2 young boys.

    The impact of a building site is short term. I would expect any half-decent new build development would be a positive impact vs a school when complete.
  • exiled_red
    exiled_red Posts: 261 Forumite
    I guess it depends on how long you are planning to live there and what the new development will do to the property price once that is complete.

    If you are looking at it as a short term option it will probably be more difficult to sell when the site across the road is under development. You should have a look at the plans for the development to see what it might do to the property/value of the property you are looking at.

    Can you and your family can cope with the noise while the development is on going? Will the development reduce the value of the property when it is complete?
  • Cakeguts
    Cakeguts Posts: 7,627 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    A 3 bed maisonette at the normal price for a 2 bed has got something wrong with it. It may have a short lease.
  • slowpoke_rodriguez
    slowpoke_rodriguez Posts: 307 Forumite
    No parking, no garden. That's the problem.
    Maybe people are baulking at the prospect of 2 years noise and dust next to a building site, but I'd be more concerned about no parking.
    How many one bed flats are being built? How many of them will need two parking spaces rather than one?
    Three beds but no parking? I wouldn't.
  • Rain_Shadow
    Rain_Shadow Posts: 1,798 Forumite
    Louise1234 wrote: »
    Yes to all, its nice, decent size, well maintained, long lease, can easily afford it will be £350 a month less than we have been paying in rent. Just a bit concerned at the building site across the road but have no experience on the impact it could have if that makes sense? Only negative is the no private garden as we have 2 young boys.

    Why do people think rent and mortgage payments are in some way comparable? Do you have any idea how much more expensive owning property is compared with borrowing it from somebody who takes responsibility for it?

    Anyway no parking is a killer if there isn't free public parking nearby. Keep looking.
    You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose but you can't pick your friend's nose.
  • ScorpiondeRooftrouser
    ScorpiondeRooftrouser Posts: 2,851 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Rain_Shadow wrote: »
    Why do people think rent and mortgage payments are in some way comparable? Do you have any idea how much more expensive owning property is compared with borrowing it from somebody who takes responsibility for it?

    Anyway no parking is a killer if there isn't free public parking nearby. Keep looking.

    U's not a 'killer'. It depresses the price quite considerably. if you don't need parking and buy it for a suitably depressed price, that is fine.
  • Bossypants
    Bossypants Posts: 1,273 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    Rain_Shadow wrote: »
    Why do people think rent and mortgage payments are in some way comparable? Do you have any idea how much more expensive owning property is compared with borrowing it from somebody who takes responsibility for it?

    Let's not exaggerate here. Yes, owning is more responsibility than renting, but if your rent is almost double your mortgage for a comparable property (which is it for many people, at least in my end of the country), I'd say it about evens out in the long run. In my case of my first house, I went from a rent of £900 to a mortgage of £500. Not counting cosmetic renovations which were done for my own enjoyment, over the course of three years I replaced the boiler and had extensive damp-proofing work done, spending a total of just under £6000. In other words, after three years, I was ahead almost £9,000 compared to where I would have been had I kept renting, without counting the additional equity I had gained over the period.

    Owning does come with a lot more peaks and troughs than renting, though, so I would always advise anyone making the change to put away any money that they are 'saving' on rent aside in a separate account meant only for property maintenance, at least for the first five years.
  • Peter333
    Peter333 Posts: 2,035 Forumite
    Rain_Shadow wrote: »
    Why do people think rent and mortgage payments are in some way comparable? Do you have any idea how much more expensive owning property is compared with borrowing it from somebody who takes responsibility for it?

    Anyway no parking is a killer if there isn't free public parking nearby. Keep looking.

    This. ^^^ :T

    People ALWAYS do this. *And there is no way that buying is a better alternative to renting, not these days. Maybe 20+ years ago, but not now. People also say things like 'MY mortgage is only £200 a month, and the rent for the same property is £900 a month!!!' Conveniently forgetting to mention that they bought it in 1995, or that they are paying interest only!

    I would NEVER buy a property purely for an investment, not these days; it's a terrible idea IMO. I know several people who bought buy-to-lets, and their tenant only has to miss a couple of month's rent, and they are in the mire, as they depend on the rent to pay the mortgage. And repairs are way more expensive than people think.

    I would never buy now, unless I had a good £10-15K in the bank spare for repairs. I also know a few people who have bought a house and had to fork out 2 grand for a new boiler immediately. And that was just the tip of the iceberg. A colleague of mine had to fork out five figures for a new roof within 6 months.

    Think very seriously before you buy a property. It's a money pit! And a maisonette with no garden and no parking? No thanks.

    I am not saying never ever ever buy, but don't be fooled into thinking it's way way better than renting, because it isn't. And FGS buy somewhere that you know you can sell easily at a future date, and check when everything was last replaced (like windows and doors and roof and kitchen and bathroom and boiler etc.)

    And when you are doing your finances, don't assume the 'mortgage payment' will be your only outgoing! As some would have you believe. Be prepared to pay for every last little thing (and BIG thing) that goes wrong with your property.

    (*I am not saying buying is worse than renting, but it's not necessarily BETTER.)
    You didn't, did you? :rotfl::rotfl:
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