help please!

angelcake

Thank you for all your advice and help! like I said I think I was a little naive in getting excited about this. Perhaps the best thing to do for now is to bide my time here (rent is £320 a month!) keep looking on here for advice - been reading through martins front page on mortgages etc..

it is so hard to save but will make a huge effort to do so. realistically thinking we are just not in the position to buy at the moment! - its just really hard to accept it!

I am tired now so will have a good read through and now I know how I can check my options I can perhaps get myself more prepared for the future!!

Thanks again

... another thought.... I am supposed to be viewing this property on monday so do I go and look?! is it worth it? - I know this contradicts what I said above but if there is the slightest chance then I would be so happy! ... although I think she thought she would get more from word of mouth... then she would if she put it on the market?!

hethmar

To be honest angel, there doesnt seem any point viewing. You can tell your friend honestly that you have looked into the practicalities and you simply couldnt balance the finances. There are schemes for first time buyers that give you an interest free loan for part of the purchase and you could look into those but I still think you would be very stretched. Its more sensible for you to save and wait. Your £320 rent would probably be a quarter of the mortgage payments/council tax/insurance/repairs etc.

neverdespairgirl

angelcake wrote: »

we are renting here too! and renting a house in this area costs around £700 a month just for a 3 bed!

That's £8,400 a year in rent.

This house, at £150k, would cost you £9,000 a year in the interest-only part of the mortgage, if you had a decent deposit, and you wouldn't actually be paying any of it back. And there are extra costs if you own instead of rent.

neverdespairgirl

angelcake wrote: »

Thank you for all your advice and help! like I said I think I was a little naive in getting excited about this. Perhaps the best thing to do for now is to bide my time here (rent is £320 a month!)

Are you managing to save, say, £600 a month paying that rent? IF you are, then you can save a deposit and afford that level of mortgage in the future.

dopester

angelcake wrote: »

They are moving back with her dad - he was promised the job was for keeps but the company went bust (or something like that) so they can't afford the house! She said she has Octobers mortgage payment and thats it so need a quick sale

It sounds like you want to rush to pay top-money for the sake of helping our friends in distress, rather than weighing up your own needs, and realistically determining all the variables playing down on house prices.

If it happened to him with his "job for keeps", are you sure your own employer might not have changes in circumstance? You wouldn't want to end up in the same position as your friends.... with a house you believe worth x-amount and needing to sell fast.

If your friend's house was so much value, surely they will have a rush of people wanting to buy it. Be aware there are 15 sellers to every 1 buyer at the moment.

Maybe it will be less hard to accept your not in a realistic position to buy right now, if you see house prices fall and fall further, whilst keeping your own jobs.

Zandoni

Just save as hard as you can and watch the prices drop, in a few years they may stop dropping and you will be able to afford a nicer house.

angelcake

Thank again! what you are saying is making a lot of sense! I haven't really thought it through that much! just saw a bigger house and I thought, a good opportunity which turns out it isn't after all!

basically save save save!

It makes it harder that we have to live in this small house, our baby is a year old now and in our bedroom, in 2 years she will be 3 my 2 other children will be older and need more room too (they are not old enough for bunk beds either! - its so depressing! BUT at least we have a roof over our heads!

my FIL was going to look into this a bit more for me today, but I think I will just link him to this thread to save his time.

Thanks again and I am sure I will be back! :rolleyes:

hethmar

Are you on the council waiting list?

GDB2222

hethmar wrote: »

Are you on the council waiting list?

That's a good question. Also, check out Income Support (or whatever it's called now). You might find that the extra cost of renting a larger place is covered by benefits.

dopester

Your post above is the right attitude imo.

angelcake wrote: »

It makes it harder that we have to live in this small house, our baby is a year old now and in our bedroom, in 2 years she will be 3 my 2 other children will be older and need more room too (they are not old enough for bunk beds either! - its so depressing! BUT at least we have a roof over our heads!

Yes, a roof over your heads, warmth, shelter and a fair income to support yourselves. I think we all consider that something to not take for granted.

And I understand the appeal of having a larger property that you can own, but do the sellers have children? If so I would imagine you are in a more comfortable position than they are, considering they are "boomerangs" (job loss, hard times, moving back to parents).

angelcake wrote: »

They are moving back with her dad - he was promised the job was for keeps but the company went bust (or something like that) so they can't afford the house!

BTW, in some areas there are downward pressures on rents. Could be worth monitoring your area for the trend.