Purchasing a house vs renting

blizeH

Hi,

I'm finally(!!) ready to move out now I think, I'm 23 so enough is enough

I've been saving hard for around 5 years now, and have always had my heart set on owning my own home as soon as possible; but does that make financial sense now?

I'm in a position where I can either buy a house with little or no mortgage, let a room to a friend at a very low price (everyone wins, kind of) or I can just go halves with said friend, pay four hundred or so each month to a landlord, which whilst that sounds like a waste, is also kind of tempting due to the uncertainty of house prices, but also use it as a chance to see what that area is like before moving there full time.

Any advice on this would be great, thanks!

Loughtonlad

Renting is definately the order of the year. Also, as you say it will help you figure out if you like the area enough or not.
As the house prices are falling down in general, you are probally not loosing money anyways.

Good luck

paulinedavies

I own a house, but currently live in rented accomodation with my boyfriend. My mortgage is a lot less than current rents - although there is talk of these falling, and for sure there are a lot more To Let signs around.

If you don't really know an area, I think the answer is to rent there for a while. If you don't like the area and wanted to move, selling a house wouldn't be much fun at the moment. I'm sure you've also thought about how secure your job would be/ and likelihood that you would move for a better job etc.

If you know that you are settled in an area and that it's the right place for you it is my opinion that buying a house albeit with the assistance of your mortgage company gives much more security and peace of mind. It means that you can make changes and provided you keep paying any mortgage, you will not be forced to move.

My rent is very cheap, and my landlord is great - he recently gave someone in another of his properties over a year's notice of his intention that they should move on - but i would still prefer to live in a property I owned.

blizeH

Sounds great, many thanks guys, renting is the way forward then - especially since I live in a quiet area at the moment and want to move to a city, not entirely sure what to expect!

When you rent a place, does it usually have minimum contracts like 6 months/12 months?

The thing that's still tempting me to buy, is that I'd be able to charge £200~ instead of £400~ to the person I'd be letting a room to - that's a lot cheaper for them, and also the money would go into my pocket then and not the landlords, so we'd both win, you know?

CHARDONNAY_3

I can see why you'd be tempted to buy, but as you've said, house prices are continuing to fall & you'd be moving to an area you've never lived in before.

Therefore I'd defo recommend renting, at least for 6 - 12 months (from my experience this tends to be most common min. contracts)

In 6 -12 months house prices will have fallen further, you'll have had the chance to get to know the area and you'll know if you & your mate still get on living under the same roof.

Now that seems like the real win win situation to me!

pandamonia

get ready for chucky, essotwo and really2 who own homes and want you to buy so you can lose thousands like them!

confused31_2

If its a strange area i would definately rent, why buy a house when you dont know the area, you might buy and hate it.

If you dont know the area and you say you and your mate will pay 400 pound a month each, it works out about 9600 pound for the year, but at least you will know if its the right place for you.

hamblettamaud

my opinion is - buy, buy, buy if you can.

there is nothing as disheartening as renting a manky old place, doing it up nicely and then having the landlord not renew your tenancy at the end of the year. it puts you off decorating. and as for major improvements, forget it.

plus everyone will tell you it's dead money. if you buy somewhere once you've paid off your mortgage the place is yours! yay!

pandamonia

hamblettamaud wrote: »

my opinion is - buy, buy, buy if you can.

there is nothing as disheartening as renting a manky old place, doing it up nicely and then having the landlord not renew your tenancy at the end of the year. it puts you off decorating. and as for major improvements, forget it.

plus everyone will tell you it's dead money. if you buy somewhere once you've paid off your mortgage the place is yours! yay!

yet another opinion which doesnt take into account any economic factors.

losing thousands of pounds is much worse than worrying about the decor.

not to mention you can rent some nice fully furnished for a year and save yourself a fortune.

the days of cheap money are over which means there will be no property goldrush like many think.

_bankrupted

RENT.....

At 23 and just leaving home for the first time you will want to have flexibility.

Buying "now" is only for buying a home, which I suspect you are not after.

confused31_2

pandamonia wrote: »

yet another opinion which doesnt take into account any economic factors.

losing thousands of pounds is much worse than worrying about the decor.

not to mention you can rent some nice fully furnished for a year and save yourself a fortune.

the days of cheap money are over which means there will be no property goldrush like many think.

I think you have lost the plot, the OP his a young man who has come in here for a opinion, not for you to ridicule anyone who has a different opinion to yourself.

If like someone said he was after a home and he knew the area aswell as having a big deposit i would say look to buy now you might find a bargain.

But he dont know the area and it dont sound like he wants to settle down so rent and get out and enjoy yourself, thats what i would do.

@Pandamonia you are going to make yourself bad, going round doing your one man crusade, trying to pursuade no one to buy until you get a decent deposit.

Make your opinion and then sit back without biting and listen to other peoples opinions, you begining to look desperate.:rolleyes: