Purchasing a house vs renting

franklee

Well done for having saved enough to buy a house with little or no mortgage. Of course these last few years savings rates have given a better return than the rent charged so renting has been fine. Obviously this has all changed since last autumn with the falls in interest rates and when savers come off their fixed rates in nine months or so's time it will get a little trickier. Hopefully rents will have fallen to make this a little better and it should be clearer where house prices are going. So I'm hanging on renting till autumn and will take a view then. Seems to be no immediate rush to buy IMO.

hamblettamaud

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.

money isn't everything (believe it or not, moneysavers). if you buy:

* you will be investing in a property that belongs to you (and the mortgage lender!!!)
* you will be on the property ladder (a difficult place to get on for many people)
* you will be more secure than someone renting (if you can make the repayments) and
* you will not be caught out in the rising rent trap (whilst your house value can go down, it can also go up).

and who's to say that you ARE losing thousands of pounds now? many people might view the thousands of pounds you pay in rent as dead money. money spend repaying a mortgage at least get you something at the end of it.

to me it's pretty clear - buy. to others it might not be so clear.

tommy75

confused31 wrote: »

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.

Now i'm confused

Lindy-Lou_2

money isn't everything (believe it or not, moneysavers). if you buy:

* you will be investing in a property that belongs to you (and the mortgage lender!!!)
* you will be on the property ladder (a difficult place to get on for many people)
* you will be more secure than someone renting (if you can make the repayments) and
* you will not be caught out in the rising rent trap (whilst your house value can go down, it can also go up).

I am with 'hamblettamaud' on this one - well done on your good saving and you may earn c3% by leaving it in the bank but hey, the amount you earn in interest is far outweighed by the feel good fact that you have bought your very own first property on yourOWN (and maybe with a little help from a bank!).

When looking for properties talk to others who know the area, spend some time there walking around the area at various times and remember it is the buyers market. Don't be frightened to barter!

I consider paying rent as paying another's mortgage in so far as I am considering buying a property, instead of renting, for my daughter and her friends, if in two years time depending on the market, I can either sell or find other tenants but I can only see it as a win, win situation.

Please take into consideration the stability of your job but even so, if circumstances were to change (for the better I would hope), you could sublet your property (don't forget if you have a mortgage or a freeholder you need permission) then review you situation but at least you would have your foot on the ladder.

Good luck with your decision.

Lindy-Lou

pinkshoes

blizeH wrote: »

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!

On this basis, I would rent for 6 months (minimum contract), then after that go onto a rolling contract so you only have to give 1 month notice to move out.

In the mean time, keep your eyes pealed, and work out which areas you would like to live/buy in, and make a list of everything you want in a property i.e No. of bedrooms? Garden? Offroad parking? Flat or house?

If you hate the area and rent, it's easy to move. If you hate the area and own the property, then you are somewhat stuck there!

stevetodd

pandamonia wrote: »

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

Why would they say that? I am in the same camp as them (I think) I own property (both my home and investment) and I am looking to buy more, but not probably until next year when it will be about 15% less. It's not about whether you already own property or not, that is irrelevant, it's about getting value, and the value is not now, it's probably 1-2 years away.

MORPH3US

Another side of the coin.... if you haven't lived with your friend before, good idea to try it out renting for 6-12 months to see how you get on than jump in to buying a house....

poppysarah

If you can buy something you like (not a flat) that you can afford without a mortgage then that'd be a great position to be in.

blizeH

Some great advice here, thank you!

Going back to an early point, as it could be a deal breaker; is it possible to rent for just a few months, or are they all 12 month plus contracts? I ask because I'm almost tempted to rent for a few months, get an idea of if I'll like it there, and then look to buy asap. Sound like a plan?

I'm also currently having a problem where I was going to move in with a friend, but am having second thoughts about that, so will have to find someone else to move in with, arghh!

blizeH

Sorry, had this page loaded for ages before replying - seems my question has already been answered, thank you!!