is it me???

brummiebabe

Hi all - just wanted to post my situation/dilemma for some advice/different views.

DH and I have been discussing moving house for around 2 years. DS1 is due to go to senior school in 2 years time, so we wanted to move to get near to the good local senior school. We also need a bigger house, or the potential to extend (not really got at our current house!)

We have been keeping an eye on the market and had been thinking about doing it later this year. However, DH's company have just said that the hours are all going to be cut, for at least the next 3 months (but I think it'll be longer) - this means his salary is reduced by 20%. I am in a very secure job (luckily) but currently work part-time, due to childcare etc.

My DH has seen a house!! It is, admittedly, in the absolute PERFECT location, round the corner from the school we want. It is vacant & looks like it'll need some work doing to it. It is at a low price for the area though (£139,950) DH is kind of trying to persuade me to go for it. I'm saying that now just isn't the right time. He wants us to go & look at it, I really don't want to - we're generally very impulsive, and I think it'd be a bad idea;)

I do all the house finances (he hasn't got a clue!!) and know that things are going to be very tight over the next few months. He's of the view that it's only another £100 or so a month (if we borrow extra for doing it up etc). In normal circumstances, this would be totally feasible - but I don't know how safe his job is!!

Our house isn't on the market yet either - although it's ok to go on, nothing major to do.

What do you think? Is it something we should look at seriously, or would you wait?

longforthesun

We are also thinking of moving for the reason of the kids school. We have debt but thankfully this would be paid of with the equity from our current house and we wold have a deposit left over too.

It is hard to know what to do. We have decided to look at what mortgages are available and at what rates. We are then going to look at how much of a difference our council tax will be and our general costs for living in the new area. Once we have done this we are going to see what our mortgage payments will be should rates rise (we are thinking of 9%) if we can afford it then we will go for it. If not we shall have to rethink.

OH job is pretty safe thankfully (big bosses confirmed this last week). If your OH hours are being cut are you able to up your hours to make up the difference if he would be available to watch the kids?

trina2010

this is quite a difficult one, are houses in your area selling?

i think you really need to look at your finances properly, sit down with your OH and go through all the household stuff, even if you can compile a SOA like the one thats linked from the forums that will lay it out in black and white so you can see (or he can see) exactly how much money you have and what overall financial position you are in.

Hope this helps

tyllwyd

If it was me, I'd go and look at it at least. Maybe you wouldn't need to borrow extra to do it up in the short term, just a lick of paint? But you would need to factor in moving costs etc etc, of course.

brummiebabe

Thanks for the replies.

DH is probably going to find out tomorrow what sort of hours he'll be working - this will then determine what we do about my hours. I'm fairly sure I can increase my hours....but if he then goes back to full-time - we're stuck!! I work for the NHS and I don't think I'd be able to quickly reduce my hours again. At the moment I take the children to & from school & nursery 5 days a week, working 4 of those days. I suppose we'll have to think about it when he knows a bit more.

I think you're right about looking at the interest rates etc and seeing if we'd be able to afford them at a higher rate (I don't think we can!:o ) Hadn't thought about council tax etc...but I bet it'd be higher.

Just to add...we've probably got £50,000 - £60,000 of equity in the house (if we could sell it of course) and minimal debt (see signature.) Our mortgage is currently on the Standard Variable Rate from Nationwide.....at 3% - don't think we'll be able to get any better!!

It's food for thought anyhow.....we'll have to make a decision after we know more about DH's job:rolleyes:

Fire_Fox

Can you afford the higher utility bills, the higher council tax, payment protection insurance in case OH does lose his job, to do whatever work needs doing to make it liveable? What if the mortgage company witholds money against repairs? Is it in a good enough state of repair to rent out a room to someone?

If it is empty then you don't want to be paying anything like market value. Do you know if any other houses in the street have sold recently? Check out https://www.houseprices.co.uk