Notice to quit - would you buy or rent again?

lordreid

We've just come back from a week away to find we've been given notice to quit on our home.

We have lived here for 6 years and had both of our children here.

We have been renting for so long because property prices here are mental.We have a deposit saved but it will only work out as about 15% against current prices.

The landlords say they are being posted abroad (they're in the forces)but want to keep their base in the UK for weekend visits and for their au pair! Bless. Their children are in a local boarding school.

They have offered to sell privately at a fairly reasonable price but I'm not sure we can raise a mortgage in this climate. This has all come out of the blue and the letting agents mentioned nothing about them wanting to sell. I'm just not sure I trust them.

Husband got made redundant about 18 months ago but has been running his own IT business since and although it's always a case of short term contracts, they seem fairly consistently available and well-paid.

One added problem is that the fields at the back of the estate we live on are about to become a housing estate which has caused a glut of local houses to come on the market.

Our house is a bit dated and needs a bit of work but we are so used to it and it is near the local school etc. youngest will start there next year.

What would you do? Try and buy the house or chance renting until the market stabilises?

pawpurrs

Thats a very difficult one! It doesnt sound like you love that house, have they given you a figure of what they want for it, and is it a reasonable one?
How about looking and seeing what else is on the market?
No one really knows if now is a good time to buy or whether it would be prudent to wait a bit longer.... but would you be happier buying and getting settled or moving to another rental? Thats the big question?

franklee

I can say what I would do which is to continue renting. As for what would suit you best, only you can tell.

N79

Just to confirm that with the posting they will have lost their current UK home - hence why they wish to use their house as their UK base. The overseas posting may well be somewhere they do not want to move the children and hence they need somewhere to stay during school holidays etc.

So hopefully that goes some way to reassuring you that they are not being sneaky. For what it is worth, if they seem evasive about their plans then this is just a feature of the job - things are never finalised until the last minute and they regularly get changed!

lordreid

Thanks.

They are in a hurry to do jobs around the place and I think they want to sell because of the development but to sell without tenants.

If they really wanted the place, why offer to sell it to us, leaving them homeless?

We offered 260 and they are getting a further valuation tomorrow.

The market is dead here and all the houses we have seen are prepared to take offers but that worries me. I think we may be doing something stupid by buying in the middle of a terrible recession!

Also, to be honest, husband is an IT contractor and his contract expires next month and he still hasn't heard about renewal.

He will get something somewhere but it is not a good time to sink everything we have in to property.

Then again, to move and rent and face moving again maybe next year if we buy seems really stressful!