Buying a property in later life

carefullycautious

Has anyone brought property in later life and what have been you experience of this.

Hubby late 50s and I nearly 50 are in the position where we could purchase a property to allow us to become rent and mortgage free. It would only be a little flat/bungalow

However, I find that it is a really daunting prospect in that our earning capacity is not what it was and this scares the hell out of me.

My main concern is if we encounter a big purchase like boilers blowing up etc.
Hubby says that he will save the rent money we have been paying as a contingency plan.

Has anyone got thoughts or who have been through this themselves. I know this is unusual but we were unable to buy when younger.

Help!!!

Pssst

Are you saying that you have enough money saved to purchase outright?

If so,is this the right option? Perhaps you could use that vast wad of cash to get out there and enjoy life whilst you are both relatively young?

Further info required if possible

carefullycautious

Hi pssst, i would prefer to have the security of owning outright as we would not have to keep paying rent for the rest of our lives. The wad of cash as you call it has come through saving and inheritence, and no we wont be spending it on hedonistic pleasures im afraid.

However, it is a scary thing to do also if that makes sense.
Decisions decisions

tanith

As you don't want to blow the money enjoying yourselves then why not buy something. As you say no rent or mortgage and if you are really careful with what you purchase making sure its in good nick then I can't see the problem.. Your husband seems to have a good plan to save money for the future and you both still have 10/15 yrs earning ahead of you . I am recently retired and we still have our mortgage but if we didn't have one and OH also retired we would manage well enough with our OAP and small Occupational pensions...

I'd go for it if I were you after all you can always sell and go back to renting in the furture if you want to...

EDIT: Just to say by the time you are both retired you should have a goodly lump sum saved for unexpected purchases...

Pssst

This is of some interest to me too. Can you have a mortgage which runs past retirement age?

carefullycautious

Thanks Tanith, Im a worry bean at the best of times. There is such a lot of things to think about.

seven-day-weekend

You can also take out maintenance/servicing plans for your boiler/heating/electrical emergencies:

http://www.britishgas.co.uk/homecare/planethome

You don't have to have them from British Gas, but have a look at the link as an example.

I'd go for it if I were you, won't have to worry about any rent.

seven-day-weekend

Pssst wrote: »

This is of some interest to me too. Can you have a mortgage which runs past retirement age?

I believe you can, if you have the income to repay it.

Errata

carefullycautious - the only thing I can suggest is that it might be useful to do a complete risk assessment. All the 'what ifs', benefits and drawbacks.
Sometimes big decisions are so difficult because it can be hard to know where to start, a risk assessment would give you the first stepping stone in your decision.

EdInvestor

carefullycautious wrote: »

Hubby late 50s and I nearly 50 are in the position where we could purchase a property to allow us to become rent and mortgage free. It would only be a little flat/bungalow

However, I find that it is a really daunting prospect in that our earning capacity is not what it was and this scares the hell out of me.

Wouldn't you be more secure if you owned outright? You would have no rent to pay.

My main concern is if we encounter a big purchase like boilers blowing up etc.

That will cost you about 2k.Have you had a lot of boilers blowing up in your rented accommodation over the years?

Hubby says that he will save the rent money we have been paying as a contingency plan.

Sounds good.

There are however issues related to state pensions and pension credit which might mean that you later would be better to rent.See the CAB for a chat about them.

carefullycautious

Thanks all for your constructive advise and link to British Gas site. All we have got to do is find somewhere suitable which is proving difficult.