what would you do ... house or save?

sunny_skies

thanks moneysavingnovice - sound advice.

I suppose besides the starting the family thing, I know I can get a better salary if I change jobs, but then I won't be able to apply for a mortgage until at least 6 months has passed ... I supposed I'm just feeling a bit hedged in between the broodiness starting to kick in and feeling like I'm on a bit of a time clock.

But I appreciate what you say - realistically, it will probably take a while for us to find a house and start the proceedings anyway, and maybe we can see if Bank of Mum & Dad can help out a little in giving us the loan!

Crinz

sunny_skies wrote: »

I know I can get a better salary if I change jobs, but then I won't be able to apply for a mortgage until at least 6 months has passed

not entirely true, most lenders will take your income at your new job as long as it is in a similar field as your current job. At Halifax, we can take income before you even start the job as long as it is reasonable in line with previous work.

FTBFun

It's hard to predict house prices (despite the claims of some here) however its generally looking like there's not going to be any significant movement either direction so there is no need to rush in my opinion.

You need at least a 10% deposit so any weird scheme with a loan won't work. I suggest you keep saving.

Graham_Devon

Thats some seriously dodgy mortgage advice if you ask me.

Your best bet is to talk to people who have no financial gain from advising you.

In all honesty, do you think anyone else would suggest this is a good route for you to take?

If you want it now, and it seems you do and are set on going ahead (not sure why you aksed the question in this case?), then go ahead. But don't be surprised if you get burnt.

No point in deposits if all people had to do was to take out a second loan to get it.

horsechestnut

If you were very careful with your money perhaps you could save £1,000 per month, instead of the £450. Or at least more than you are saving now. That way you would have another £10,000 in a year (with a little over for the extras!)
This would mean that you would be far more secure financially when you have the baby and much less stressed about meeting the bills with all the expenses a baby costs.
Go over to the old-style savings board to see just where you can make savings.

hazyjo

If there are deposit loans in place, it will surely reduce the amount you can borrow anyway? For whatever debt we (well, my hubby, before his flat sold) had when we started looking at mortgages, they knocked that and more off what we could borrow.

I'd definitely save. You have no idea how long it will take you to get pregnant - presuming you can(!), and you will be pregnant for 9 months (give or take), and you don't know what might happen along the way. You could easily wait a year, even if it did all go to plan and you had a baby in that time.

Jx

sunny_skies

wow - thanks Crinz - that's really useful to know!

Graham_Devon: I guess sometimes a person asks a question not really knowing how they themselves feel, but their emotional reactions to the replies gives them some direction? But if I'm honest ... hmm ... well ... I think the concept of a home is such an emotional one, for me at least, maybe I tend to err on the side of impulsive illogic?

That said - really useful advice thanks; horsechestnut I can certainly aim to save more & have loved the threads at the old-style saving section (which is how to be honest I have managed the 5% in the first place). Great points about the preggers hazyjo - and as I've also said, it would probably take ages to even find a home. We're not sure where we even want to buy really (I'm from SA (indefinite leave to remain) so not rooted to any place in UK really); we'd thought about Rochester but need to explore it a bit more as we don't know it that well and I'm hearing some bad things!

Once again - thanks guys; I really am taking it all on board.
:beer: