advice desperately needed - im clueless

carefullycautious

Mostlycheerful

Must admit your post to me back to the 60s when a lot of people who moved up from London to my area shared houses.

A lot of houses where I lived had two families sharing. I remember my best friend who was one of 5 siblings sharing with another family. Nobody batted an eyelid, as they were gratefull to have a share of a house with large garden.

It is not such a silly idea, a relative of mine lived in maida vale back in the seventies and shared a property.

WHy is this viewed as if it is something new its been going on for years!!!

poppy10_2

mostlycheerful wrote: »

Regarding buying have you considered trying to team up with one or two or even three other individuals or couples and doing a joint buy?

Wow - have you time-travelled here from 2006?

poppy10_2

concerned43 wrote: »

Oh !!!!!! - if she wants a new telly then she can bloody decide for herself what she spends her money on and has nothing to do with her new post!

That attitude of "it's my money, I'll spend it on whatever I like" is fine, but you can't have it all. The OP wants to be a stay at home mum (a luxury most professional couples can't afford), wants to live within commuting distance of central London (again, something that few people can afford), wants to live in a "good area", wants to have at least a two bedroom house (because the 18 month old is presumably demanding its own bedroom), and all of this while still continuing to splash out nearly a grand on unnecessary fripperies like the latest 40" LED TV.
It's reasonable to point out how unrealistic that is, even if it's hard for the "because you're worth it" generation to take a dose of reality.

BitterAndTwisted

Actually, the OP said that the money for the telly was coming as a gift. I take your point about everything else in your post and think you're absolutely right. Something has to give and I wonder which it shall be?

Kate0208

Hi
thanks for replying guys
the tv is irrevelvant as it would be a gift-they would have bought it as a suprise anyway but just decided to ask us which model we would like. I personally would prefer the money but I can hardly demand it instead
of the tv so let's just put that aside for a minute!
Actually I do honestly think you are all correct about my first post as it is a long list of things I would like but I just was stating the facts about my situation and things that are important to us. Obviously I'm gonna have to prioritise these and decide which ones we're flexible about or willing to sacrifice!
I think the replies so far have made me realise that we will prob have to sell the house to my father in law, and rent in an area that is commutable for my oh! It's not neccessarily that I want the luxury of being a sahm (which by the way if you met my devil child is not always a luxury lol) but more due to the fact I gave low earning potential and childcare would be more than I earnt! So it looks like until she goes to school we will be on my oh full time wage and hopefully a part time (weekend/evening) wage for me!
So here's the plan
a) sell our house to fil and lose deposit to him
b) find a rental property pref 2 bed within any commutable distance (up to an hour from London) for around £800-is this do able do u think?
c) hopefully (and this one I may have to be flexible about I know) but said rental property could be within travelling distance from mil for a few days free childcare so I can work so more money to save for deposit
d) get me a part time job

so thanks for all the help, I know there's been a bit if banter on here, but actually writing it all down and getting others opinions does actually make u see things differently. I guess at the moment we need to do what works for us and forget owning until we're in a better position! It's just a hard pill to swallow when you have owned your own house and had a horrible run of bad luck and a crappy year!! Onwards and upward tho eh?

Even tho we have dismissed the idea I would still like to know why lots of people think the homebuy direct thing would be bad for the vast majority. I see that it benefits the builders and keeps prices high but for the individual I'm not sure what the bad side is?

Kate x

poppy10_2

Kate0208 wrote: »

I would still like to know why lots of people think the homebuy direct thing would be bad for the vast majority. I see that it benefits the builders and keeps prices high but for the individual I'm not sure what the bad side is?

You get all the disadvantages of renting with few of the benefits of ownership. Here's just a few examples:

• Although you 'own' the home, you are not allowed to make any home improvements or structural alterations to your own home without written permission from the housing association.
• Although you have to pay rent, you are responsible for buildings insurance and all maintenance costs, unlike a tenant.
• You cannot sublet a room without prior written permission from the HA, even if you are running into financial difficulty.
• You cannot sell up without first letting the HA value the house themselves and market it exclusively at that price to buyers on their lists for a minimum of 6 weeks before you can sell it on the open market. If you need to sell up quickly this could be make-or-break.
• Even if you 'staircase' up so that you own 100% of the property, when you come to sell up within the first 21 years the HA still has the right of first refusal - you have to offer the property back to them (at 'market value') before you can sell on the open market.
• You have a restricted choice of mortgage lenders - many lenders are reluctant to provide mortgages for SO properties, and therefore you face less choice and higher rates.
• Most importantly, if you are buying through New Build HomeBuy, the properties you are buying are hideously overpriced compared to what they would fetch on the open market - it's essentially a government subsidy to property developers, paid by gullible would-be 'owners'.

Kate0208

That's interesting poppy thank you. It does seem tempting to buy under shared ownership at first glance but as they say if something seems to good to be true then it probably is! We have ruled it out anyway I think as it doesn't suit our situation at the moment -also new builds seem to lose value quickly in my very limited experience so I'm a bit wary of them. It's good to have some info tho thank you.

hazyjo

House next door to me was up for £850pm rent (probably went for a little less) - 3 beds (downstairs bathroom). Mine's 2 beds with a large upstairs bathroom and would probably rent out for the same sort of price. That's Highams Park, E4 - 5 mins' walk from station, and 20-25 mins on train into Liverpool Street, or 2 train stops and the Victoria Line into the West End (and thereabouts) - or 1 bus ride to Woodford and the Central Line to, well, anywhere on the Central Line! So can definitely be done in under an hour, and you wouldn't be a million miles out of town. Nice enough area and not too far out. Zone 4 (I think - can't remember the last time I checked the zone!). Depends where hubby's working, I suppose...

Jx