Buying our first house - Would you wait?

geoffky

kford224...you have many lessons to learn..and number one is to listen to people who have bought the t-shirt...There again at 27 you must of lived a little..

kford224

geoffky wrote: »

kford224...you have many lessons to learn..and number one is to listen to people who have bought the t-shirt...There again at 27 you must of lived a little..

Surely as there are two schools of thought on living together, there two different t-shirts I can get?

poppy10_2

stqueen wrote: »

I disagree with this - living together is a HUGE HUGE step away from being in a relationship and living apart. It is certainly testing I know a couple who split not long after they moved in together (rented) because being with each other 24/7 was too much and they found they weren't as compatible as they thought!

Would agree 100% with this. Doesn't matter how much often you are seeing someone, it is always different when you move in together and are around each other 24/7.

B_Blank

kford224 wrote: »

I don't think we need to waste a few months of house deposit savings in order to know whether we want to live together or not. Renting is dead money, and if you feel you need to do that before buying, then surely the relationship is already a bit shakey?!

Wow, seriously I didnt see you havent lived together first. I would deffo try and rent together for 6 months-1 yr to check the strength of the relationship. Being in a relationship is barely the same as being in a relationship and living together. I would at least think about this!

But I wish you luck whatever you decide to do.

B_Blank

kford224 wrote: »

I see what you're saying, but then how or why would you save for a house with someone you're very much in love with and it be a case of "It's great we are on our way to getting a desposit for our own house together, but why don't we spend some of that money lining someone elses pocket just to double check that it will work?" I think I would be a bit insulted! I suppose it is similar to the schools of thought on pre-nups. I personally don't think you need to full-on live with someone to know whether it would work. Spending loads of time together generally/holidays and the like helps you determine things like that.

It reminds me of a Ricki Lake show aaaages ago actually.....There were couples on there who were all engaged and the men all had crushes on other women. They were saying to their fiance that if they let them sleep with the woman and they didn't fall for them, then it proved that they (the engaged couple) were meant to be together!?! Barmy!! Surely the fact that they want to do 'the test' in the first place puts doubts on the relationship! (Not a direct comparison to the renting thing obviously, it just reminded me of it! )

Yes but thats because you dont have the experience probably. You DO OFTEN need to live with someone to see how it works. Its a massive difference to spending tons of time with someone because there is always an escape for both parties when you dont live together. When you do live together there is no escape, that little annoying thing could grow to bring the whole relationship down. You should live together before you buy together.

doire_2

kford224 wrote: »

I don't think we need to waste a few months of house deposit savings in order to know whether we want to live together or not. Renting is dead money, and if you feel you need to do that before buying, then surely the relationship is already a bit shakey?!

Explain that please? Come on i need a laugh

tyler80

Lets not forget, not too many years ago, people didn't live together before they got married and bought a house (of course sometimes it didn't work out but it was the norm)

I don't subscribe to the view that you must live together first to 'test' your relationship.

In my circle of friends I don't know anyone who moved in with someone and subsequently found they just couldn't live with them.

Kara_P

I don't see the harm in looking at properties now. As others have said knowing your local property market well is the key. Keep an eye on properties above and below your ideal price and in areas you do and do not want to stay. Also try and keep track of houses sold between now and then to get a feel of the prices being accepted.

My partner and I looked for 6 months and only had all of the money (deposit, fees, furniture, backup) in the last month or two. It gave us a great idea of prices. We got our house after offering on two before it and it took 2.5 months from offering to moving in (as we had a rent contract to finish) otherwise it could have been 1.5 months.

I know you didn't ask in your original post but thought I would give my two cents re living with your partner (appologies if you don't want to hear/read it). Buying a house is a huge commitment as you are probably aware, if anything goes wrong the financial loss in the current market could be considerable. Living with someone can give you an eye opening experience BUT doesn't mean that when you buy a house all will be well. You know how much you love and care about your partner and as long as you put the correct paper work in place in case anything goes wrong then you can both sleep easy. Marriage is sometimes overrated in my opinion

Good luck, I hope you find a lovely house together and are very happy. Please let us all know how you get on.

kford224

doire wrote: »

Explain that please? Come on i need a laugh

Well I personally would rather put money towards my own mortgage than someone else's, but each to their own....

kford224

Kara_P wrote: »

Good luck, I hope you find a lovely house together and are very happy. Please let us all know how you get on.

Thank you

We are in the process of buying a house. It needs a lot of work but we both walked in and immediately fell in love with it as it has so much potential. It is more of a family home, so we can do it up and stay in it for a long time, which is great