Grrrr If I hear 'renting is throwing money away' from another interest only holder

1.9K Posts
MSE Staff
This is the discussion to link on the back of Martin's "Grrrr..... If I hear 'renting is just throwing money away' from another interest only mortgage holder" blog. Please read the blog first, as the discussion follows it.
0
This discussion has been closed.
Latest MSE News and Guides
Martin Lewis quizzes Rishi Sunak
Watch the cost of living support Q&A here
Join the MSE Forum discussion
Replies
Sorry, I had to quote that bit. Its so quaint and something my grandmother used to say. Had us in stitches as kids.
I am one of those who had qualms about renting. I considered that my son "wasting" hundreds of pounds a month doing this. What could he do though. It is right that he should want to spread his wings and there was no chance of buying.
After a year of renting, they have had all the curtain fittings replaced, a new washing machine, the plumbing attended to on a number of occasions and anything else that goes wrong. Now while it is more than likely that if they owned the flat my OH would have fixed the plumbing properly first time for them, the worry free maintenance of the property has to be a bonus. Their managing agents appear so far to be pretty good which has helped. They are only tied in for a year at a time so it will be easier to spread their wings once he completes his Phd. No worrying about having to sell up if the dream job comes along and relying on buyers to see it through. Problem neighbours are sorted out by the landlord who owns all the surrounding flats.
The more I think about it, the more I am not sure I can even see the advantage of owning a property anymore.
Que sera, sera.
(If a link I give opens pop ups I won't know I don't use windows)
And, as has been said, the risk is with the landlord and not yourself.
However, there's something to be said for owning your own place that goes beyond pure finance, and I admit that there's an element of heart over head about it.
If we owned the property and wanted to tear down a wall and install a breakfast bar, we could. If we wanted to fit new windows, we could. If we even wanted to simply repaint the living room, we could. Right now, we can't, at least not without at least eight weeks of phone calls, chasing, permission asking, and so on, and that's actually a far bigger deal than perhaps it ought to be.
Fortunately, I'm not daft enough to accept that house ownership over rides all other thought processes. We can afford a good size house, but we'll be mortgaged to the max, and that's then gambling our entire future. I'm not prepared to do that, however appealing the prospect may be.
The Lord Giveth and the Government Taketh Away.
I'm sorry, I don't apologise. That's just the way I am. Homer (Simpson)
However anything you do to personalise the property you have to undo when you leave. Rents can rise and are unlikely to fall. Property prices do increase. Historically they have approx doubled every 10 years for the last 50 years plus!
My suggestion is to Buy Buy Buy and then when prices double - sell sell sell and then rent!
She's paying interest only, at least twice what she was paying in rent and can't see that this situation means she's effectively renting from the bank. Her response was 'but house prices will go up so I can sell and buy again'. She didn't seem to get the fact that all house prices will go up if that's the case, not just hers. And that buying her second house will then cost her more....I gave up trying after a while.
There is an obsession with owning property in the UK, seemingly at all costs. I don't think the current situation is particularly healthy...