How on earth do we do this?

8pnoodles

My husband has 4 years left in the forces before "retiring" at 40.

I am a stay at home mum to two toddlers.

Let's say we live in Scotland. Middle of nowhere. We don't want to settle here as there is no work for us outside forces life.

Husband really wants to go full time in his business as a photographer. It is something we both do, and have been successful at.

For various reasons we want to move to south east England.

And we really want to buy a house. We have 4 years to save a big deposit.

But how do we get a mortgage when DH is going to leave the forces in four years? If we do it now, we could borrow a deposit from my parents. This would mean we'd have to get a buy to let mortgage? And rent out the property?

Or do we wait until we have saved some more and get a buy to let nearer the time?

What are house prices gonna do? Anyone got a crystal ball?

If we wait until he "retires" we are going to have to land a mortgage when we are about to go self employed. Or should be try and get a salaried job, which he will no doubt hate?

I am going to be working when he leaves the forces, as the kids will be school age then.

But I could go self employed too as I did photography before the kids came along. It is not easy to land a job quickly in my other career, it is
a bit of a waiting game.

Everything seems to hinge in how easy it would be together a mortgage and what is the best time for us to do this? Early before DH leaves or even rent a property in the south east after leavig and move yet AGAIN -something we don't want to do with kids in tow! So sick of moving house already!

Sorry this is a bit garbled, if anyone can clarify my thought process, that'd be a start!

I guess our question is do we bother buying a property and renting it out before we move to the area. Are buy to let mortgages hard to get and would we have to switch mortgages anyway once we occupy the property, which would defeat the object of trying to get a mortgage now while DH has a provable income.

Or is it pouring money down the drain renting for six months when we first move there and having the added stress of settling in and buying a house and starting new jobs or running the business all at once?

My parents have said they may be able to help out financially a bit. Not sure if that changes anything?

Ugh. Head hurts.

Shimrod

Without wanting to dampen your enthusiasm too much, when you say you've been successful at photography in the past, do you actually mean you've made a reasonable amount of money from it, or just that you've taken some nice looking photos? Income from photography gets discussed quite a bit on the up your income board so you might want to have a read there to see what others have done if it's just a business opportunity you would like to pursue http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search.php?searchid=101098404

It's very unlikely you will get an mortgage after he has left the forces as newly self-employed - would you want to risk having no income to cover the mortgage anyway if business is slower than anticipated?
I'm sure a mortgage advisor will be along soon to give some more practical advice on whether what you want to do is achievable!

davilown

8pnoodles wrote: »

My husband has 4 years left in the forces before "retiring" at 40.

I am a stay at home mum to two toddlers.

Let's say we live in Scotland. Middle of nowhere. We don't want to settle here as there is no work for us outside forces life.

Husband really wants to go full time in his business as a photographer. It is something we both do, and have been successful at.

For various reasons we want to move to south east England.

And we really want to buy a house. We have 4 years to save a big deposit.

But how do we get a mortgage when DH is going to leave the forces in four years? If we do it now, we could borrow a deposit from my parents. This would mean we'd have to get a buy to let mortgage? And rent out the property?

Or do we wait until we have saved some more and get a buy to let nearer the time?

What are house prices gonna do? Anyone got a crystal ball?

If we wait until he "retires" we are going to have to land a mortgage when we are about to go self employed. Or should be try and get a salaried job, which he will no doubt hate?

I am going to be working when he leaves the forces, as the kids will be school age then.

But I could go self employed too as I did photography before the kids came along. It is not easy to land a job quickly in my other career, it is
a bit of a waiting game.

Everything seems to hinge in how easy it would be together a mortgage and what is the best time for us to do this? Early before DH leaves or even rent a property in the south east after leavig and move yet AGAIN -something we don't want to do with kids in tow! So sick of moving house already!

Sorry this is a bit garbled, if anyone can clarify my thought process, that'd be a start!

I guess our question is do we bother buying a property and renting it out before we move to the area. Are buy to let mortgages hard to get and would we have to switch mortgages anyway once we occupy the property, which would defeat the object of trying to get a mortgage now while DH has a provable income.

Or is it pouring money down the drain renting for six months when we first move there and having the added stress of settling in and buying a house and starting new jobs or running the business all at once?

My parents have said they may be able to help out financially a bit. Not sure if that changes anything?

Ugh. Head hurts.

Out at 40, done 22, pension of circa 11-13k, lump sum of 30-58k if commuted, leaving pension of circa 9k.

South east - not the cheapest place to buy as I'm finding out right now but this is dependant on what you actually want. If you're used to MQs then expectations may not be high?

Perhaps save for two years, then take a mortgage out when you'll hopefully have around 20 - 25k saved (depending if you owe anything now). Two year left, no notice given to the military so should be able to get around 220k mortgage - who is to say he won't stay in longer ie to 55, 2OE etc depending on service.

Help from parents is always a bonus - just as having a job lined up before he leaves.

beecher2

Four years is a long time away. Concentrate on saving your deposit and then getting new jobs in the area - I dont' see the big deal with renting in the area you would like to buy until you have established incomes.

dimbo61

If it was me I would build up the biggest deposit you can and wait until your OH leaves the army then look around where you want to live and rent for 6/12 months that way you have flexability.
BTL mortgages need 15/25% deposit and becoming a landlord can be hard work plus you may not want to live in the BTL property once he has left the army.
The hosuing market is on its knees at the moment and will remain like that for the next couple of years so save save save

8pnoodles

beecher2 wrote: »

Four years is a long time away. Concentrate on saving your deposit and then getting new jobs in the area - I dont' see the big deal with renting in the area you would like to buy until you have established incomes.

Ok, what if we buy in the south east for 12 months before my husband leaves the forces? Will the mortgage company need to know he is about to leave his job? That is if we went for a residential mortgage and didn't let out the property?

As for the photography, my turnover alone was around £22k for a very hectic six months work in a niche market that was lucrative at the time. But nothing is guaranteed. Husband does weddings in the region of £1.5k for a wedding. We want to go for the south east as this gives us access to the best weddings.

Wh05apk

If you wanted to buy now, Abbey will allow you to purchase a property to rent out, but allow you to take residential mortgage rates (only available to forces personel, as sole owned property)