Putting your life on hold...

Tinkaf1

We relocated to Devon and are in a rented bungalow while our property sells (it is now under offer thank God). This place is lovely and I wash up in the kitchen looking across gorgeous fields, but I really can't wait to buy our own place again. We couldn't actually afford to buy the place we are renting if it was on the market, so the bought house will probably be worth about 50k less...but I can't wait.
I guess it is because I just look at this as someone else's house. I don't feel like I can make it mine, or truly change anything. I know the bank will own a fair chunk of my new house, but I don't see it like that once I am in it. I can't explain why, maybe because in my family the houses have always been owned rather than rented, so it is a new thing for me. I am constantly cleaning here because I keep thinking "it isn't my house, must keep it spotless" - maybe that isn't such a bad thing. :-)

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Orpheo wrote: »

those mortgagees who can't tell their boss "I quit" tomorrow because they've decided to emigrate, travel the world or just quit for the hell of it - they're the ones who have their lives on hold.

In the 17 years it took me to pay off my first mortgage, I quit a couple of jobs just because I didn't like them, moved overseas and lived all over the world on various work contracts, took 6 months off and travelled round Europe, and always knew I had the safety and security of an owned house to return to.

An owned house, that after the first few years of scrimping and saving, was costing me far less in mortgage payments than rent would, and towards the end of the mortgage was costing me less in mortgage payments than a storage facility would.

At no time did I have to worry about being off the property ladder and losing out to price rises, at no time did I have to worry about a landlord giving me 2 months notice because they wanted to sell, at no time did I ever have to ask permission to paint a wall, or let in a nosy letting agent for an "inspection".

And I now own that asset free and clear, with it delivering me a return of £15,000 a year in imputed rent. Or realised rent, should I ever choose to let it out.

Owning a house offers security, financial returns, stability, and a firm foundation to build a future on.

When you own a house, YOU control how long you live somewhere, not your landlord. YOU control what your house looks like, what your decor is, what appliances you cook on..... not your landlord.

I'd never live in rented again. Horrible place to be.

tara747

PasturesNew wrote: »

In my experience, renting would be better if it were cheaper. Look at the 1-bed flats in your area and you'd agree they're overpriced, small, dark, dank and nasty.

If you can afford to rent a lovely 3-bed house with a garden in a good area, then I'm sure it's lovely for you (and cheaper than buying the same house), but renting in the cheap seats is poor life quality.

Where I live, renting has been cheaper than buying for quite a few years. Now things are evening up a bit, so we are looking at places to buy. We will not buy until we find the right place though - and, in the meantime, we are happy where we are. We are in a lovely house in a very nice area - the only thing it hasn't got is a garden (I would like a garden), but we are surrounded by parks and riverbanks so it's not all bad.

We could save money by renting in a cheaper area, but being somewhere nice is important to me. Location really is everything!

p.s. I've never lived in a 1-bed flat, I need space.

Brallaqueen wrote: »

I've seen this too, but felt it was in relation to saving for a deposit - i.e scrimping and saving means 'life' is put on hold whilst the deposit is being built up.

Hmmm, maybe. I try to have a balance though - saving as much as possible while still having holidays, nights out etc. Travelling and socialising are important to me and I won't sacrifice them. I find that I waste less money these days though, and I buy less 'stuff'. MSE helps enormously!

scooterpig wrote: »

Interesting post. I can see both sides of this, but as someone who is currently renting, I come down on the life on hold side.

Technically, I could be said to be renting through choice. I moved to another country last year, put our lovely house up for sale. Thanks to the tanking UK economy, it took a while to sell. Now, I am struggling to find anything to buy where we live now, and to compound things, we may have to move elsewhere in the country.

When we first came here, we didn't have much choice but to rent a basic furnished 2 bed, because (a) it's hard to get a lease if you're not native, and (b), all our stuff was still in the UK. Now we're shelling out a fortune in rent for a place we don't like, and another fortune in storage costs for all our stuff. Not a great situation.

As a homeowner, yes it's tough at times, but you can always make your own mark and turn your home into your sanctuary. Can't do that easily with a rental. Personally, I find I don't really care enough about the place to try. I hate that someone else has the power to dictate how we live in many ways.

I'm sure renting is the right choice for many people, but it's absolutely not for everyone. I would personally never be a renter through choice.

But your rented home can be your sanctuary - you just choose wisely! And the peace of mind that comes from never having to pay for maintenance/repairs is amazing.

BTW, where are you, out of interest?

tara747

WelshNic wrote: »

You're never fully in control when you're renting. Last time we rented the LL decided he wanted to sell so gave us notice, it's not a nice thing to happen when it comes out of the blue.

As it happens we bought our first place after that and haven't looked back.

It just isn't a position I would choose to put myself in, especially long term, again.

We're in a very different position to the friends you talk about though.

Well, that would be a pain. But it must be incredibly rare! It has never ever happened to me, or to anyone I know.

And yes, you are lucky not to be in severe negative equity. I know at least half a dozen people (and know of about 25 more) who are in NE to the tune of about 50-60%. :eek:

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

In the 17 years it took me to pay off my first mortgage, I quit a couple of jobs just because I didn't like them, moved overseas and lived all over the world on various work contracts, took 6 months off and travelled round Europe, and always knew I had the safety and security of an owned house to return to.

An owned house, that after the first few years of scrimping and saving, was costing me far less in mortgage payments than rent would, and towards the end of the mortgage was costing me less in mortgage payments than a storage facility would.

At no time did I have to worry about being off the property ladder and losing out to price rises, at no time did I have to worry about a landlord giving me 2 months notice because they wanted to sell, at no time did I ever have to ask permission to paint a wall, or let in a nosy letting agent for an "inspection". - we haven't had any of these either - and always rent directly from a LL, agencies are a nightmare

And I now own that asset free and clear, with it delivering me a return of £15,000 a year in imputed rent. Or realised rent, should I ever choose to let it out.

Owning a house offers security, financial returns, stability, and a firm foundation to build a future on.

When you own a house, YOU control how long you live somewhere, not your landlord. - what if you own a house that you are trying to sell, and it won't sell, and you can't afford to drop the price? How in control are you then? YOU control what your house looks like, what your decor is, what appliances you cook on - well, we do control those things, because we choose a nice house :cool: ..... not your landlord.


I'd never live in rented again. Horrible place to be.

My replies are in red.

I'm sorry that so many peeps here have had bad renting experiences. It's a shame. Because when it's good, it's very very good. I sleep like a baby, knowing that I won't ever face an unexpected repair bill while I'm renting. Our LL is lovely - he will do almost anything for us as we are such good tenants - and our house is lovely. I do want to buy at some stage but I also appreciate all the good things about renting.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - buying makes sense, WHEN the price is right. Anyone who bought in the last few years, especially here in NI, is neck deep in negative equity and doo-doo. I'm glad I'm not one of them.

Prices are falling heavily here, and OH and I are actually starting to think that we may be able to buy without a mortgage (or with just a very small one) within the next couple of years. MFi3 anyone?

Batchy

you have to find a balance

I spent a good few years in rented... say over 7 years of my adult life renting. At the same time it was the only way due to low salary and professional training that I knew I needed to do that at that time.

Now im settled 6 years in the job, secure employment, I felt confident enough to buy a house and keep it going.

Very happy it makes me too, in such a nice area, with it looking exactly how we wanted it to look too... its all good.

Compared to renting, renting is a lot simpler, you sign, you pay deposit, you get keys. Simples, overcomplicated process every 6 months thereafter but hey ho... only once was I told to move out, as owner wanted to sell, simple enough. They did sell too, no biggie. It offended me though, I thought they was in it for the long term and was laying my foundations there, it was at this point when I realised renting was not a long term alternative. I too wanted flexibility, now I have a gf, who needs to be in this area too. Family are also now in this area.

Getting it right is not just about money... its social domestic and commuting + personal reasons to balance too.

edinburgher

Nothing is gnawing away at the back of my mind, I am simply fighting a corner.

Fair enough, but who's fighting you?

My tuppenceworth is that as a long term renter, my life is on hold in some aspects, but far preferable to peers who own on the other hand.

On a day to day basis, I suspect I save a lot more than people my age, have a good degree of financial stability and the flexibility to move about geographically.

On the other hand (when it comes to fluffy stuff like hobbies, community and the like), I do feel like my life's on hold. OH and I have never put down roots, we could afford the extra space for say, a study to tinker about in or a library, but we're not willing to pay to fund a landlord's retirement more than we have to. Still, this has been our choice.

I think people making these sorts of comments are just typical Brits, homeowners or bust.

Originally Posted by WelshNic
You're never fully in control when you're renting. Last time we rented the LL decided he wanted to sell so gave us notice, it's not a nice thing to happen when it comes out of the blue.

Well, that would be a pain. But it must be incredibly rare! It has never ever happened to me, or to anyone I know.

It's happened to me as well - in fact - we move out in a fortnight

Batchy

I guess saying its not all about the money on a moneysavingexpert forum is like telling an accountant he doesnt know anything about most things financial.

Still thats my point, even though im an accountant, you dont have to tell me when its a good time to buy, i lead the way with the decision I make, not the story I want to preach. (ie, do as i say not as I do) Not so long ago I too was telling people it was a bad time to buy.

A bad time to buy is 1 year from now, not because prices will be worse, or better, higher or lower, but because you will have spent another year fannying around avoiding having to make a brave decision, and getting settled.

those who dislike it... dont Buy... those who need flexibility, and dont need security or the need ever to own a HOME... then Rent!

PS interesting perspective as a Boss, I would consider whether someone is a house owner before I employed them as I know I will get possibly more years out of a home owner than a renter, who needed flexibility... its all about managing expectations.

I would say most renters feel they need to earn more money than they are, and they are scared about their future... otherwise they would be happy doing what they are doing! When you reach the top of your tree, you BUY.

edinburgher

PS interesting perspective as a Boss, I would consider whether someone is a house owner before I employed them as I know I will get possibly more years out of a home owner than a renter, who needed flexibility... its all about managing expectations.

You must have a pretty invasive application process if it involves prospective employees letting you know their tenancy status before offering them a job. If I was asked that I'd tell the employer to go whistle - none of their damn business.

sonastin

It all comes down to the sort of person you are. I'm a home-body, a nester. I want to put down roots and settle somewhere long term. If I moved into a rented place, it would always feel like a temporary option and I would feel like my life was on hold until I could own my own place and feel settled again.

Other people I know crave the flexibility and freedom that renting brings. Had they bought property at the point where they were starting to think "now or never" at the height of the boom, they would be well and truly trapped in NE and they would now find their lives on hold until they managed to make the change to bring back that flexibility.

As it is, I own and they rent and we are all very happy with our lot.

Horses for courses as they say...

WelshNic

tara747 wrote: »

Well, that would be a pain. But it must be incredibly rare! It has never ever happened to me, or to anyone I know.

I know a few people that have been through it and is my absolute biggest reason why I'd never want to be a long term renter, you just don't know what the LL might do.