Is owning a home important to you?

aless02

FireWyrm wrote: »

In answer to your question, yes, home ownership is very important to me, particularly for the freedom. I have rented for several years and found it to be the worst way to live. I wouldn't go back to it at all if I could avoid it. Landlords appear to be venal, thoughtless, uncaring and frankly downright difficult. Letting Agents are the same and generally, the two are in cahoots to keep as much of your deposit as they can. In a rental you get inspected once a quarter, you can't paint the walls and if you are a parent, you live in constant fear of what will happen to your deposit if the kids touch the walls with dirty fingers, or draw a single stick man or spill a bottle of bath salts etc. You try to avoid these problems because you are a decent person but know your going to get your pants pulled down for every little mark at checkout. If yo are lucky, the house is reasonably water tight, but some people are known to rent positive death traps and there isn't a single thing you can do about it. If you dare complain to the LL about a broken electrical item, you get slapped with a S21. Your children can't settle at a school because they might be forced to move and you can't get settled in an area for the same reason.

On the other hand, I have a house that is mine. No one inspects me, no one can enter without my permission and I can paint the Walls any damned colour I please. If I want to rip out the boiler that is older than I am and replace it with something better, I can.

Nailed it on the head right there. We can't have any pets because we rent (and LL says no). We can't paint because there's currently wallpaper up that we can't remove. Etc.

Renting isn't evil, we've been lucky to generally have good LLs, but it's about having a space that YOURS and that you can do almost anything with. If we had a LL that allowed this (and some do, though v rare!), then I prolly wouldn't be as fussed.

sugarwalsh

Owning my own house is very important to me. I was 21 when I bought my first house and now 12 years and 4 kids later we are in our second home and wouldn't change it.
We have a secure roof over our heads, can express our selves how we want with the way we decorate, know that we will be here to maintain a stable life for the kids art school etc. We also know that we will one day own a house (Probably not this one) and not having pensions (Naughty, I know) we wont have to find the monthly payments associated with rent. To have to find rent in my 70's would be a terrible thought to me.
MEgan

Chatzby

mustrum_ridcully wrote: »

I own, but if renters weren't treated like third class citizens (and didn't have to run the risk of dealing with an unskilled LL and/or LA) I wouldn't have a problem renting.

Renting gives people far more flexibility when it comes to stuff like looking for jobs. That's why it's always bothered me that some people who are in their early 20's are hell-bent on buying. I wonder how many people have been put off applying for jobs (that in the short term provide little or no gain but in the longer term may have a large benefit) because of the need to sell their house.

I like the points you've raised. Renters can often be treated like third class citizens in this country. Friends of mine who live on the continent say it's a different story there when it comes to renters, attitudes towards renting and renters rights. Do you think there is an age where people should be hell bent on buying?

Do you see yourself buying in the future?

Chatzby

coffeebeen wrote: »

I swing back and forth on this issue!

My husband and I rent at the moment, but are paying off debt and living frugally with a view to saving a deposit (in about 4 years we might get there ). I live in an area that have reasonable house prices so they are within our reach...if we can ever save enough! I don't really have a problem renting at the moment- I like that someone else is responsible for the maintenance and I also love the fact that we can move whenever we want (we're not 100% sure where we want to settle yet). Also I don't want to put my life on hold completely while saving for a deposit (we want children in the next year or so) so renting is fine with me at the moment.

I think as the OP says, I am more bothered about having the opportunity to buy a house, rather than actually buying one. I don't like the UK's obsession with home ownership/house prices at all and if we lived in a country where rentals were regulated and viewed as a normal, not second class option I would be more than happy to rent forever. I don't think owning a home is the be all and end all of life. So as I say, I am always divided

Really salient points! Do you think there are enough opportunities out there? If not, why do you think this is the case and what can be done about it?

ruggedtoast

flossy_splodge wrote: »

Well one of the biggest problems seems to be the fact that so few are prepared to make the effort to SAVE for the deposit. If half as much money was put aside as was poured down throats perhaps more COULD afford that first step.
I lived a VERY frugal life in my early years, didn't drink, didn't spend a fortune on clothes, makeup, hair and other non essentials which meant that a few years down the line when I met my husband to be and we decided to take the plunge into matrimony, we could afford a house.
It was not big, not in a 'good' area and we certainly did not manage to equip it with all new things.
It was about not thinking we had a God given right to anything so WE needed to provide for ourselves. If that attitude prevailed today there might be more home ownership amongst the young and less whingeing.
Just a point of view.:o

Reading this makes me want to take out as many credit cards as I can, blow £75k on a wild party in Miami, sign myself up for a stupidly flash car I can't afford, blow another thirty grand on crazy fat women, and then declare bankruptcy.

Just to spite you.

Edit: that should have been fast women by the way. Stupid predictive text on my flashy smartphone. I should really just use two cans on a string.

mustrum_ridcully

Chatzby wrote: »

I like the points you've raised. Renters can often be treated like third class citizens in this country. Friends of mine who live on the continent say it's a different story there when it comes to renters, attitudes towards renting and renters rights. Do you think there is an age where people should be hell bent on buying?

Do you see yourself buying in the future?

It's experiences family and friends of mine have had renting on the continent that has coloured my view of renting in the UK (that and what happens in the UK). Renting is considered perfectly normal in Europe. I've heard of some people who rent a flat in a city and have bought a nice holiday home in the country somewhere that they'll end-up retiring to.

When should people seriously consider buying? First things first, when they have a proper deposit. I think being able to save a deposit is a good sign of the maturity needed to cope with buying a house. I've been shocked at some young posters (18-21) here who see nothing wrong with their parents re-mortgaging to provide them with a deposit as they have to have a house now and don't want save for a deposit. Age-wise I would say late-ish twenties early thirties, by then you've settled down a bit.

Like I said I already own a place, but then again I'm no spring chicken any more.:o

Yorkie1

For various reasons I thought I would never be in a position to buy a house and had reconciled myself to being a renter. When I was younger, it didn't bother me, but as I approached 40 the idea of still renting when retired wasn't as appealing: having little control over one's destiny and outgoings, plus the need to continue paying rent when others were in a mortgage-free house owning situation.

Then, at 39, the right circumstances came up and I took the plunge but it hasn't been straightforward by any means. So I can see it from both sides. It certainly isn't the easy be-all-and-end-all for everyone.

Chatzby

aless02 wrote: »

Nailed it on the head right there. We can't have any pets because we rent (and LL says no). We can't paint because there's currently wallpaper up that we can't remove. Etc.

Renting isn't evil, we've been lucky to generally have good LLs, but it's about having a space that YOURS and that you can do almost anything with. If we had a LL that allowed this (and some do, though v rare!), then I prolly wouldn't be as fussed.

Very true. I'd be interested to ask what are your thoughts on renting to buy? Do you not think that schemes like that allow you to have a space that is YOURS and that you can do almost anything with?

Chatzby

mustrum_ridcully wrote: »

It's experiences family and friends of mine have had renting on the continent that has coloured my view of renting in the UK (that and what happens in the UK). Renting is considered perfectly normal in Europe. I've heard of some people who rent a flat in a city and have bought a nice holiday home in the country somewhere that they'll end-up retiring to.

When should people seriously consider buying? First things first, when they have a proper deposit. I think being able to save a deposit is a good sign of the maturity needed to cope with buying a house. I've been shocked at some young posters (18-21) here who see nothing wrong with their parents re-mortgaging to provide them with a deposit as they have to have a house now and don't want save for a deposit. Age-wise I would say late-ish twenties early thirties, by then you've settled down a bit.

Like I said I already own a place, but then again I'm no spring chicken any more.:o

Do you think that it'll ever be possible to get the attitudes from the continent about renting here? I.e better rights for renters etc

Chatzby

Idiophreak wrote: »

Getting value for money is quite important to me - so I would give up owning my home if I'd end up with more cash than the house was worth at the end of 25 years...
More importantly, though, stability is important - the idea of being kicked out of my home is intolerable.

I don't believe that it's possible for everyone to buy a "proper" house, frankly. The numbers just don't add up.

Would you say then your more interested in owning because of the stability it provides? And yet do you not think there are some downfalls of owning a home, especially if your a certain age, not in a relationship etc? What is your experience?