should we take the risk?

mcford

Hi All,

I am after some advice please. Myself and my husband are looking to buy a house (we are in rented at the moment) we have £24000 deposit and are looking at a house where we would offer approx 158000. We earn just under £60000 between us so looking at the info I have just given I am sure you would all say go for it. The problem is that my husband has been told that his department is going through a restructure. His boss has said that he dowsn't think it will affect his job level, and thinks its higher up people that will be at risk so the question is do we take the risk and go for it? If we don't and carry on renting the rent is pretty much the same as the morgage that we would be paying, the only difference is that we wouldnt have the £24000 as a safety net if we bought a house and the worst did happen and he lost his job. On paper we could down to pretty much the last pound cover the morgage on just my salary but it would be cutting it very fine.

The house seems like a great buy and we are reluctant to let it pass us by but are just not sure what to do for the best?

Any advice greatly received

thelem

How long is the restructure going to take? Given house prices aren't likely to rocket over the next few months, I'd be tempted to wait and see what happens. You might have found a great house, but there will be others if that falls through (or you might be able to put in a lower offer when it's been on the market another few months).

Consider the four possible scenarios too:
* house+redundancy - very tight, could be forced to sell if combined with other bad luck like a big maintenance bill
* house+job - you get the house you've seen and your mortgage is a few months shorter
* rent+redundancy - nice chunk of savings to fall back on if needed
* rent+job - you have to find another house (probably just as good if not better) and you pay a few months extra rent

atppkr

Bite the bullet and go for it. This life is full of what ifs. You may rent for next few years and regret the decision. Good luck.

LandyAndy

If this restructure is imminent (next few months, say) then I would wait for the outcome.

getmore4less

With rental it is easier to relocate if you have to move for new jobs.


IME middle boses don't usualy have a clue when it comes to reorgs, unless they are getting advanced and the signs would have been there unusual meetings getting reviews upto date and the like.

Lizling

If there's a spare room you could rent out, I'd go for it and then you could get a lodger in if you needed to. The same applies if any other income e.g. a redundancy payment would make getting by on one wage reasonable for a year or so.

If there's a good chance you'd need to move to find work though, I'd keep renting but bear in mind that it's harder to get a mortgage when you've just started a new job.

If you happen to be in an area where prices are rising, I'd be more likely to say go for it because at least you'd get a good chunk of your fees back if you did have sell up and move back into rented accommodation.

On another note, I wouldn't put too much reliance on what he's been told by his manager about job cuts mainly affecting the top. Managers always seem to think their own department will be fine

Fire_Fox

If any redundancies happen in the middle of the sale you may have your mortgage offer withdrawn. Would your partner get a good redundancy package? Could he get another job relatively quickly even at a lower salary? Would you definitely be staying in the same area if your partner got a new job? Would you take in a lodger?

IMO research the current rules for benefits, especially Support for Mortgage Interest. Also look into payment holidays on your chosen mortgage product, and offsetting of savings. Be sure that out of that £24K you leave yourselves enough in the bank to cover at least three months of outgoings if the worst happens. That should be in addition to any money for little surprises and all the bits and bobs you do when you move in - repainting, shelves or boiler dying the first winter.

If you put £16K down as a 10% deposit, does the remaining £9K cover everything else, mortgage application fees, stamp duty, surveyors, conveyancing, removals, rainy day savings?