Budgetting for Mortgage

Keanu

Does anyone know of any good websites that set out all the appropriate costings in budgeting for the running costs of a new home??!!

I am in the process of persuading my other half we can't afford a mansion and the way I'm going about it is to sit down and identify all costs associated with running a new home e.g. electric, gas, council tax, car ins, etc. From there I can identify how much money we have left over to pay for a mortgage and to live on??

A website that sets out appropriate costs would be ideal.

Any ideas anyone??

lisyloo

I don't think such a thing exists and it would be difficult because costs can vary a great deal.

I would say your best bet would be to do your own spreadsheet and ask friends, family and colleagues about the size of their bills.

I would include

food
gas
electricity
water
phone
council tax
tv licence
buildings and contents insurance
maintenance
annual gas service/maintenance
alarm contract
Sky TV
Internet
car insurance
car breakdown
repairs/servicing/MOT
dental costs
pensions
sports subscriptions
cleaning (dry cleaning, windows)

also it would be good to estimate if you can

gifts (birthdays/Xmas)
holidays
entertainment

Sounds far too expensive already !

lisyloo

Also bear in mind that you may also need to purchase insurance for

death
sickness/accident
redundancy
critical illness

etc.

Keanu

Cheers Lisyloo,

- as you say, from your list it is starting to look far too expensive already!! Try telling my 'better half' that, she is still looking for 'her mansion' !!!

- I just thought I's stumbled across a website that kind of listed all potential items of cost, yours is pretty substantial anyway

- Thanks

lisyloo

Well I've said this lots of times before, but we really are seeing evidence now that house prices have peaked.

If you buy now it could be a really expensive mistake.

Opinion is divided over whether we will have a "gradual slow down" in prices or a crash of the order of 30%.

In neither case is there much risk in waiting for a while.

If you want evidence for your other half then try looking at any of the recent house price surveys which show that house prices are starting to fall.

My advice would be to wait and save what you can towards a deposit and moving costs.

Also put together a spreadheet for moving (stamp duty, solicitors, removals etc). If you have any friends that have moved recently they should be able to help you with the costs.
Also if you live at home or even in rented accomodation then you will find you need to buy certain furniture and kitchen items.

Personally I am hoping for a gentle slow down or small price falls but I don't think anything is certain. There is definitely a risk of price falls and very little chance of prices continuing to boom as affordability has reached it limits.