Buying this year with a view to selling in 3 years.. is this sensible?

olympicsmummy

We are currently renting whilst saving for a deposit but very fed up of wasting money on rent. We've been offered 50K deposit by family. On our current salaries we can afford a 3 bed for £270000. Our plan is to buy now but sell in three years (we have 2 children but will be having a 3rd which means we'll need a 4 bed house).

My q. is should we buy now and sell up in 2/3 years in the hope we either make a little money or at least dont lose any or is it silly to buy now with a view to selling so soon and simply continue to rent for the next three years until our salaries have gone up enough to buy a 4 bed?

(We will be buying in west sussex and in this area house prices are still going up. Its a lovely area where house prices havent really dropped much and with the reports lately that house prices in general may be going up slightly I'm of the view we should just buy now and sell in 3 years.. do others agree?)

Thrugelmir

Buying and selling houses is an expensive exercise and much hassle too. Don't bank on rising prices either.

Buy a home and enjoy it. If a bigger property is a requirement. Get saving, overpay the mortgage from the day you move in. Then you might have options a few years down the road.

I'm sure you can cope with 3 beds for a while if necessary.

mije1983

I wouldn't do it. As well as the cost of the house, you also need to factor in fees associated with buying a property, which would mean you would need to sell it for more than you buy it for.

Also there is no guarantee house prices will be higher in 3 years time, and if they dive again you could be stuck in a house that isn't suitable for your needs.

I would stay renting and save up.

On a side note, is the £50k from family a gift or a loan?

becominganobsessivesaver

Can you look for somewhere with potential - loft conversion, build over garage for example. This would save the stamp duty (at least £8k per move) and other costs. Sharing rooms is fine for smaller children, so saving up and extending is definitely an option.

kidmugsy

we have 2 children but will be having a 3rd which means we'll need a 4 bed house

No, it means you'd prefer a 4 bed house. It is not unknown for children to share a room.

Fire_Fox

olympicsmummy wrote: »

We are currently renting whilst saving for a deposit but very fed up of wasting money on rent. We've been offered 50K deposit by family. On our current salaries we can afford a 3 bed for £270000. Our plan is to buy now but sell in three years (we have 2 children but will be having a 3rd which means we'll need a 4 bed house).

My q. is should we buy now and sell up in 2/3 years in the hope we either make a little money or at least dont lose any or is it silly to buy now with a view to selling so soon and simply continue to rent for the next three years until our salaries have gone up enough to buy a 4 bed?

(We will be buying in west sussex and in this area house prices are still going up. Its a lovely area where house prices havent really dropped much and with the reports lately that house prices in general may be going up slightly I'm of the view we should just buy now and sell in 3 years.. do others agree?)

Is this a gifted or loaned deposit? Lenders rarely accept the latter, they want no strings, preferably evidence of budgeting and saving.

Property market is a gamble short term, a good investment longer term, three years is too short in this financial climate IMO. Have you factored in ALL the costs of buying and selling - survey, legals, mortgage application, insurance, repairs and maintenance, decorating? Do you also have three months mortgage payments set aside in case of redundancy, illness, injury, nightmare pregnancy, chronically sick child so one or both of you cannot work?

Can't see why you need a four bedroom house with two kids plus a baby, they can share just pick your furniture carefully - bunk beds, wall bed, double bed on stilts, gateleg table, folding chairs, sofa bed, floor to ceiling storage units.

Tancred

olympicsmummy wrote: »

We are currently renting whilst saving for a deposit but very fed up of wasting money on rent. We've been offered 50K deposit by family. On our current salaries we can afford a 3 bed for £270000. Our plan is to buy now but sell in three years (we have 2 children but will be having a 3rd which means we'll need a 4 bed house).

My q. is should we buy now and sell up in 2/3 years in the hope we either make a little money or at least dont lose any or is it silly to buy now with a view to selling so soon and simply continue to rent for the next three years until our salaries have gone up enough to buy a 4 bed?

(We will be buying in west sussex and in this area house prices are still going up. Its a lovely area where house prices havent really dropped much and with the reports lately that house prices in general may be going up slightly I'm of the view we should just buy now and sell in 3 years.. do others agree?)

If you are planning on a large family you'll need a large house, so it's pointless getting a smaller one now. Wait until the right moment. Renting is not wasted money because it gives you a home and you can move out relatively easily and painlessly. Once you buy it will be a very difficult and expensive process to change your home.

In my view, once you buy you should aim to live somewhere for 10 years or more before thinking of a move.

moneyistooshorttomention

It's not possible to guarantee you will be moving on when you decide to. Voice of experience time.

Even whilst I was in the process of buying my starter house (2 bed terrace) I was planning on when I would swop to the 3 bedroom semi-detached with decent garden in a few years and then (a few years later) to the detached house with garden in a nicer area.

It all went wrong - as house prices went up and my salary went down and I started having major job problems (which resulted in my having to fight to hang onto my job for years) and I'm still in my starter house. I'm only able to move at last now that I've retired.

I never thought for one moment that I would have to live in my starter house for anything like as long. With that, I did a load of work on it within the few years I expected to have it for and it was deemed pretty good and up-to-date at that time in comparison with similar houses. However, once I'd got to the point at which I should have moved on (but found I was stuck) I've been much more reluctant to spend any money/time on a house that I hadn't expected to still be in and so now the kitchen is deemed old-fashioned and certainly needs replacing again etc.

So - be aware that "getting stuck" at a "lower rung of the ladder" can and does happen sometimes.

mummyroysof3

If I had known we would have had 3 children and need a four bed we might have considered not getting a three bed in the first place. We have been here 10 years and our youngest is nearly four and house prices here are much cheaper. Personally I wouldn't go through two moves in that space of time so I would rent till could get 4 bed or buy a big enough 3 bed to last with possibility of extending or converting loft.

olympicsmummy

The £50K will be given to me by my parents. They won't want it back. However I'm considering some sort of contract to say its their money should my partner and I split up

Dan-Dan

olympicsmummy wrote: »

The £50K will be given to me by my parents. They won't want it back. However I'm considering some sort of contract to say its their money should my partner and I split up

then its surely `lent`?