Help! Should I buy a house or pursue my career?

SteveV2

Take the job and buy a house there.

newbutold

Take the job!!

curedham

I would take the job, move down south and it may open other opportunities. If it goes pear shape, you can always move back north.

Save as much as you can, and if it goes well you can buy something here. I read somewhere (not verified) that average age for first time buyer in London is 32, there's no rush at 31 to buy something.

I bought my first flat a month after I turned 32, so I'm bang on the anecdotal evidence.

Jim_B_3

Take the job! One of the principal reasons I've not bought (and won't do until I can pay it entirely up front in cash, and quite possibly not even then) is to keep the flexibility of being able to always move on to the next job; the best way to get a decent pay rise is to get another job. A mortgage ties you to an area and ties you to a job.

You have the freedom to move to a better job at the drop of a hat, so do it! It's (one the the reasons) why we rent.

Newyorkdreams

In my opinion - Take the job! These opportunities don't come along very often so you need to grab it with both hands. You can always return in 2-3 years once you've bagged the experience, extra salary and made networks and connections that will open up new doors for you. If you don't you may be forever regretting your decision.

NYD

sabretoothtigger

working in IT

Thats a growth sector potentially. If you judge you will be in demand as you have skills others do not then you should rank your ability to pay over the ability to buy.
You may not even live in this country in five years if somehow you are that successful.

The main factor is your gf and your general flexibility to move
The whole bubble factor might be correct but you may stay ahead of the wave. Some are lucky like that mostly where your skills are global so the pay competitive regardless of conditions in uk bubble or otherwise

ie. uk housing especially outside London is not going to outperform a good dynamic business nor their employees wages

JonnyBravo

Another vote for the job

olly300

sabretoothtigger wrote: »

Thats a growth sector potentially. If you judge you will be in demand as you have skills others do not then you should rank your ability to pay over the ability to buy.
You may not even live in this country in five years if somehow you are that successful.

I forgot about the moving overseas bit.

Generally in IT you need to be as flexible as possible in making a career. Otherwise you can find yourself in your late 40s/early 50s unemployed and unemployable simply because you haven't kept your skills up to date and/or you refuse to move to a location where your skills are demanded.

As long as you don't have small children (though I know some individuals who do do it/have done it and I strongly don't recommend it) you may find yourself working away from home during the week.