Rent or buy?

room512

Also if you have to move when you are renting it costs lots- such as letting agency fees, credit checks, etc. We had to move out of our last rented house as the landlord had gone bankrupt and ended up spending £2000 on fees, moving, deposit, etc. We had been model tenants and had lived in the house for over 8 years and still had 8 weeks to find somewhere else to live. It was a nightmare!

catkins

I rent and probably, because of age, will always have to. Renting wouldn't bother me if there were some sort of security. I have been in my house now for over 8 years but before that I moved 3 times in less than 2 years. I didn't want to move but one landlord decided to sell the house and the other 2 landlords wanted to put the rent up after the first 6 months rental (one by £60 a month and one by £100 a month).

Me and OH have done a lot of work in the house we are in now. Our landlord has not spent a penny but, on the plus side, our rent has stayed the same.

I really feel happy in my house and, as far as I know, the landlord is not thinking of selling, but it bothers me that he could suddenly decide to give us a months notice. I really don't want to have to move again with all the hassle and expense that involves plus we have pets and I know lots of landlords won't accept them.

jess1974

I would never ever get off the property ladder, i think it is a crazy idea x

ska_lover

IMO it is a crazy idea OP - You are currently in a three bed, and your user name suggests you have three children so do not really see the point in it.

You could get off the property ladder and never be able to get back on it

ognum

catkins wrote: »

I rent and probably, because of age, will always have to. Renting wouldn't bother me if there were some sort of security. I have been in my house now for over 8 years but before that I moved 3 times in less than 2 years. I didn't want to move but one landlord decided to sell the house and the other 2 landlords wanted to put the rent up after the first 6 months rental (one by £60 a month and one by £100 a month).

Me and OH have done a lot of work in the house we are in now. Our landlord has not spent a penny but, on the plus side, our rent has stayed the same.

I really feel happy in my house and, as far as I know, the landlord is not thinking of selling, but it bothers me that he could suddenly decide to give us a months notice. I really don't want to have to move again with all the hassle and expense that involves plus we have pets and I know lots of landlords won't accept them.

Just to say landlord would have to give you two months notice, you only have to give the landlord one months notice.

mummyroysof3

I totally agree with those saying we would be crazy when you think about financials and security but we do need something bigger sooner rather than later so may have to make that compromise

Callie22

mummyroysof3 wrote: »

I totally agree with those saying we would be crazy when you think about financials and security but we do need something bigger sooner rather than later so may have to make that compromise

I think it's a huge compromise though. We rent, and I hate it. We've moved practically every year for the past ten years - realistically, what we've had to spend in moving so much would have been a very good deposit for a house. I know that some people do get longer tenancies but really, when you rent a house you're going in blind as you're only told what the agent wants you to know, and they *all* spout the same guff about 'oh yes, it's a professional landlord, lots of properties, been doing this for years and it's definitely a long term rental'. I honestly couldn't tell you how many times we've been told that, only to find on moving in that it's an amateur 'I'm only renting this house because I can't get the price I want at the moment' landlord, who won't do repairs and constantly threatens to put the house on the market to 'test the water'. There is nothing more stressful than being in a house that's being sold.

I find renting incredibly stressful - the uncertainly, the inspections (every twelve weeks in out current place!) and the frustration of not being able to make a house your home. If OH and I are ever lucky enough to buy then I would never, ever give up that security to go back to renting unless I had absolutely no other choice.

Funky_Bold_Ribena

The £40k that you would spend on improving you house would be very quickly swallowed up in rent; and you would find your savings being dipped into and it being highly unlikely that you could get back on the housing ladder again.

The idea with buying is that when you outgrow your house, you buy a larger one or extend. You may have to move to in a different area, where you get more space for your money.

dktreesea

How about re-visiting the idea of buying a 4 bedroom house, but looking at things like help to buy or even shared equity or shared ownership? Shared equity can be good if buying a new build. It means you could gradually buy the balance as time and funds permit. Shared ownership (as opposed to shared equity) means having a buying and a rental cost, but it still could be worth owning, say, 70% of a suitable home rather than 100% of a home that is too small.

thorsoak

What about thinking outside the box? Friends decided to change the way they used the rooms in the house, and instead of the parents having the biggest bedroom, they decamped into the smallest bedroom - it just had room for their bed and two bedside cabinets! Their four children shared the two biggest rooms - bunk beds in the middle for the two youngest children - but with each child having one side of the room for her own things. The two older children had their beds at opposite sides of the room, and shared the rest of the space.

Dad put in an easily accessible loft ladder and light and boarded over the loft area - and clothes were kept there. It worked for them!