Rent or Buy

dnewcombe10

Hi all,

I'm in a situation where I would like to move out mid next year. This will be at a time where I'll have enough to get myself a property up to £110,000 on the current wage / deposit I'll have.

The confusion I have is that 12 to 18 months down the line my partner will be in a position where they will also have a job and at this point we both could look at getting a property together.

I'm keen to make a break sooner and this leaves me in a position where im unsure if it's worth me putting my money into a property for 12 - 18 months with the intention of moving to a joint ownership of somewhere after or to rent for that short period.

What would my options be when it comes to me wanting to upgrade and add the partner to the mortgage?

Would the deposit I put into my first property be lost leaving me with no deposit for the second property - im unsure how deposits work when it comes to re-mortgaging.

It would be great to hear some opinions.

edinburgher

I'd wait. You do not buy homes for less than 2 years unless stress is your favourite thing in the world

• You might not be able to sell it
• You'll pay a fortune in fees (the costs of buying and selling somewhere and buying again in less than 2 years)
• Your deposit won't be lost, it will be converted into equity in your first property (i.e. you'll own a chunk of it). You might get a portable mortgage, but you'll still need to sell the first place and you might not have enough equity for the deposit on a larger place (does partner have savings too?)

If I was in your shoes and had to get my own place for as short a timescale as you're talking about, I'd rent somewhere as cheap as I could, while shovelling all spare money into savings for the deposit on your future home with your partner :beer:

dnewcombe10

Thanks for the advice.

I can now see sense in not purchasing two houses in this period of time - the selling and buying is definitely going to be expensive let alone twice!

They do not have a huge amount of savings at this current time but before we go in it together I'll be sure to make sure its even's.

Call me stingy but I think it's only fair waiting sharing the costs. What do you think?

marathonic

dnewcombe10 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice.

I can now see sense in not purchasing two houses in this period of time - the selling and buying is definitely going to be expensive let alone twice!

They do not have a huge amount of savings at this current time but before we go in it together I'll be sure to make sure its even's.

Call me stingy but I think it's only fair waiting sharing the costs. What do you think?

Going evens is a difficult one. It's rare that partners have similar salaries which means you may be in a position where a partner can never match your deposit. It might be better to have an agreement drawn up that allows you both to take your initial deposits out of the sales proceeds if you were ever to split up. However, this is always a touchy subject with the crowds that have their heads screwed on financially and the others that have some notion that such an agreement removes any and all romance from a relationship.

edinburgher

Call me stingy but I think it's only fair waiting sharing the costs. What do you think?

I don't think that's realistic for the reasons quoted by marathonic.

Different people bring different things to the table. For example, I earn a good bit more than my wife. On the other hand, her mother gifted her £10k, which went straight into our deposit. Over time, we're balancing out nicely

Then again, as we're married, some of the legalities are no doubt different.

ViolaLass

dnewcombe10 wrote: »

Call me stingy but I think it's only fair waiting sharing the costs. What do you think?

I think that's too simplistic and you have to work out what is right for you and how soon you want to buy.

Again, different for me, though, as we're also married, so my money is his etc.

lilyp

Due to a complicated situation my house is owned by my parents, step parents and partner with deeds of trust all over it. The legal fees were horrendous.

We are not married and my partner has far more right to this house than he should have. I do trust him to be honest if we were to break up but I also know from bad break ups in the past that when people are hurt they can make things very difficult. The sooner my credit rating is back on track and we are legally protected how we all should be the better.

I know it is un romantic to make everything legal but the way I see it means you are protected. You will never stay in a relationship because you can't afford to leave. Having said that I think there have been times in my current relationship when I think the complications of breaking up have kept us together and we are stronger for it.