Want to get own place, but how?

chrishar

I want my own place now asap so I can have somewhere to relax, my own kitchen, have a long bath when I want etc. I currently live at parents.

I already have a mortgage on a property which is let out and was a planned purchase many years ago as a pension alternative. This property pays for itself so I can keep the finances separate from my own personal life. As I already have one mortgage I don't really fancy getting another.

This leaves me with renting, all well and good you might say, but it is soooo expensive. To rent a small one bedroom flat in the town where I live costs around £850 pcm. I earn a basic net income of £1550, with the option of overtime. So the rent alone would be over half my income! Not to mention council tax and bills!

My only other option is a house share with 2 friends I am not 100% sure about, in terms of whether they would pay the rent on time and whether they would smoke indoors which I would not like. This would mean finding a 3 bedroom house for around £1000 a month and splitting the rent.

I also have a friend who has mentioned renting his small room out but I am doubtful that would be much of an improvement as the room is small and he often will have his kids to visit so it would not necessarily be a relaxing place.

Other than this I am stuck, I have actually thought about buying a campervan and going travelling or something as the prices are so ridiculous. Any ideas anyone?

Ms_Chocaholic

Renting a room with a friend would be no different to living with your parents surely, you wouldn't have those things you want in your first paragraph and it would cost you more so it would be a no brainer for me.

Could you not live in the property you own when your tenant's rental comes to an end.

browneyedbazzi

Ask your tenants to leave and live in your mortgaged property yourself?

Rent somewhere else that is more affordable.

Have a look at house-shares (websites like spareroom.com)

Jack_Johnson_the_acorn

chrishar wrote: »

I want my own place now asap so I can have somewhere to relax, my own kitchen, have a long bath when I want etc. I currently live at parents.

I already have a mortgage on a property which is let out and was a planned purchase many years ago as a pension alternative. This property pays for itself so I can keep the finances separate from my own personal life. As I already have one mortgage I don't really fancy getting another.

This leaves me with renting, all well and good you might say, but it is soooo expensive. To rent a small one bedroom flat in the town where I live costs around £850 pcm. I earn a basic net income of £1550, with the option of overtime. So the rent alone would be over half my income! Not to mention council tax and bills!

My only other option is a house share with 2 friends I am not 100% sure about, in terms of whether they would pay the rent on time and whether they would smoke indoors which I would not like. This would mean finding a 3 bedroom house for around £1000 a month and splitting the rent.

I also have a friend who has mentioned renting his small room out but I am doubtful that would be much of an improvement as the room is small and he often will have his kids to visit so it would not necessarily be a relaxing place.

Other than this I am stuck, I have actually thought about buying a campervan and going travelling or something as the prices are so ridiculous. Any ideas anyone?

where about is this 1 bed flat for £850 a month? sounds like you can't afford the area, maybe consider looking in a slightly less attractive area.

chrishar

I'm not sure I'd want to end the tenancy as it's an income without having to work, which one day could be useful (when the mortgage is paid and I don't want to work anymore).

The £850 admittedly was town centre but outside the town it's not a lot less, maybe £750 but there isn't much on the market. House sharing doesn't really appeal to me as I like to know who I'm living with and I still wouldn't have a kitchen/bathroom of my own.

This is the £850 I was talking about:
http://www.zoopla.co.uk/to-rent/details/33125695

Thrugelmir

chrishar wrote: »

I'm not sure I'd want to end the tenancy as it's an income without having to work, which one day could be useful (when the mortgage is paid and I don't want to work anymore).

Are you declaring the income for tax purposes?

Ms_Chocaholic

Could you afford to rent on your own? £850 pcm (or even £750 pcm) plus bills on a £1,500 pcm salary. Would you be able to afford to live after energy, phone, council tax, water, tv licence costs.

Snakey

I don't understand why you don't want to get another mortgage. As long as your existing house is worth more than what you owe on it, you can sell that any time you need to because it's only an investment - it doesn't also represent the roof over your head like it does for owner-occupiers. (I assume you aren't pulling a fast one like not telling the bank it's tenanted so that you can pay residential mortgage rates.)

If you really don't want to do that, I don't think there are any clever alternatives. If there were, loads of people would be doing them and you'd have heard of them before now. Sure it may be possible to find a one-off arrangement like living on a canal boat or doing long-term house-sitting, but you're really going to have to look around and get lucky.

Otherwise, you've nailed the options - you can either stay with your parents, house-share with friends or others, give notice to your tenants and move in there, or suck it up and rent at whatever the cost. Pick your least-hated set of downsides, and go with it. It's two more options than a lot of people have got available to them.

chrishar

Hi Snakey Well I have been overpaying the mortgage and its roughly 60% of the property value now. If I got another mortgage it would mean increasing the one I already have to find the deposit on the second.

I had always thought that the more I overpaid, the less the payment and more profit I get each month. However doing that still doesn't sort out me having my own place.

chrishar

Ms Choc It would be tight but I think I could manage it. I don't really feel the cold and am careful with utility usage. The only things I can't affect is the rent and council tax. Probably wouldn't bother with a tv.

bmunky7

Sounds like you're in that place that most of us are in life - having to decide on your priorities and compromise somewhere. You can't have everything you want.