Loan or not to borrow

HollyM29

Hi,
Myself and my partner have recently bought our first house. Unfortunately there's a few more things wrong in the house than we first thought or came up in survey. We need to mend a leak in the external garage and get new windows/doors. We have had a few quotes on both and work out we're looking at around £7000. Of course we don't have that! Do we borrow? Now or later? Can we borrow jointly or will we have to borrow as individuals?
A bit of background;
He earns 18k pa, I am on mat leave (return in nov) earning 10k.
We have 1 joint credit card (but in my name) with about £1500 balance getting bits when we moved in but we pay a good chunk off each month and hope to have paid it mostly off by the time I'm back to work should we not go for loan.
I have student loan debt but do not earn enough pa to pay anything.
Good credit history though I have never had a loan before, he has had 1 loan years ago which is paid off.

Also, the interest rate that you borrow, e.g. If it's 7% when take out loan for 3 years, can this rate go up over time if interest rates go up?

Thank you in advance!

[Deleted User]

If it's not essential - and I'd argue a leak in the garage probably isn't - I would save for it. Especially as you already have a credit card balance, so I assume no savings for a rainy (or leaky) day.

HollyM29

Haha!
Yes I see what you're saying.
Thank you for replying.

jonesMUFCforever

If it was not that bad either for you to see when you purchased or mentioned in the survey then again I would say you can live with it for a year or so.
Do these jobs one at a time when you have the money.

PeacefulWaters

Is the leak costing you on a water meter? Or is it eroding anything?

I'd be tempted to sort it one way or the other.

Puddylove

I wouldn't get a loan in your current circumstances - none of it sounds urgent.

Instead, why don't you start making 'repayments' on a pretend loan into your savings?
So £7k over 3 yrs would be around £250 a month - save that instead, and if you can't afford it, no harm done.

lushplus4

If you think you can afford repayments on a loan each month then instead of getting the loan, save the same amount in an account somewhere.
Once you have enough, repair the garage first, then do the same again for windows then again for doors.

You are expecting a baby which incur costs so don't spend what you don't have

HollyM29

Yes thank you for all the replies. All make sense, particularly with the savings instead. I'm just impatient and want all done now! But better to wait in case anything crops up over the 3 years and probably until our annual salaries increase.
The leak in the garage is being caused by a small gap in the felt roofing which is allowing rain water in. Builder who gave quote has advised to sort soon to avoid joists being any further damaged so perhaps I'll see if there's a cheaper temporary solution until we can afford to replace affected roof.
Thank you,
Holly

lushplus4

HollyM29 wrote: »

Yes thank you for all the replies. All make sense, particularly with the savings instead. I'm just impatient and want all done now! But better to wait in case anything crops up over the 3 years and probably until our annual salaries increase.
The leak in the garage is being caused by a small gap in the felt roofing which is allowing rain water in. Builder who gave quote has advised to sort soon to avoid joists being any further damaged so perhaps I'll see if there's a cheaper temporary solution until we can afford to replace affected roof.
Thank you,
Holly

I would get up there and have a look, I bet you could seal it up yourselves temporarily

http://www.wickes.co.uk/Products/Building-Materials/Roofing/c/1000181

-taff

Depending on how small it is, a tube of silione would work.

Gaz83

-taff wrote: »

Depending on how small it is, a tube of silione would work.

Best to take the silicone out the tube first.