Had an offer accepted, now experiencing anxiety and buyers remorse

MrMonkey

Hi there,

I'm a 35 year old FTB, who has just had an offer of £210k accepted on a property.

My salary is about £35k, and my wife earns about £6k in term timetimes as a music tutor. My bank seems comfortable lending us the £165k (80%) needed to buy this property, a terrifying 4x our joint salaries! A 32 year term!

The ball is starring to move on the purchase, and I am starting to feel anxiety and stress about the cost of this mortgage and other associated costs.

My wife, son and I live in a decent two bedroom housing association flat, and my calculations show that buying a house will bump up our monthly costs by about £400 per month at current rates of interest, even more when the five year fix we have applied for has ended, assuming rates will be higher at that point.

Does anyone here have any advice, having been in a similar situation? I want to provide the stability and comfort to my family of having our own place, but am worked that we will be stretching ourselves to much in reaching for it.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

FormulaDriven

A couple of questions: how old is your son? do you expect to have any more children? These factors obviously affect your outgoings and whether your home will be suitable for your family in the years to come.

lxpeanut

I think feeling a little anxious is normal. Only you can decide if its the right thing for you but I wouldnt be comfortable stretching myself to the limit just so I could own a property.

MrMonkey

For information, the property would be fine to live in for as long as we would need it; it has three bedrooms and appears to be in a decent state of repair.

My son is eleven, and is to start secondary school in September. No plans for any more kids.

Doozergirl

Only you know the answer.

On paper, you look quite comfortable where you are but are you moving for a better location for the children to grow up/go to school etc. will your quality of life genuinely improve with the move - in a demonstrative way? Having a spare room, for most of us, just means somewhere else to put stuff that should be in a skip or a charity shop.

If it does, then you have to put the value of each against each other. Get a longer fix if you think you'd feel more comfortable with predictability.

MrMonkey

Thanks for the advice.

Ironically, the move would put us in a slightly worse location. Currently I can walk to work and my on could walk to his secondary school. The move would add an extra 20 minutes commute per morning and evening (walking to the station and taking the train) to these routines. And about £200 per month in additional travelling costs. But where we are looking, houses are about half the price of where we currently are.

The extra bedroom is there to give us some study space, and to allow us to have guests to visit. As my wife is from overseas it would help to have somewhere for them to stay rather than have our son in our room.

My justification for buying would be that I can not see property values falling significantly in the near future, and with me being 35 if I do not buy soon we will be stuck where we currently are indefinitely. But it just feels like such a gamble.

Foxy-Stoat_3

You should really be thinking long term...when your 67 you will be mortgage free, assuming you don't remortgage and never move. When your son moves out and you want to downsize/value you could be mortgage free a lot sooner.

Obviously you will be effected by the market and repairs to your house, but you have to think that house prices are only going one way. As long as you have bought at the right price now and you can afford everything for the next 5-10 years in your future you shouldn't look at buying somewhere to live as a gamble.

Good lucks !!!

goodwithsaving

I have nerves about buying too, but the stability and extra space can only be a good thing. Likewise, location is a compromise but we're being realistic. Rent somewhere in the fancy part of town, or buy somewhere in a less fancy (but still nice) part.

Life is full of if's and buts, should I or shouldn't I........but it's also about progression.

:-)

Doozergirl

MrMonkey wrote: »

Thanks for the advice.

Ironically, the move would put us in a slightly worse location. Currently I can walk to work and my on could walk to his secondary school. The move would add an extra 20 minutes commute per morning and evening (walking to the station and taking the train) to these routines. And about £200 per month in additional travelling costs. But where we are looking, houses are about half the price of where we currently are.

The extra bedroom is there to give us some study space, and to allow us to have guests to visit. As my wife is from overseas it would help to have somewhere for them to stay rather than have our son in our room.

My justification for buying would be that I can not see property values falling significantly in the near future, and with me being 35 if I do not buy soon we will be stuck where we currently are indefinitely. But it just feels like such a gamble.

£400 a month would pay for a lot of travelodge for guests and I bet a really ruthless clear out would find more room for a workstation. And get a sofabed.

In all honesty, I can't see the point in moving right now. Save £400 a month and reduce the mortgage term with a larger deposit. Paying a mortgage at 67 is harsh and at the moment you have the perfect stepping stone in subsidised housing.

I wouldn't move for no genuine improvement in quality of life.

Doozergirl

goodwithsaving wrote: »

I have nerves about buying too, but the stability and extra space can only be a good thing. Likewise, location is a compromise but we're being realistic. Rent somewhere in the fancy part of town, or buy somewhere in a less fancy (but still nice) part.

Life is full of if's and buts, should I or shouldn't I........but it's also about progression.

:-)

The OP has security in a housing association property.

the_wheels_have_fallen_of

Pro's and cons.... I have a mortgage, but what I wouldnt give to have a HA/Council Property that costs me an awful lot less .... AND the ability to save an awful lot more, with all repairs etc paid for ?? And a better quality of life.

Back in the day, we were told, told, told to buy and get a mortgage... honestly, does that really apply these days? As someone else says, only you can make the right decision thats right for you and the family but personally, it seems from what you've said that the figures just dont add up and youll be worse off IMHO...