Shared ownership OR buy outright

stepp

Any advice would be great, my brain has being doing overtime!

So im 40 years old, I have 40k deposit from a previous house sale ( split from X ).

I was looking at shared ownership ( 1 bed flat 155k )...so I applied for it...and its gone under offer, now I have 5 days to decide if I want it or not.

Now my brother is looking for a place ( long story ) and so im thinking of using my deposit and getting a joint mortgage and buying outright, I can live with him no problem we get on great.

The thing is he has never had a mortgage ( no debts though and always paid his phone bills etc ), so im not sure if he would be OK to get a mortgage......ive got a broker lined up for Monday.

I guess the question im asking is this, is shared ownership right for me at 40 years old?

Am I better off living with my brother ( even if its for a few years ) and buying outright.

I just don't know what to do, in one way i don't want to lose the flat but the other part of me is saying get a house it makes more money and is future proof ( no lease, no service charge etc ).

Any advice would be great as im driving myself mad here !

getmore4less

What's the exit plan if you go shared?

stepp

No real plan as such....take a 2 year mortgage and hopefully meet another partner in that time!

termhero

What deposit is your brother supplying/what share of the property will he own?


What happens if you do meet someone and you move out?
What happens if he meets someone and he moves out?
What happens if you both meet people and you both want to buy new properties with your new partners?


These are questions you should really have answers for before buying a property together in my opinion.

stepp

I would be using my deposit which I would get back and then any profit from the place would be split.

I'd much rather live on my own though but shared ownership seems good but the rent part of it is putting me off

termhero

I'm not sure you've really thought this through.


A mortgage is a long term deal, you've stated yourself there's no exit plan.


If, for whatever reason, your brother wants off the mortgage, how will you achieve this?


If your only answer is to sell, it's not a solution, if it's within 6 months any potential profit will be swallowed by fees involved in the buying and selling and you're back to square one.


Is it possible to buy outright, without him on the mortgage, and simply rent a room to him? I think that would be a better way of working this if possible.