House purchase dilemma

movilogo

Depends on your attitude to risk. Letting is a business and you have handle it like that.

If you want an easier life, then option 1.

If you want to be adventurous, then option 2.

Only you can decide what you want.

adonis10

movilogo wrote: »

Depends on your attitude to risk. Letting is a business and you have handle it like that.

If you want an easier life, then option 1.

If you want to be adventurous, then option 2.

Only you can decide what you want.

Adventurous, for sure.

I know letting has its drawbacks but every action has possible consequences which are not desirable, on the flip side every action has desirable consequences. I'm quite thorough so I would do my research and be extremely picky about who I rent it to. Having lived in it for 2.5 years I know what has gone wrong (basically, nothing) so I will be very suspicious if costs begin to appear here, there and everywhere. I know it can't be micromanaged, but I'll certainly treat it like a business.

onlyroz

You could always try letting for a bit and see how you get on with it. We let out our old flat for 6 months and then sold up because it was incredibly stressful. The tenants were always late with their rent and the letting agent basically said that it was tough because to evict them would take months. The letting agent also called in engineers to "fix" the washing machine (at a cost of around £60) because the tenants didn't know how to use it, and had never heard of using vinegar to clean it. They also called in a boiler repair man at a cost of £100, even though we'd told them we had a homecare agreement with British Gas.

We decided never again, unless we were in a position where we didn't really need the money.

martinsurrey

In all honesty I would be going for option 2 until she was my wife.

For all you can make a legal agreement before you buy, enforcing it after a break up is another issue (forced sale, and even then it'll be hard work), and if you have £200k involved and she has £20k, I can see trouble.

But that's just me.

burnoutbabe

I also have this dilemna in the future

With tax relief on mortgage interest, it did make sense to remortgage the flat, rent it out and then use that money as my share of a property we went 50/50 in.

So still, in effect "no mortgage" for me.

But tax rules are changing, i think, for interest deductions and higher rate taxpayers.

getmore4less

adonis10 wrote: »

extremely picky about who I rent it to..

Even the greatest on paper can go wrong things change, people change.
(just like yours circumstances have, could be the other way GF moves in both lose their jobs.)

At each change the more picky you are the bigger the void.

she wants to be able to put her stamp on somewhere

Seriously go bigger and have a ME room and a shed

adonis10

getmore4less wrote: »

Even the greatest on paper can go wrong things change, people change.
(just like yours circumstances have, could be the other way GF moves in both lose their jobs.)

At each change the more picky you are the bigger the void.

she wants to be able to put her stamp on somewhere

Seriously go bigger and have a ME room and a shed

True, and I'm very cynical about people but if everyone had that attitude no one would rent out and people would be homeless. It's a risk, life is boring without a little risk.

Oh don't worry, there'll be a mans area. I'm not swapping my entire my flat for a girl house. We're very fair about everything so it'll be ok!