Buy a house or go travelling?

worried_jim

Buy house, rent it out and go travelling. Two birds, one stone.

richy999

Travel now, while you are young and not encumbered with a mortgage and kids.

Apart from having a damn good time, you will, out of necessity, learn to live frugally and without too many material possessions. These lessons will come in handy when/if you decide re-join the rat race.

Mojisola

worried_jim wrote: »

Buy house, rent it out and go travelling.

This is a gamble - with the right tenant, it could all work out well; with the wrong one or problems with the property, it could be a nightmare.

Would you have enough money to travel and leave behind a lump sum for emergency repairs or to cover gaps between tenants? Do you have someone who would take on the responsibility of looking after the property for you?

Peccary

Hello,
My husband and I went travelling in our early 30s for 6 months, we easily spent a house deposit. We had an amazing time and have no regrets. We are now again in a position to buy a house after being back for 2.5 years.
Obviously, we are biased but would say go for it! Our attitude has always been shaped by experience (his mum died young, mine has a debilitating illness) and we don't assume we will be able to do these things later in life.
I walked straight back in to a job, it took a few months for him so it depends what you do (is there a career break policy for example?)

AndyBSG

You can go travelling at any point in your life, but given the rising cost of housing can you afford to buy a house at any point?

I'm approaching 40 and have less than 5 years on my mortgage because I bought young and concentrated on my career but friends I know who went travelling are still struggling to get on the property ladder or are living in one bedroom flats.

Once my mortgage is paid off in the next few years I will be in a position where i'm firmly established in my profession and then have an extra 600 PCM in disposable income which will let me go travelling to my hearts content safe in the knowledge I have a home that is fully paid for.

No contest IMO

nubbins

somethingcorporate wrote: »

Travel, you only live once! At the end of the mortgage when you're approaching retirement you won't remember the extra years of paying a mortgage but you will remember your travelling for the rest of your life

I agree, I worked in Faliraki for a few summers in the 90's at the tender age of 17 and in all the years since I have never had a better time.

In terms of this
"I'm approaching 40 and have less than 5 years on my mortgage because I bought young and concentrated on my career but friends I know who went travelling are still struggling to get on the property ladder or are living in one bedroom flats."

I know people who bought their first house at 30 and now have several BTL's, its down to the person how much they want to succeed.

theEnd

AndyBSG wrote: »

You can go travelling at any point in your life, but given the rising cost of housing can you afford to buy a house at any point?

I'm approaching 40 and have less than 5 years on my mortgage because I bought young and concentrated on my career but friends I know who went travelling are still struggling to get on the property ladder or are living in one bedroom flats.

Once my mortgage is paid off in the next few years I will be in a position where i'm firmly established in my profession and then have an extra 600 PCM in disposable income which will let me go travelling to my hearts content safe in the knowledge I have a home that is fully paid for.

No contest IMO

I can see how that happened over the last 15/20 years, but unlikely to be the case on the next 15/20 years.

Mojisola

Celifein wrote: »

If you go for option 1, why not make it a working holiday?

Or volunteering somewhere - http://www.vsointernational.org/volunteer/professional

lulalola

Travel! Go and see the world, while you still have the opportunity and the health to do it (those saying you can always travel later in life - not necessarily true! No one knows what's round the corner!). As people have said already, you'll learn about yourselves and each other and learn how to live more simply, as well as create memories forever. You may even find a new home for yourselves overseas, and you don't want the hassle of having to sell a property back in the UK!

lulalola

Also, there are tons of ways to travel cheaply and longterm. Working holidays, WWOOFing, HelpX/Workaway, work exchanges arranged when you get there (hostels will often give you free bed and a bit of food in exchange for some reception desk or cleaning work), CouchSurfing, hitchhiking (enjoying a resurgence - Google for forums), teaching English...the list goes on!