Please help - buying v renting

amk515

Hi all,

My wife (30) and myself (31) have been married for 14 months and are currently living at my parents' house. We've had our wedding and honeymoon but we are now looking at what the better option would be.

My wife is struggling with living in my parents' house as it is clearly not our house and privacy is one problem but there are others as the house gets untidy quickly with 4 adults in it and a few jobs that need doing to the house. We are currently paying £300 in total to my parents.

We have been offered a really nice house to rent from a colleague of the wife's dad for £540 per month and we can move in on 13th March.

I am not sure what the best decision would be. Do we take the offer or do we try to save the deposit needed for a house of our own which could be a few years away.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Andy

p00hsticks

More information required - does the £300 a month you are currently paying include a contribution to the bills ?
£540 rent is considerably more, and don't forget you'll have utility bills, council tax etc on top .

What proportion of your salaries would that be ?
At what rate are you saving ?
Any future plans for starting a family ?

Moving into rented is going to be considerably more expensive than staying put with parents, but only you can put a price on the value of being independent.

Person_one

Move out.

You're in your thirties, you're in a relationship that must be impacted by having parents in earshot so much of the time, your wife does not have the same relationship with your parents that you do and you know that she's struggling.

£540 a month isn't a bad price if you're both working, you can still save for a house just a bit slower, with some privacy and independence!

amk515

Thanks for the quick replies.

£300 is all in except we sort our own food out.

Obviously £540 is less bills so that is considered too.

We would like to start a family soon but obviously we need to sort our living situation out.

We currently have £2500 saved but we need to do more. We could easily put more money away. I was thinking that we could put at least £500 each month away.

flashg67

I'd suggest that you have a bargain at the moment, and if you can suck it up, save hard, you'llsoon be able to buy instead of rent.
But it's not everyone's dream to own their own home and many like the flexibility of renting, but I suspect you'll find it harder to pay a true market rent and save for a mortgage deposit, rather than whilst paying only the £300 + food you're paying at the moment

glasgowdan

In your shoes I'd move out and make do without saving. Living with parents is for teenagers.

Chanes

I would move out, I know it is cheaper to live with your parents but they are your parents, not your Wife's and there is a chance that a serious falling out could spoil what must be a peaceful and friendly relationship between them - and where would that leave you?

It might be the costlier option but you have a Wife and you may want to start a family sometime and your own place (rented or not) is your home, to live in and move on to a more independent life together.

Whatever you decide to do, I hope it's a decision that makes you happy!

amk515

That's exactly my thought but the Mrs is really struggling at my parents' house and she just wants us to move and and have our own place (knowing it really isn't though).

I just don't want her to be unhappy anymore but I'm not sure what I can do.

I'm worried about retirement as I wouldn't like to rent at that age.

MyOnlyPost

If you are not in a position to currently buy and you won't be for several years, but you are able to afford rent, considering you are married I wouldn't even give it a second thought. Some privacy in a marriage is essential and is all too often taken for granted, until you don't have it.

Separate to that I think that for over 30 years we Brits have had an obsession with owning property and it isn't the be all and end all. If you can find a decent property with a decent landlord and your rent is around that of a mortgage payment consider that you will have considerably lower household repairs than a homeowner and more freedom to move if and when you need to.

amk515

MyOnlyPost wrote: »

If you are not in a position to currently buy and you won't be for several years, but you are able to afford rent, considering you are married I wouldn't even give it a second thought. Some privacy in a marriage is essential and is all too often taken for granted, until you don't have it.

Separate to that I think that for over 30 years we Brits have had an obsession with owning property and it isn't the be all and end all. If you can find a decent property with a decent landlord and your rent is around that of a mortgage payment consider that you will have considerably lower household repairs than a homeowner and more freedom to move if and when you need to.

What about retirement?

That is my main worry. I don't want to still be paying rent in retirement.

streetlovin

Then don't pay rent until retirement.. Move out, start renting, save up, eventually you both will get better jobs and have saved enough to get your own house.