Unsure if I want a house now?

CharllieSays

When I first discovered MSE after university, I was broke, in tons of debt from various things, had little to no savings, couldn't get a job, had no permanent address and had zero hope of things changing. I signed up and quietly kept reading for months.

I've just been sent a '6 years' badge from MSE. Things have changed a lot. It's been a pretty rough few years, but I'm in a better situation now. However, my view of owning a house has totally changed as a result of my experiences.

I paid back all of the debt I owed simply by living like a robot and working myself into the floor! I've lost a couple of teeth and started going grey in my late 20s (likely won't get another boyfriend), but the debt is wiped completely. I don't owe a single penny to anyone! After going through hell to get rid of those loans, I am utterly sickened by the thought of ever taking on debt again. I never want to be in that situation again as long as I live. I completely despise the modern economic system and would make debt illegal if I were in charge (I appreciate that's quite an extreme view).

I have a permanent job now (despite not earning much over minimum wage - don't believe the myth that STEM jobs are amazing) with an ok pension and a few other benefits if I ever want them. It has given my life a bit more structure and made it much easier to plan ahead. Like most recession grads, I don't think I'll ever get rid of that voice at the back of my head warning me that my company is about to tank and I'm about to be made redundant yet again. That was my first (and second, and third) experience of the world of work, and I guess that sort of thing sticks with you. But it might be to my advantage, as I now consider my salary to be what I earn via investment interest rather than through PAYE. I simply don't trust employment at all, so use whatever wage money I get to create more rolling income that I feel I have more control over. My 'breathing income' is all that matters.

Because of this, 90% of the money I have saved and continue to save is tied to various investments that continue to grow themselves (plus the bank rates have been detrimental to savers for most of my working life). I live on next to nothing, so any investment income is put straight back into new assets. Even before the recent big stock market hike, I was getting around 13% from everything combined.

I suppose my concern is that I have worked so hard to get this sort of money saved up (I still don't have a lot, but it's far more than I've ever had in my life) that I don't want to hand it all over for a tiny house and go back to panicking about redundancy and paying debt. For the first time ever I am not stressed, despite not having my own home. I'm watching all my Gen Y friends and family members getting married and taking on huge mortgages for tiny dilapidated houses in horrible areas (as that's all they can afford), and then constantly worrying over not having any money. I'm not sure I want that chain around my neck.

I've got used to sleeping pretty rough (never actually on the streets, but sofas, floors and the back of vans more than occasionally) and no longer care. I don't NEED to do that anymore, as I have a passive income that I could scrape a living from even if I lost my job tomorrow. But the thought doesn't bother me. Certainly not compared to the stress I feel when considering tying myself to a big mortgage for 20-30 years to live in a house I don't even like! I don't even splash out on a new pair of charity shop jeans unless I'm absolutely forced to, so the thought of splashing out on a home is shocking!

I know there is a good financial arguement for buying a home, even though quite a few people I know have lost money overall (mainly thanks to the 90s crash and then the great recession in 2008). I appreciate those were pretty extreme periods and the housing market could be great for the next 30+ years now, but I don't want to risk being stuck living in a horrible place and in debt and not even make a profit from it afterwards. I've worked too damn hard to be trapped like that again.

I suppose I want to know if there are any other Gen Y/recession grads that are going through the same dilema now? I'm in my early 30s and always thought by now I'd have had a house for a few years and started a family. My life has turned out very differently and I feel like I've hit an early mid-life crisis of some sort. I'm questioning everything I wanted when I was young. Does anyone else have ANY idea what I'm talking about?

robatwork

IMO a lot depends on a personal question you may not feel comfortable answering in public.

Do you intend to have children?

That pleasure/responsibility/burden/best thing you'll ever do will require a lot more stability than you seem to have now.

Cakeguts

Save up enough money to buy a cheap house in a cheaper area for cash.

dimbo61

Out of one thousand people maybe 20 save up the money to buy a property with cash !
Work smart and save smart, Help to Buy ISA and now lifetime ISA.
I love offset mortgages and with savings rates so low building up that emergency fund once you have that first property seems to make sense to me.

pinkshoes

You sound a bit depressed to me and perhaps need to take a reality check on what you actually want from life!

Grey hair will not stop you getting a boyfriend!!

Buy a canal boat and live on a river.

getmore4less

sofa surfing gets harder as people settle.

One advantage of investing in non property investments and not owning to live in one means you can be super mobile and live almost anywhere in the world or just travel around.

What about property as an investment to balance, although that tends to require a decent salary to leverage initially. does not have to be a home you can buy something that generates income(lodgers) and gives you a crash pad.

Bottom line for most people is they eventually want a home and long term the how to provide shelter is quite important,

glasgowdan

Chances are you're going to have to pay off someone's mortgage for most of your life. Whether that's yours, or your landlords, is up to you.

BrassicWoman

I went for a flat, not a house, in a nice area, as that lets me not have debt.

Despite common belief, sound insulation can be great, and the nieghbours are fab. It's all about the area.

Jon_B_2

I think you need to get over yourself a little bit and stop moaning about graduating during a recession.

I graduated in 2009 with a useless "arty" degree, but I'm doing fine. Large mortgage and a family.

I don't wonder every second whether I am going to be made redundant. Quite the contrary - there is opportunity around every corner.

You're playing with investments. Investments can go down as well as up. Some would say there is a degree of a gamble about it. For someone who make debt illegal (it's not just extreme, but actually a bit odd) - that's quite a paradox.

gettingtheresometime

My Nan always saved for a rainy day but didn't know when to put up the umbrella.

It sounds like you've gone from one extreme to the other. Neither is particularly healthy imo.

Thrugelmir

Have you started a Help to Buy ISA. Shortly you take advantage of a LISA, Somewhere which you buy for yourself however humble can be a secure home. A home is what you make it. Doesn't matter what other people think.