Buying property as a single person - am I crazy?

GoodnessGraciousMe

Hi everyone,

So I have decided to bite the bullet and make solid plans to start looking (and buy) a house towards the end of the year/early next year. I have chosen to wait as I need to save up some more money to cover stamp duty, legal costs and other expenses.

However, I must admit that I am scared. Actually, petrified! It will just be me buying and the plan is to buy a 2-3 bedroom house for less than £250k and rent a bedroom to a lodger to supplement my income. I am hoping to get a mortgage for £200k with monthly repayments no more than £800.

I have done my calculations based on a salary of c. £45k and can afford to pay the mortgage and bills by myself in addition to the increase in travel costs but I cant help feel like I am getting in over my head with home ownership.

I have no debt or other financial responsibilities but am not sure if my disposable income is enough for me to be able to care for a home. I know I couldn't afford to stump up £10k for repair work if it came up; what would I do then? Borrow money?

I guess I am trying to get some insight into how much I might need to spend in addition to the mortgage and bills to care for my home. How do people deal with unforeseen repair work or other expenses? What other expenses/costs should I be aware of? How much should I save per month to cover unforeseen costs?

Thanks

Pupnik

Sounds like a good idea to me - your income is higher than the national household income (40k I believe?). If you buy a house that needs work you can borrow extra on the mortgage to cover it, but otherwise so long as you have surveys and the roof and boiler are fine you should have time to save up money (perhaps from the lodger income) for an emergency fund for repair works that pop up. I think there are some good budgeting apps available for phones now (or so I hear, I haven't tried them myself so can't vouch for them!)

ReadingTim

Insurance covers the geniunely unforeseen. But little actually is unforeseen. Useage results in wear and tear. Age necessitates some maintenance; small, frequent, inexpensive and pro-active maintenance avoids sudden, large and expensive repair. Things rarely "blow up" or "die" - there are usually audible or visual clues that they're on the way out. Other than that, how long is a piece of string?

DumbMuscle

I hope you're not crazy, because I'm doing the same and most of the way to exchange....

Remember that you only pay 75% council tax if you're the only resident.

Remember to factor in house insurance into your bills. Consider whether you want better protection on your insurance to offset your lack of an emergency fund.

Check your mortgage offer terms to be sure you can take a lodger, and bear in mind that the bank won't take their payments into account when working out what you can borrow in most cases.

Have an emergency fund for repair work. If you can't afford for an emergency to happen in the first 6 months after you move, you can't afford the house (unless you're willing to take that risk). If it does happen, you either borrow money or go for the cheapest repair option until you can get something better - or you get good enough insurance to start with that it's covered by that.

Budget about 10k for mortgage fees, survey, stamp duty, etc. It won't be that much, but that'll give you some spare money at the end. Remember you need furniture for the property, so budget for that as well. You might also want to redecorate more thoroughly.

Ask friends/acquaintances/coworkers for recommendations for local tradespeople (at least gas, plumbing, electrics, windows, locks), so you know exactly who to call when something has gone wrong (or, get insurance with an emergency line who will sort that all for you).

ReadingTim

I bought mine 11 years ago, as a single person. I'm mental me.

ruperts

I read that 1% of the property value per annum is a reasonable maintenance budget. No idea how accurate that is however. If you're concerned about such a large financial commitment you could always make it a smaller one by buying a cheaper house.

Soundgirlrocks

Another crazy single homeowner here! (on a much lower salary LOL)

Polly05

Soundgirlrocks wrote: »

Another crazy single homeowner here! (on a much lower salary LOL)

And me! 😁



...

penguingirl

Interest free credit cards have helped us when we've moved- but set aside money to pay them off. If you genuinely needed a large lump sum to pay repairs in an emergency, then a personal loan is also an option. But it sounds like you're pretty sensible so once you've got through the initial moving in period (both times we've had hardly any buffer left after this) you can start to save a contingency fund, especially if you had a lodger. How much do you pay in rent currently? I suspect you'd be better off, and you have managed to save a good deposit.

ndi149

My first flat I bought on my own 10 years ago and I bought my current house on my own 2 years ago, although my boyfriend now lives with me.

You can definitely do it, in a way it's quite nice being completely in control of everything, but definitely think about keeping some funds together for those emergencies. My flat I had to pay £6,500 for leaseholder major works and just as I was in the process of selling it, the boiler blew up, so that was another £3k. So if you can have some kind of contingency for expected and unexpected problems, it really helps!

micky2phones

Hi, i say go for it