Is buying a house a good idea?

Tootling

What do you want in life?

Having a house is a nice thing but as someone else says you have to be able to afford it easily. Mortgage for us was lower than rent (3 bedroom house same as ours renting at £1300 or mortgage was £770.) But if course added costs like home insurance and having to maintain a house. We had a new build though so it was covered in a warrantee and besides needed nothing very much done.

Do you see yourself moving out of Bristol? We had to sell ours due to a sudden decision to upticks and move and had we been renting obviously this move would have been easier.

It is hard seeing others have nice things and going on holiday. But long term is that what you want?

You're going to have to face it. In the end some people are going to earn more than you. Going to have rich parents who can give them money. Or maybe they live off credit. You're always going to feel jealous of someone!

You can still have the occasional nice holiday or look closer to home.

I look at people and i think there is no way knowing your job that you guys are earning more than us but how can you afford the new cars and the holidays etc...

And then i realise it's because we could afford it. We just value putting money aside. So we know that if one or both of us are out of a job we can survive a while year without. And we can because we save. And we feel secure because we have a house. (Or once this whole thing guess through will!)

If you have a good job, then soon you'll have a house and nice stuff and holidays. Just not now!

I can't comment on what your money will afford you, esp. in Bristol which i think is a rather expensive place to live?

Think long term. Your nice stuff will be old junk in the charity shop after a few years. But if you think you aren't going to settle in an area wait and see.

Budget. Allow yourself one nice holiday or two small ones if you can depending. Don't let feeling jealous of idiots who don't know how to save put you off.

Davesnave

From quite early on, some people decide what they want themselves, while others look at what their peers are doing and join in. The people who join in because they have no particular direction in life are what's been called, 'other directed.'

You want a home of your own, but you also want a cut of what others have, and the two things don't square with each other financially. Your directed and other-directed selves are at a crossroads.

No one else can solve this dilemma for you. Although I sacrificed at your age to buy a property, it's irrelevant, because I was happy to ignore others' choices.

What made financial sacrifices easy for me was a period of 10 good years in a social sense, so I felt ready to move in a different, more stable direction. I agree here with Laralou; it's not too late to have a ball and still 'sort yourself out in your 30s.' I just reached that point earlier.

The only thing I can say with reasonable certainty is that people who carried-on having a ball in my generation, blowing whatever money they had, will now be feeling less happy if they've ended-up in an insecure rental somewhere with little cash coming in.

I'd also guess many of us may have lived somewhat longer than we expected in the Cold War era!

MiserlyMartin

PositivelyPerturbed wrote: »

Your friends will all be living in poverty and dependent on the state when they reach retirement age (probably before). A home of your own can give you security and money when you are older.

I used to think as you here. BUT now I have a relative who worked and saved hard all his life. He has a great pension and a had a nice house. Now he has dementia and is paying over £3000 a month in care home fees. He will be left with just £23,000 of savings before the state will pay anything.

With savings you are means tested on nearly everything and you will get zero help or benefit in hard times or ill health. Whereas if you have nothing, you get all care and benefits thrown at you for nothing. Why should you save and scrimp,? You might as well spend it, lead a happy life while you are young and healthy. The government won't fail the elderly in the future.
I've totally changed my mind.

Gwendo40

A self described ''economist'' who only has £4.5k in savings and isn't capable of making an informed judgement on whether to buy a house or not... so chooses to ask a bunch of random unqualified strangers on the internet what to do?

Your £4.5k should cover all your conveyancing fees and other buying/moving expenses, all you need to do now is start saving for an actual deposit.

John-K_3

sv722 wrote: »

Take this elsewhere. Don't derail my thread.

I gave you good advice upthread that you did not deign to thank, and now you post this?

I’ll leave you to it then, as you seem to be something of an !!!!!!.

Davesnave

MiserlyMartin wrote: »

I used to think as you here. BUT now I have a relative who worked and saved hard all his life. He has a great pension and a had a nice house. Now he has dementia and is paying over £3000 a month in care home fees. He will be left with just £23,000 of savings before the state will pay anything.

With savings you are means tested on nearly everything and you will get zero help or benefit in hard times or ill health. Whereas if you have nothing, you get all care and benefits thrown at you for nothing. Why should you save and scrimp,? You might as well spend it, lead a happy life while you are young and healthy. The government won't fail the elderly in the future.
I've totally changed my mind.

As someone whose father went into care eventually due to the inexorable progress of dementia, I understand the feelings of those who think they're being 'robbed of their inheritance.'

However, looking honestly at how he was by then, in my wildest dreams I couldn't imagine how having even £23k left would have benefited him.

Having cash and a home to sell counted for something though, because we had choices about the place where he'd end his days.

With an ageing population, and thus more people suffering age-related illnesses, the hard question of who pays for their care cannot be dodged.

That's where your emotive post falls down. Which Peter will you rob to ensure Paul gets to keep more of his cash, simply to pass it on to others?

moneyistooshorttomention

sv722 wrote: »

Also i've been an Economist for 6 months so my career prospects are good, but how and why do jobs get competitive as you get older?

Down to those "laws of supply and demand" basically.

Many employers want younger people because:

- they're cheaper

- they have no personal memories of when work conditions were more "normal" (ie steady jobs/pensions/sick pay and all that sort of stuff that older workers remember and are trying to get/keep).

- their training is newer and they're more likely to be au fait with current methods/ways of thinking/etc (in my own case, for instance, I'm 60-something and I'm a trained personal secretary - but the job of a secretary these days is rather different from when I'd just finished my training - eg having to be rather au fait with computers)

- many people in some countries (eg Britain and America for instance) get rather worse health as they get older and employers have visions of them being off ill more often etc.

Hence - when I commented sympathetically to a friend the other day that someone was about to be made redundant - the very first question she asked was "How old is she?" and then looked dubious about the persons chances as soon as I said "mid 50s" in reply.

robert607

Buying a house is always great idea. Investing in real estate is the best investment ever.

artyclarty

Whatever you decide, good luck!

I for one was not one of those people who wanted new shiny things and expensive holidays. My partner and I are now 30 and own our home outright. We have crummy cars compared to the rest of the street but we have the smug satisfaction that while they have their nice hire purchase shiny wheels, they are all renting their big brick and mortar box!

I have friends who have just bought a 1 bed in Bristol at £180k, not the best area, not the worst. I would strongly urge you if you are buying to have probably closer to £25k saved up for deposit, legal fees, moving costs and some furniture. They had £20k all in and are currently sleeping on a mattress on the floor and sitting on bean bags!

lookstraightahead

Personally I think it is great to save for a house but spread your investments into other things too. A house is to live comfortably in as a home but not to be your only source of financial security in the future (we cannot tell what houses will be worth and what will happen if you need care or if you get divorced etc). I personally think it is nice to save and find cheap ways of having fun - do not miss out on fun.