Is buying a house a good idea?

DCFC79

Depends if you want to have yoir own place that you can change to your own taste, be your own person. I know I would prefer to have my own independance, to have a property I can do things I want at my own pace.

jonnygee2

I'm 31 and just buying my first house.

A big consideration for me is that I was renting, so about 30% of my take home pay is currently going on rent. When I buy, my mortgage payments will be similar, and about 25% of these will go to the bank as interest, but the other 75% (about £600 a month) will go into equity, effectively a form of saving, instead of someone else's pocket. It's true house prices could fall (or even crash!) but overall the risk vs reward works out, and long term house prices always go up.

In terms of your long term finances, buying a house is normally the most sensible option (closely followed by increasing pension contributions imo). With very low interest rates (I just got 2.1% on a FTB mortgage!) and no stamp duty, this is a good time to buy. Eventually, I'll need to retire, and when I do I'll want to have some money to live out the rest of my life, and I don't have any inheritance or other magical sources of money to do this with.

That said your question seems to partly be 'should I think about long term finances or just spend money now and make myself happy'. I think that's a personal question only you can answer. I've spent the last 5 years on an extremely limited budget whilst saving for a deposit but have been relatively happy anyway so it hasn't been an issue. I've been travelling and going out, just very economically. If saving for a mortgage means you will have to live in a hovel and eat potato soup for the next seven years it might just not be worth it. If you're in for a huge inheritance in 15 years time, for example, you might as well just travel the world and enjoy yourself now.

Mickygg

Just remember when buying a house there are always on going maintenance costs. Boiler breakdown, leaking guttering, blocked drains the list is endless and all costs time and effort to fix.

Renting is easier but in the long term the huge benefit of buying is not paying and rent once mortgage is fully paid. I persinally don't want to be paying rent all my life.

sv722

Tootling wrote: »

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.

Well i moved to London about 6 months ago after living in Bristol all my life but i'm now starting to regret it. Everything here is so expensive and i can't save as much as i used to. My job however is professional and i like it as it's a good job.

My plan is to move back to Bristol and save up while i live with my parents for a while, even though it's not the best thing.

sv722

ruperts wrote: »

I think this is probably a troll thread designed to try and prove that the reason millennial find it hard to get onto the property ladder is that they are always spending their wads of cash on all these amazing fun things and nothing to do with the cold hard fact that house prices as a multiple of income are at unprecedented levels.

That said, if on the off chance it is a genuine question then the it is totally up to you. Buying the house is probably the better option from a purely financial perspective. Going travelling will enrich your life in other ways. You can also do both as long as you build a decent career and it is much better to go travelling when you are young.

There are much better websites and issues to troll on e.g Reddit. In terms of enjoying my money i get jealous seeing my friends post on instagram about the cool places they visit. Ultimately my goal is to own a place that i can call my own. Somewhere i can be free to do what i want, when i want without being afraid of anyone.

I've recently started my career as an Economist so that's a good thing that should carry me on quite well.

jonnygee2

In terms of enjoying my money i get jealous seeing my friends post on instagram about the cool places they visit.

You can still travel even on a very limited budget. I've been doing a lot of hiking, canoeing and wild camping trips (I'd never have thought of this if my budget hadn't been so constrained). Trust me the Instagram photos are unbeatable, as are the experiences. You probably won't be sitting in an infinity pool in an all-inclusive Caribbean resort anytime soon though .

A place to call your own is a very sensible goal. Good luck with it.

Tootling

You're quite serious for a 26 year old! Why would you be afraid of anyone? Of a landlord throwing you out? I understand that.

I think you have to just follow what you feel is right. You don't know what will happen in the life.

Buying a house isn't the be all and end all, and it won't solve all your problems.

You'll have to think of work in Bristol, will there be enough? If you lose your job there will you find another easy enough? Having flexibility isn't always a bad thing especially just starting out in your career.

Owning your own house means independence and all of which that entails. It's an achievement and definitely something to aspire to.

Doesn't mean you can't have fun too. But you don't have to follow the sheeple. It's ok not to follow the joneses about. Even though it's hard sometimes.

jonnygee2

You don't know what will happen in the life.

You don't, and that's very true and something to remember. However, buying a house is actually 7 years off for this person, this is really a thread about 'should I start saving money'.

Pretty much whatever happens in life, a large amount of money in a savings account is going to be a good thing. A house is a good goal to motivate that. The actual final decision about buying one doesn't need to be made until later.

qwert_yuiop

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

- 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.

What are the countries where your health does not get worse as you get older?

Davesnave

qwert_yuiop wrote: »

What are the countries where your health does not get worse as you get older?

.....And why did nobody tell me about them?