Would this be a bit crazy?

tibbles209

My husband and I live on the east coast of Scotland, while I complete my training (I'm a junior doctor, 1 year and 8 months to go). Both of our families are over on the west coast, and we have aways planned to move back as soon as my training is finished, as we want to be closer to family before having children.

We live in a small rented flat at the moment, and have been saving for the past 3 years for a house deposit when we move across. I have been watching the houses in the area we would like to live in over the past few years and have seen nice ones come and go.

The issue I have is that in the past week or so, a house has come onto the market which my husband and I both absolutely love. It ticks all of the boxes, and in the years I have been looking we have not come across a house that we have been anywhere near this enthusiastic about. Unfortunately I have to stay on the east coast until my training is complete, I cannot meet the eligibility criteria for an interregional transfer, so if we were to buy this house, it would be unlived in until I have finished training.

Would it be absolutely crazy of us to consider buying this house? We have a big enough deposit, both have good credit reports and the house is comfortably within budget, but we would need to continue renting over here until my training is complete (we could comfortably afford the mortgage/council tax for the house in addition to our rented flat). Is this even possible, or are there factors I am not aware of that would make buying this house unfeasible? I am normally so sensible and plan really carefully but this has sort of come out of the blue when we weren't intending on buying any time soon, so I'm trying to figure out if we could actually do this.

If this is doable, what steps do I have to start making?
We will be first time buyers and have LISAs if this is of any relevance.
Thanks for any advice!

franklee

What do you plan to do with the house in the meantime? e.g. leave empty, rent out, hubby lives there, you both live there and commute weekly etc.

Does your proposed mortgage allow that?

Does your proposed insurance allow that?

If empty can relatives keep an eye on it?

If it becomes your main home how does that affect your tenancy? (In England an AST has to be your only or principle home, no idea about tenancies in Scotland).

Well that's a start of things to consider

tibbles209

We would leave it empty, and do some work on it (carpets, paint walls, refurbish upstairs bathroom) and gradually furnish it. We live about a 2 hour drive from the house so could regularly go there for weekends to do some work etc.

We don't have a proposed mortgage or insurance as we have only just found this house and had not been planning on buying any time soon so have not started looking into any of this.

Relatives live a 20 min drive from the house so could check in, but we regularly visit the west coast (every 2-3 weeks for a weekend) so would be able to check in fairly often ourselves too.

Scottish tenancy law means it would need to be our 'main or only home'. I think this would be ok as we would be primarily living in the flat until my training is finished so it would be our main home, and then after my training we would leave the rented flat and move into the house as our only home.

Thanks for bringing up those points, good things to consider I have a feeling this is not going to be straightforward.

trailingspouse

First things first, you need to go and view it. There may be something that's not obvious from the EA details that is a deal breaker - in which case you can just walk away. Alternatively, a viewing may confirm to you that this is The One, in which case go for it!

davidmcn

It's going to be difficult for you to get a mortgage for a start - the vast majority of products are either for owner-occupiers or landlords, so if you're not going to live in it (for a considerable period) or put a tenant in, it's not going to be easy for you to finance it.

Plus (depending on the council) you might be paying double council tax for the privilege of keeping a property empty, as well as v expensive buildings insurance, on top of all your other costs.

So I would tend towards "absolutely crazy".

Red-Squirrel_2

This is why it’s not a good idea to look at houses when you’re not actually anywhere near ready to buy one!

Let it go, the timing is wrong, there will be another house when the time is right that will be just as suitable.

hazyjo

davidmcn wrote: »

Plus (depending on the council) you might be paying double council tax for the privilege of keeping a property empty, as well as v expensive buildings insurance, on top of all your other costs.

And don't forget bills - your insurance may insist the water is turned off along with the boiler. Boilers don't always start after being turned off. If you're doing work, I presume you will want heating on and will need water (for toilets if nowt else!) which complicates things. If you leave it all on and ignore the insurance, you will need to leave the heating on or you risk frozen/damaged pipes, etc.


Winter in Scotland? Not the best timing either...

tibbles209

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think I am starting to come to my senses I really do want this house, but the timing is just not right and there seems to be lots of issues with buying and owning an unoccupied house. That will teach me for looking when I can't realistically buy!