Is 'buying up' a good idea for me?

AdmanPea

Hi

I currently live in a reasonably cheap area in the north of England. I have a mortgage on an upper flat and have been paying this for around 4 or so years now.

I am a leasehold and whilst this does not cost me anything, eventually it will to extend. With this in mind, I wanted to sell up and move before any issue could arise for a potential buyer. So, I gave myself a 5 year deadline a number of months ago (which would take the lease down to 89/90 years).

My salary is around 35k and my mortgage payments account for just under 12% of my take home pay. So, I have some excess money each month which I use to live, travel, etc...

I recently acquired new neighbours and, whilst they are okay, the noise is not sitting well with me mainly due to how light a sleeper I am. I also need to spruce up the flat and the choice now is between investing in it or just doing bits and pieces to keep it going. Because of this, I am tempted to move. I'm just one person so it's not a space thing but if I could get a semi-detached or end of row terrace that would be great. With my salary, I don't know what would be a good idea for me to borrow but I was thinking a 140k house with a 10% down payment on it, meaning I would borrow, at most, 126k. I would need to sell my flat to make this payment.

What are people's thoughts on this? The longer I stay in the flat the more I can save but I now feel unsettled and I feel antsy to move. Is it a pipe dream or would a house around that price be doable do you think?

I am also locked in with Tesco so would need to port part of the loan across! Nothing is ever simple.

There is also the time of year factor. I don't know if now is the right time, particularly with Brexit round the corner.

Help!

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser

Mortgage - with a 35k salary you *should* (ignoring other factors) be able to borrow 150k+ so a 140k house with a 10% deposit should be ok.

Whether that will get you the kind of house you would like in the kind of area you prefer is hard to say without more information on where you are looking to buy in.

Tesco aren't taking new mortgages anymore, I don't know what that means with respect to porting your mortgage though.

AdmanPea wrote: »

Hi
My salary is around 35k.......With my salary, I don't know what would be a good idea for me to borrow but I was thinking a 140k house with a 10% down payment on it, meaning I would borrow, at most, 126k.

spadoosh

I live in teh north of England and my quite large (ex council) 3 bed semi cost me £104k about 8 years ago. Prices havent moved that much in my area since, according to zoopla its now worth £125k. So id imagine you could afford to move up but obviously depends on exactly where in the north. If youre in Cheshire or Harrogate youve probably got no chance.

Unless the falt is a a state i wouldnt spend much doing it up. Its inevitably going to be to different tastes to that of the perspective buyer. And its incredibly unlikely to add value unless you do something of substance. If its a bit grotty a paint refresh can help a little bit but itll only be in terms of getting people in the door rather than more money.

Youre probably not going to be able to borrow too much more than £126k.

Do the sums on the current mortgage. You might get a better rate now than you did when you took it out offsetting any ERC there might be. But do the numbers first.


I wont get it in to property/brexit speculation.

getmore4less

You want to move so get on with it.

Start looking, get valuations on your place and do your own research on what's out there to buy and what place like yours actually sell for.

Get all the basic maintenance jobs done and freshen up where needed ready to sell.


Think about what you want from a house.

Things like being able to park on your own drive.
Spare room and facilities for guests.
More storage.
Access to the back without going through the house
South West facing garden etc.

AdmanPea

Thanks for the feedback, gang!

I live in South Shields and have a reasonable idea on what I could get and I know the areas well. I like the area I live in it's just that, for reasons above, I'm considering moving.

Tesco indeed are not taking new mortgages but I have spoken to them and they would offer a 'borrow on top' of the ported mortgage should I want to. Agreed on the other mortgage offers which could offset early payment charges. I would have to borrow enough to cover the early repayment, however! What I should have, but didn't ask, was how long I get to port the mortgage before a fee applies. I feel like this is 6 months but not too sure yet.

I have a few viewings booked in and had an estate agent value the flat earlier in the year. I could put it up for sale within weeks, I guess...

I'm viewing a couple of 'fixer uppers' in the 100-110k bracket as well as a 150k ready to move in home (I wouldn't offer quite that much though).

Part of me thinks I should wait as my life circumstances may change but at 32 I'm still no nearer to being married or have kids so why wait for something that may never happen?!

spadoosh

AdmanPea wrote: »

Thanks for the feedback, gang!

I live in South Shields and have a reasonable idea on what I could get and I know the areas well. I like the area I live in it's just that, for reasons above, I'm considering moving.

Tesco indeed are not taking new mortgages but I have spoken to them and they would offer a 'borrow on top' of the ported mortgage should I want to. Agreed on the other mortgage offers which could offset early payment charges. I would have to borrow enough to cover the early repayment, however! What I should have, but didn't ask, was how long I get to port the mortgage before a fee applies. I feel like this is 6 months but not too sure yet.

I have a few viewings booked in and had an estate agent value the flat earlier in the year. I could put it up for sale within weeks, I guess...

I'm viewing a couple of 'fixer uppers' in the 100-110k bracket as well as a 150k ready to move in home (I wouldn't offer quite that much though).

Part of me thinks I should wait as my life circumstances may change but at 32 I'm still no nearer to being married or have kids so why wait for something that may never happen?!

Dont see the point in booking viewings if yours isnt up for sale. Its never good to find something you want but cant proceed with.

movingtomacc

Just out of interest, why do you say that, when Adman has a salary of 35k?

spadoosh wrote: »

Youre probably not going to be able to borrow too much more than £126k.