How to buy whilst in a rent agreement?

Katamari88

Hi,

Just looking for some advice please

We are first time buyers and have our deposit ready to go however, we are stuck in a rental agreement until the end of March 2020. When do we start looking or putting in offers for our new home? Is it too early to start now? If we complete early before our rent agreement is up we can’t afford to pay rent and mortgage!

Thanks!

G_M

Is there a Break Clause in your tenancy agreement?

Would your landlord agree to an Early Surrender? Have you broached the subject? What conditions might he impose in return for his agreement?

If you were to find a property and get an offer accepted around, say, Jan 2020, you might Complete the purchase round about March.

Cakeguts

How much do you have in savings over the amount for the deposit? The reason I ask is because owning a home is more expensive than renting and it is more risky because if you can't pay the mortgage the lender will repossess. You will also be responsible for paying for all the repairs. If you have a lot in savings which is what you need if you are going to own a home I can't see why you wouldn't be able to pay both the rent and the mortgage for a couple of months if you needed to.



For safety in home ownership you need around 6 months of mortgage repayments in savings so that if you lose your job or become ill and cannot work you can still pay the mortgage. You also have to budget for repairs to your property.



If you don't have any savings apart from the deposit and the buying costs it seems that you are not ready to buy yet?

Katamari88

Thanks. There is no break clause unfortunately, we have asked and double checked with our letting agent and the contract.

G_M

Katamari88 wrote: »

Thanks. There is no break clause unfortunately, we have asked and double checked with our letting agent and the contract.

Would your landlord agree to an Early Surrender? Have you broached the subject? What conditions might he impose in return for his agreement?

AnotherJoe

Katamari88 wrote: »

Hi,

Just looking for some advice please

We are first time buyers and have our deposit ready to go however, we are stuck in a rental agreement until the end of March 2020. When do we start looking or putting in offers for our new home? Is it too early to start now? If we complete early before our rent agreement is up we can’t afford to pay rent and mortgage!

Thanks!

If you cant afford a couple extra months of rent then you can't afford to buy at that price because whats the plan if unexpected expenses crop up (which they pretty much always do with a house)

PasturesNew

In the main people think about this, then get to the end of their rental agreement and don't sign another one, instead going onto a rolling month by month contract.

If yours ends in March 2020 and you want to minimise overlap you should be OK if you don't start offering until, say, 1 December.

Offer 1 December, solicitors etc tend to slow/shut over Xmas/New Year, it takes 3-4 months to buy a house, so, by then you should be close to the end of your agreement and more in control of your overlap and options.

But, no house purchase is the same as any other. I've sold and expect/hope to exchange this week. My "offer to handing over the keys to my buyer" will have been 5 months.