Regret buying a house at 28 - what do I do?

pineapplepink

Hi All,


Really looking for some help and guidance here. I'm a 28 year old female and feel as if I'm going through a quarter life crisis.


To give some background, I work for a major bank and earn approx. £28k a year. I've worked in the bank for 7.5 years- I fell into the banking industry when I needed a full time job and worked my way up over the past 7 years- I don't have any qualifications such as A levels or a Degree (my highest qualification level is an NVQ L3 in Management. I've got 10 GCSES A-C)


I've been single for 3 years now. I rented with my ex for 2 years and when we split I had enough money saved to put a deposit down on a mortgage so jumped at the chance to own my own home. This was 2 and a half years ago. I paid £119k for my house and put down £7.5k (5%)


The past 6 months I've had experience working voluntarily in Belgium (using my banking job holiday allowance), meeting lots of new friends my age who all live and work in Europe/ Thailand. I've visited friends in Amsterdam where many rent and work in a stunning cultural city. It's really opened my eyes to the world out there and spurred on an urge to see the world whilst I'm still young.


My issue is i've been feeling down and depressed since I returned from Belgium/ Amsterdam as I feel so trapped and tied down with my own home and mortgage. I've thought about it a lot and would love nothing more than to see the world by working abroad. I have a friend who offered me work in Thailand where the cost to rent is cheap, and if I didn't have my mortgage I'd have booked a flight out in a heartbeat.


I've been looking at selling my home as I'm so unhappy. I know a house is a huge investment but I don't see any other way. I've looked into renting it out but my L2V is 88% and the minimum with my current lender (Virgin Money) is 75-80% l2v so that makes renting out of the question. Plus, id have to pay an early exit fee of 4.5% to apply for a buy to let mortgage which is a fee of approx. £5k. I understand I'd have to pay this fee if I sold my house anyway as well as other selling fees, but that way I've worked out I'd still get back my deposit so I wouldn't loose any money.


I guess what I'm asking for is advice- if you felt truly unhappy would you sell up? Luckily I have a supportive family who I can move back in with if I do decide to sell up, but its such a huge thing to do I'd appreciate some thoughts if it was your children who felt this way.


What are your thoughts of selling up and renting in a few years, are mortgages really worth it?


I want to see the world before I get too old / get into a relationship / have kids or have any ties.


thanks for reading.

AdrianC

It's a house. No more than that.

If you don't want to live there, and owning it is stopping you living your life, then... GET THAT FOR SALE SIGN UP!

WobblyDog

I've been an owner-occupier for most of my life, but on a couple of occasions I've sold-to-rent for short periods before buying another house. I found the insecurity of renting quite unpleasant after owning a house, particularly in a country like the UK where home ownership is so common, and renters have less legal protection than in some other countries.

pineapplepink

WobblyDog wrote: »

I've been an owner-occupier for most of my life, but on a couple of occasions I've sold-to-rent for short periods before buying another house. I found the insecurity of renting quite unpleasant after owning a house, particularly in a country like the UK where home ownership is so common, and renters have less legal protection than in some other countries.

Thanks for the response. What were the reasons behind you selling to rent if you don't mind me asking?

Socajam

Me personally, I would go the BTL route, rent out the property through an agent and see the world.
When you are ready to return you have somewhere to live and do not have to start from the beginning
A note, if you are going abroad to travel for a while, do not closed your bank account(s) or give you your credit cards.
You can use your parents address for this, sign up for online banking, paperless and pay your bills that pay.
The banks do not need to know, as long as you have a UK address.
A friend of mine went abroad for a while, rented out her property, kept her bank and credit card accounts by using her family's address.
Looking back she is glad that she did not sell up as some of her friends advised her to do.
In the long run, the option is yours, but as someone wrote, there are vast differences between renting and home ownership - something to bear in mind.

MysteryMe

You only live once so I do understand you not wanting to miss out.

My only rider is that it seems like you are not long back from having a great 6 months on extended holiday. I'd be inclined to wait a few months until you have got over the come down everyone has after an extended break from every day life and if you feel the same in 6 months time as you do now then maybe it will be best just to sell up.

Amsterdam is easy and cheap to get to, perhaps you could have regular weekends there to tide you over until you know for sure selling up is what you want to do.

AdrianC

Socajam wrote: »

Me personally, I would go the BTL route, rent out the property through an agent...

Think you might have missed this bit...

pineapplepink wrote: »

I've looked into renting it out but my L2V is 88%

Bossypants

Is there any way you could make up that LTV and let it out? Beg, borrow, steal?

I was in your position at your age, almost exactly. I found myself with a good job and a nice little house in a pleasant suburb, only to realise that I didn't actually want to live there or do the kind of work I was doing at all. I proceeded to let my house out and try out a variety of things over several years, until I found a path I felt was viable for me long term. Once I was on that path, I was able to sell up the original house and invest in a house in a location which suited my chosen path much better. If I hadn't held onto the original house, it's unlikely that I would have been able to afford to do that, and if I hadn't been able to do that, it's very unlikely that I would ever have been able to get close to affording my current home, which is perfect for me and which I hope to be in for many years to come.

This is obviously just my anecdotal experience, but while it's important to listen to your gut and follow your own path in life, think carefully before you divest yourself of the security of a guaranteed roof over your head. For me, the knowledge that I did have that place which I could go back to (obviously not at the drop of a hat, it was tenanted, but still) was also a great mental support, and helped me take risks and do things I might not otherwise have done.

jonesMUFCforever

AdrianC wrote: »

Think you might have missed this bit...

What difference does that make?
As long as the lender agrees and the rent covers the mortgage why should it be a problem.
If the OP has to change her mortgage product from personal to buy to let I don't think she would have to pay any fee other than an administration charge.

Cakeguts

You do realise that getting a paid job in Europe is not as easy as it is in the UK. There is very high unemployment in a lot of Europe and so it isn't easy for foreigners to get the kind of job where you get a decent wage. The reason why a lot of people work in Europe is because their UK company has sent them there.


Before you think too much about Thailand you need to check the list of jobs that you can't do. It is quite long. In Thailand it appears that foreign workers are only allowed to do the kind of jobs that Thai workers don't want. You can guess what that is going to include.



Renting in Europe is not like renting in the UK. In Europe you don't get all the fixtures and fittings that you get in a rented house in the UK in some places this doesn't even include light fittings. You are expected to supply your own.



Working for a short time in a voluntary job is not the same as working in a low paid job and renting a cheap flat in a cheap area. It might seem like fun if you are only visiting for a short time and can then go back to your own nice comfortable property.

Bossypants

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

What difference does that make?
As long as the lender agrees and the rent covers the mortgage why should it be a problem.
If the OP has to change her mortgage product from personal to buy to let I don't think she would have to pay any fee other than an administration charge.

If you read the post, it sounds like her lender doesn't agree, which is the problem.