Cant decide whether i can afford a house

eskbanker

danlightbulb wrote: »

The house is stretching my budget. if rates were to rise, that would be a problem (but no more so than probably half the country would be in). Id struggle to rebuild my safety net because the house needs some upgrading as well.

It's not unusual to stretch budgets when buying a house but the impact should be diminished over time as incomes rise via both inflationary increases and career progression. Coupled with the likelihood of significant appreciation in the value of the asset, which benefits you as it's geared investment, and chances are that it's a sound plan over the long term.

Of course there are no guarantees, but if you keep renting and fritter away some or all of your current lump sum then that's hardly going to be in your long-term financial interests....

jonesMUFCforever

danlightbulb wrote: »

Thanks all.

im nearly 40, so feeling the pressure on this a little now. Id be taking a 30 year mortgage to keep repayments down in the early years.

Ideally I would buy a little cheaper, but in all honesty the cheaper houses just dont have much about them. Perhaps im being too picky, this is more house than i really need and perhaps thats also contributing to my worries.

Have you considered taking in a lodger? This will help with the mortgage/bills.

Jox

Yes, buy the property and as jones says above a lodger is an option, or rent a room on airbnb or look up host family.

You may get a pay rise or a better paid job.

Enjoy your new home

NedS

As there isn't much in the Nay column for this thread, I thought I'd pitch in to provide another perspective...

tacpot12 wrote: »

There is really very little risk involved in buying a house in the UK. You are converting your deposit (which is safe) to something that is only very slightly less safe. The main risk you are facing is that you can't repay the mortgage due to illness.

I'm not suggesting it's about to happen again, but I remember the eighties where interest rates sky rocketed and house prices plummeted, and many were trapped in negative equity facing repossession with unaffordable debts. So it is not without risks, especially if you are (over?) stretching yourself.

How secure is your job? How easy would it be for you to find another job? How long could you stay afloat if you lost your job? How affordable would your mortgage be if interest rates doubled in a relatively short period of time?

These are things you should consider. The people who were caught out in the eighties probably never considered these things, or thought it would never happen to them, but it did. That said, you will never get on the housing market unless you take these risks at some point, just make sure the risks you take are sensible for your circumstances.

adouas

It's completely subjective. Personally I like keeping my costs down, so if my rent is all included and much cheaper than a mortgage with no money down, I'd rather rent for the time being. Rents are not going up, and neither are house prices.

Utilities and taxes are a nightmare, so is furniture and house maintenance!