Is it really impossible?

ILikePineapples91

Hello thank you for having me. I’d like some advice please as I’d always thought that buying was impossible but I can’t shake the idea.

The last living relative at my Nan’s house passed away 2 years ago. It’s always been the centre of every family get together and means a lot to all of us. I don’t know if it’s up for sale yet or anything as they’re still sorting through 60 years of stuff.

I cannot shake the idea of buying it. It seems like a ridiculous dream and I need someone to set me straight. I’ve not even asked about it so it’s entirely hypothetical.

I’m 28, single mum of 2 and working part time due to disability. My income isn’t great but has the potential to increase and my outgoings are very minimal as I don’t like spending. No debts, no overdrafts, no expensive phone bill (£7pm) I don’t have beauty treatments and rarely go out to eat. I don’t drink or go out.

The house is old, and bits need replacing but it’s perfect size wise, it’s welcoming, it has huge sentimental value (hoping it’s not rose tinted glasses), the location is exactly what I need.

My children’s father (separated) has a much better job and wage than I do, and has offered to go in with me. I would rather not do this but I can’t see a way of buying otherwise. I only have £8k in savings at the moment so would appreciate any ISAs for first time buyers but understand that everything is uncertain at the moment. 

Hope that’s not too rambling! Thank you take care be safe 

Slithery

Not enough information.

Is it worth £50k or £5 million? How much do you earn? What's your credit history like? Who is set to inherit the property/estate?

FreeBear

ILikePineapples91 said: The house is old, and bits need replacing but it’s perfect size wise

Do not underestimate how much it will cost to fix up - If maintenance has been neglected for any length of time, it is unlikely even £8K of savings will go far. I am five years in to fixing up the family home, and even doing much of the work myself,  it is costing far more than I would like or can really afford.

sharpe106

Has it not been lived in for 2 years?

ILikePineapples91

My mistake, working nights has left me very tired.

my income is £1500pm and the house hasn’t been valued but all of the others on the street are £300,000 although they’re in better repair. The house has been empty for 2 years 

ILikePineapples91

My credit history isn’t good and my score is quite poor from being in debt for a long time (lost job due to hospital stays and didn’t recover financially for years). 

Semple

It would seem likely impossible. Even if we go on the assumption that it's value could be around 250-270k. You would therefore need a minimum deposit of 12.5k excluding any costs for solicitor fees & survey fees (assuming you're a FTB so no SDLT) that would leave you with a mortgage of 237k. Based on your salary alone (assuming that's 1500 before tax), you're likely to get around  81k. Even at a 40 year term, you're looking at around £900 a month for the mortgage alone.

I'm not sure how mortgage advisors would take to two separated people buying into a house. (there's a lot of what if's... what if he needs to buy his own place etc) but even if they do agree, i can't see why this other guy would stump up more than half, which means your half is falling short by some way. 

Put simply, i would think it's impossible because you unfortunately don't have enough savings, or enough income for it.

theartfullodger

Repairs/refurbishment...  Assume cost is actually double what you expected and will take 3 times as long as your guess.

If you can cope with that, and mortgage, go for it.  Otherwise walk away

steampowered

Most mortgage lenders will lend up to 4.5x your annual salary. So the maximum you might be able to borrow is around £81,000.

So on a back of the envelope calculation, with an £8k deposit, you could afford a house worth about £89k.

This property is worth £300k so you can't afford it. It may be that your ex would be prepared to assist you with the purchase in exchange for a share of the equity. However, this would have negative tax implications for him - most important, it would be a second home so he would get hit by higher rate stamp duty if he has a place of his own or wants to buy one in future.

Comms69

Who will own the house? Surely thats the biggest question??

ILikePineapples91

Thank you everyone for taking the time to comment and get me out of a dream world a bit lol. My ex has offered based on living there together and owning together as we get along very well and have lived together before. There’s no hard feelings and we’re still very close. He’s renting a room now so doesn’t own another property. He has double my income and more savings than I do, I think we’d be around the £15k mark together but are both saving as much as possible. Due to childcare and limited mobility if I lived there it would actually allow me to work more than I can/do now too. His credit history is much better than mine too, and our spending habits are around the same - as little as possible.

The noise isn’t/wasn’t in disrepair but it’s old and will need bringing up to date. 

My ex seems to think that my dad would relinquish his share of the house to me (1/4) although I’m not sure why he would do that or how repayments would work. I’ve never even asked for a tenner before but he always says I can ask. That’s a large borrow though lol. I know nothing at all of buying a house only that the online mortgage calculator basically laughed at me 😅 my ex seems to know a bit but I’m not sure how or how much. He says that because family installed most of the electrics in the 70s (very well, with no problems but he doesn’t have certificates) that it will cost a lot to be checked over before they can sell?

Growing up very poor I’ve always seen buying houses as something that’s impossible. My dad owns his though.