How much would you stretch

IAMIAM

There is nothing wrong with having plenty of solo space. But imo I would rather have a 3 bed house with everything I need for a reasonable some of money than a 3 bed house for three times the value and not live. I could afford 500k 3 bed house and stretch myself or a 3 bed house for 250k-300k and live a little.

fred246

When we moved into our house there was a couple who lived opposite with their cat. We never saw them because they were engrossed in their careers. We used to say it's a big house for a couple. The last time we saw them they were showing us particulars for their new house. 16 bedrooms. For a couple and a cat.

couriervanman

If people have/want to stretch in the current climate with record low mortgage rates....god help them if rates suddenly shot up (unlikely I know) to 1980/90s 12-15% 

IAMIAM

I have seen too many deaths and unfortunate circumstances, from marital splits to paying of a mortgage and not living and sudden deaths to realise - life is too short to stretch yourself for nothing, you cant take anything with you.
Especially if you have no children and are single. 

Redwino222

Heavens his gets more depressing the more I read!

Thanks to those who understand singles or people with no kids aren’t a different breed who only need tiny houses🤣

decision made, not a stretch but I will buy a home I love and which gives me plenty of space.  I used the wrong phrase an made people think I was going to live off beans and toast to live in a mansion.

fred I think it’s wonderful your neighbours bought a house they wanted.  I am not sure why you are so puzzled by them wanting a large home.  I have viewed lots of houses over the years that I have concluded we’re too small for my taste, but which belonged to couples with two or three children.

Also the inheritance thing is a bit odd, I am not buying a home with the sole focus of leaving it to my nephews, i will hopefully live in it for forty years before that even becomes an issue.

a

yksi

Redwino222 said:

Thank you.

have solid pension provision - final salary.

i could stretch to that payment, but savings would take a hit.

i currently save a lot, £1200 a month.  Need to think about how much I am comfortable reducing this.

maybe should look at houses around £300k.

this is where being single is tough - no one to talk it through with, or share the risk!

310k is my answer too. 3x your salary plus the equity. Yes, you might get approved for 4.5x, but you're single so you don't have a partner's income as backup if for any reason your job changed or disappeared or you needed to stop working due to illness etc.

A different way to add it up might be to borrow 4.5x and make sure that you have 6 month's worth of accessible funds to use as your job-loss insurance policy. That might be paying a smaller deposit, having a savings account, or it might be an investment that you could cash in - credit cards would be my last resort.

getmore4less

yksi said:

Redwino222 said:

Thank you.

have solid pension provision - final salary.

i could stretch to that payment, but savings would take a hit.

i currently save a lot, £1200 a month.  Need to think about how much I am comfortable reducing this.

maybe should look at houses around £300k.

this is where being single is tough - no one to talk it through with, or share the risk!

310k is my answer too. 3x your salary plus the equity. Yes, you might get approved for 4.5x, but you're single so you don't have a partner's income as backup if for any reason your job changed or disappeared or you needed to stop working due to illness etc.

A different way to add it up might be to borrow 4.5x and make sure that you have 6 month's worth of accessible funds to use as your job-loss insurance policy. That might be paying a smaller deposit, having a savings account, or it might be an investment that you could cash in - credit cards would be my last resort.

That will be the £25k they say they have saved already
Even with reduced saving to £1kpm, £1.5kpm mortgage they still have plenty to live on for a nice life

Nothing wrong with having a comfortable amount of head room on budget when looking.

fred246

getmore4less said:

yksi said:

Redwino222 said:

Thank you.

have solid pension provision - final salary.

i could stretch to that payment, but savings would take a hit.

i currently save a lot, £1200 a month.  Need to think about how much I am comfortable reducing this.

maybe should look at houses around £300k.

this is where being single is tough - no one to talk it through with, or share the risk!

310k is my answer too. 3x your salary plus the equity. Yes, you might get approved for 4.5x, but you're single so you don't have a partner's income as backup if for any reason your job changed or disappeared or you needed to stop working due to illness etc.

A different way to add it up might be to borrow 4.5x and make sure that you have 6 month's worth of accessible funds to use as your job-loss insurance policy. That might be paying a smaller deposit, having a savings account, or it might be an investment that you could cash in - credit cards would be my last resort.

 they still have plenty to live on for a nice life

Well as nice a life as it's possible to have when you are single and live on your own.

brownbagsFTB

I earn about the same as you but buying for £220K (£800 a month mortgage) which has (hopefully) got me a spacious 3 bed end terrace in a nice area (I’m up north though so not sure what you‘d get for your area). Doing it on my own too so feel like I’ve stretched myself enough to account for years where I may have lower income (self-employed) and to make sure I still have disposable income. When you live alone it’s important to have enough spare cash to be able to get out and do stuff (post lockdown obvs) 

brownbagsFTB

fred246 said:

getmore4less said:

yksi said:

Redwino222 said:

Thank you.

have solid pension provision - final salary.

i could stretch to that payment, but savings would take a hit.

i currently save a lot, £1200 a month.  Need to think about how much I am comfortable reducing this.

maybe should look at houses around £300k.

this is where being single is tough - no one to talk it through with, or share the risk!

310k is my answer too. 3x your salary plus the equity. Yes, you might get approved for 4.5x, but you're single so you don't have a partner's income as backup if for any reason your job changed or disappeared or you needed to stop working due to illness etc.

A different way to add it up might be to borrow 4.5x and make sure that you have 6 month's worth of accessible funds to use as your job-loss insurance policy. That might be paying a smaller deposit, having a savings account, or it might be an investment that you could cash in - credit cards would be my last resort.

 they still have plenty to live on for a nice life

Well as nice a life as it's possible to have when you are single and live on your own.

Gosh! I’m single and very happy living alone. It was actually a life goal of mine after spending 30+ years sharing with people. Single doesn’t = lonely Fred! Some of us are having fun 😊