Unsure what to do!

AnotherJoe

samps1973 said:

That's a fair point. I'm in the same boat as yourself. Being the eldest of 8 children and a single mum, treats were few and far between and so were clothes.
It's not just leaving her something, it's nice to have a room for her when she comes to mine. At the moment she sleeps on a blow up mattress and has done for 7 years. as I only have a room and a bathroom. Shes now 11 and a pain in the butt 😀 so could do with her own room. Friends have said she'll probably be at the age where she won't want to come to mine. But at least there would be a room if she needed it as she gets older. Also be nice for family and friends to stay over etc. If I pay privately for a flat it would cost me a fortune. I wouldn't mind paying a £1000 or more a month if it was mine as it's an investment. All im doing at the moment is paying someone else's mortgage, annoying!

It would be far cheaper to pay for them to stay in a Premier Inn or AIrBNB when they come over occasionally, than pay for a 2 bed flat over a 1 bed.  I appreciate its better for other reasons but dont do it just for that.

samps1973

I was originally aiming to buy or part buy a one bedroom property but where I live the price between a one and two bedroom, theres very little difference considering the benefits. However I would go for a one bedroom if the price was much lower and buy a sofa bed.

samps1973

My next step I think is to look into the help to buy scheme, if not I think I'll give the mortgage broker a call and see what they say.
Thanks for your help 👍

MovingForwards

Please use a good broker, L&C are good for straightforward cases, but you need the best possible chance at doing this and a proper independent broker would be able to look at all options with you.

Don't worry about your age, there's still a decent mortgage term waiting. Also do have a look on the likes of Rightmove see what properties are in your budget and extend your search a few miles too, a stable property is worth the extra bit of time.

Help to buy is only available on new builds. 

At the young age of 44 I purchased my flat, as a FTB. I considered H2B and shared equity, but I could get something a lot cheaper, older and what I wanted by expanding my search areas. Now I'm in, I overpay each month to clear it quicker and plan to be mortgage free in a fraction of the time. Even small payrises makes a difference.

saajan_12

samps1973 said:
If I pay privately for a flat it would cost me a fortune. I wouldn't mind paying a £1000 or more a month if it was mine as it's an investment. All im doing at the moment is paying someone else's mortgage, annoying!

Well with shared ownership, you'd be paying someone else's mortgage AND repairs for the 75% rented part. 
All the fees in conveyancing, etc likely outweigh the benefit in paying your own mortgage on the 25% owned part. 

AnotherJoe

samps1973 said:

I was originally aiming to buy or part buy a one bedroom property but where I live the price between a one and two bedroom, theres very little difference considering the benefits. However I would go for a one bedroom if the price was much lower and buy a sofa bed.

Fair enough, though I also live relatively near Reading (Wokingham) and wonder if you are comparing like for like in terms of immediate area and size and age/condition?

A quick look on Rightmove at 150k max showed literally zero 2 bed apartments that weren't shared ownership or retirement (for which you are 7 years too early). Even at 175k there is just one.

At 200k 2 beds come into the picture and sure there are some 1 beds there for 200 as well but they simply wont be comparable because you just dont get something for nothing. Yes maybe a 2 bed can be had for 190 when a 1 bed is 170 but 20k is a lot to pay for occasional sleep overs by relatives.

As you are strapped for cash and daughter is also only over sometimes how about a really good sofa bed? Or even you make a treat of it and stay in a hotel or airbnb maybe one with a pool? You could afford a lot of weekends out of that 20k.

I'm not saying if you had the 20k dont spend it but you dont have the 20k if im reading you right and it might be the difference between 1 bed owned or 2 bed part owned which still leaves you paying rent forever??

Or maybe, how about this, 1 bed + sofa bed now and 2 bed retirement apt in 7 years if the one bed grates?

lookstraightahead

Hi there.
Take into account the age of your daughter, if shes nearly an adult she might move anywhere and that means she can get to you anywhere you decide to live.
Kids have a tendency to move all over the place 😂

Runningmad

samps1973 said:

Thanks @Runningmad
I had a little look into it. I remember it said something about the government paying 20% toward the equity (whatever that means ) or something like that but I think it said it was coming to an end soon so I brushed it aside unless I'm thinking of something else. I only thought about the sharedownership as I'd heard of it before. I'll dig a little deeper about the help to buy.
Thanks

It has recently changed a little but carries on until 2023. You have to Be FTB, has to be a new build and there are price caps on different parts of the country. You can get all the info on line but the brief out line is you have 5% deposit, 20% equity loan from the government and 75% mortgage. Take a look, this is the only way we can buy at the moment. The point to remember is the 20% equity loan will almost certainly increase as you pay back 20% at the time of sale/mortgage end not the 20% value at the beginning. It's worth looking into for sure. Good luck. 

getmore4less

Runningmad said:

samps1973 said:

Thanks @Runningmad
I had a little look into it. I remember it said something about the government paying 20% toward the equity (whatever that means ) or something like that but I think it said it was coming to an end soon so I brushed it aside unless I'm thinking of something else. I only thought about the sharedownership as I'd heard of it before. I'll dig a little deeper about the help to buy.
Thanks

It has recently changed a little but carries on until 2023. You have to Be FTB, has to be a new build and there are price caps on different parts of the country. You can get all the info on line but the brief out line is you have 5% deposit, 20% equity loan from the government and 75% mortgage. Take a look, this is the only way we can buy at the moment. The point to remember is the 20% equity loan will almost certainly increase as you pay back 20% at the time of sale/mortgage end not the 20% value at the beginning. It's worth looking into for sure. Good luck. 

I did the calculation for using H2B against a 95% mortgage over 5 years. using 5y fixes back in Jan 2020
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/76694270/#Comment_76694270
Property had to rise 41% in that example to be worse off  a more recent one was 

One using the more recent(1st May) 95% rates came out out at 55%
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/78292300/#Comment_78292300

If the property fits the criteria H2B can still be the smart move even if you can afford the place outright.

Anyanka1

I hear you; I do.  Hundreds of years ago, my mother was in the same position and, back then, actually managed to get a 2 bed council flat because she had two daughters, even though neither of us lived with her.  We hardly ever did.

As you say, if your daughter is 11, she is old enough to have a say in where she goes and with whom she stays.  If she wants to visit on a regular basis, that is one thing; if she does not, why waste money, time, effort and angst on something that you can live without?

Whatever happens and whatever you decide, I wish you luck in finding what you want.  All any of us can do is keep on keeping on, right?