We really can't afford the house we want/need will things get better for us or just forget it?

grumiofoundation

mrsmortgage said:

lookstraightahead said:

So you're on a joint salary of, say, £55000. You have 4(?) children at home and you might need to extend etc. 

Can you actually afford a mortgage that high? With all the costs of a bigger house? 

Interest rates are extremely low at the moment - what if they double/triple? 

It's closer to £60k, plus bonuses but yes thereabouts. I also have foreign income of £700 pcm which makes life a lot easier. Our current expenses are of £2400 pcm, but that includes two repayments, in a couple of months that will be reduced to £2200. Our joint income after tax is of £3900, so those £1700 are completely disposable. We'll stop paying nursery fees in like 18 months, so that will at least take it to say £2k pcm of completely disposable income, plus pay rises etc... 

I know that if it REALLY came to it, I could sell my foreign property that is worth around £300k (but that's only if we're for some reason in any danger of losing our house), otherwise we'd rather have the extra income. 
and I'm not taking into account child benefit, we save that one religiously. 

Well that came out of nowhere! 

Slightly changes things. 

I would say that makes your thread title of “We really can’t afford...” somewhat misleading. 

sharp910sh

grumiofoundation said:

mrsmortgage said:

lookstraightahead said:

So you're on a joint salary of, say, £55000. You have 4(?) children at home and you might need to extend etc. 

Can you actually afford a mortgage that high? With all the costs of a bigger house? 

Interest rates are extremely low at the moment - what if they double/triple? 

It's closer to £60k, plus bonuses but yes thereabouts. I also have foreign income of £700 pcm which makes life a lot easier. Our current expenses are of £2400 pcm, but that includes two repayments, in a couple of months that will be reduced to £2200. Our joint income after tax is of £3900, so those £1700 are completely disposable. We'll stop paying nursery fees in like 18 months, so that will at least take it to say £2k pcm of completely disposable income, plus pay rises etc... 

I know that if it REALLY came to it, I could sell my foreign property that is worth around £300k (but that's only if we're for some reason in any danger of losing our house), otherwise we'd rather have the extra income. 
and I'm not taking into account child benefit, we save that one religiously. 

Well that came out of nowhere! 

Slightly changes things. 

I would say that makes your thread title of “We really can’t afford...” somewhat misleading. 

These forums are always funny it seems. Logic says just sell the £300k house. 

mrsmortgage

grumiofoundation said:

Well that came out of nowhere! 

Slightly changes things. 

I would say that makes your thread title of “We really can’t afford...” somewhat misleading. 

There's a lot of family politics involved in that property, I know I can't sell it just to buy something better here (believe me I've tried)  but I know if it came to it, and we were about to lose the roof over our head, my mom then would let me do it. 
Also, no no bank will consider that money because of the currency I receive that income in. 

sharp910sh

mrsmortgage said:

grumiofoundation said:

Well that came out of nowhere! 

Slightly changes things. 

I would say that makes your thread title of “We really can’t afford...” somewhat misleading. 

There's a lot of family politics involved in that property, I know I can't sell it just to buy something better here (believe me I've tried)  but I know if it came to it, and we were about to lose the roof over our head, my mom then would let me do it. 
Also, no no bank will consider that money because of the currency I receive that income in. 

Is it your property? Seldom owned? 

lookstraightahead

mrsmortgage said:

lookstraightahead said:

So you're on a joint salary of, say, £55000. You have 4(?) children at home and you might need to extend etc. 

Can you actually afford a mortgage that high? With all the costs of a bigger house? 

Interest rates are extremely low at the moment - what if they double/triple? 

It's closer to £60k, plus bonuses but yes thereabouts. I also have foreign income of £700 pcm which makes life a lot easier. Our current expenses are of £2400 pcm, but that includes two repayments, in a couple of months that will be reduced to £2200. Our joint income after tax is of £3900, so those £1700 are completely disposable. We'll stop paying nursery fees in like 18 months, so that will at least take it to say £2k pcm of completely disposable income, plus pay rises etc... 

I know that if it REALLY came to it, I could sell my foreign property that is worth around £300k (but that's only if we're for some reason in any danger of losing our house), otherwise we'd rather have the extra income. 
and I'm not taking into account child benefit, we save that one religiously. 

To be honest you can afford it then - you just don't want to sell an asset. you have a second home, extra income, want your holidays, want somewhere to extend, don't want a big commute etc.
We all have to make choices in life - if I'm being honest yours seem luxurious.
I know you're just putting it out there for ideas, but you need to choose what you want, and no one can have it all.

mrsmortgage

sharp910sh said:

Is it your property? Seldom owned? 

It is, but that is completely irrelevant as my mother would disown me if I do. NOT WORTH IT. 

sharp910sh

mrsmortgage said:

sharp910sh said:

Is it your property? Seldom owned? 

It is, but that is completely irrelevant as my mother would disown me if I do. NOT WORTH IT. 

Think you will just have to get a smaller property then. Or consider renting a bigger property, as you can afford it it seems. 

I would like a 3 bed house but cannot afford it, that is life I'm afraid. (Though I do not own a £300k rental property) 

mrsmortgage

lookstraightahead said:

To be honest you can afford it then - you just don't want to sell an asset. you have a second home, extra income, want your holidays, want somewhere to extend, don't want a big commute etc.
We all have to make choices in life - if I'm being honest yours seem luxurious.
I know you're just putting it out there for ideas, but you need to choose what you want, and no one can have it all.

It's not that I don't want to a) my mother would as explained before disown me, and I've always thought that it's best to keep it so one day I can somewhere to retire to or to buy my sister off my mother's house etc... 

I can see my future to be absolutely sorted in some years, in the meantime it's very tied up with my links to my family etc... Family dynamics come into place too. I actually don't want somewhere to extend, I just want somewhere that has big enough bedrooms, that's all really I ask for but I haven't found one house that  has bigger rooms than ours! And we live in an end of terrace!

warby68

Can't you raise some money on the overseas property to bridge the gap?

Adsta

mrsmortgage said:

Also, no no bank will consider that money because of the currency I receive that income in. 

Are you sure on that point? if it's a regular income, proven as coming in to your bank along with contract of tenancy should be able to show you have a stream of income. I assume its declared and thus you are taxed on it?