My obsession with not buying in UK - Prove me wrong

Slithery

Just to clarify my view - renting isn't always a bad choice, it just seems to be a bad choice in your situation.

I rent at £100 per week with all bills included and am saving up the rest of my (minimum) wage to build a house on the couple of acres of land that I already own by doing all of my own labour. When you have the available funds that you claim to have then buying would be much more profitable.

hazyjo

Lovely. Glad you've decided, not sure there's anything left to say. Perhaps come back in 10 years and say if it was your best move financially? 🤷🏼‍♀️

lookstraightahead

Slithery said:

Just to clarify my view - renting isn't always a bad choice, it just seems to be a bad choice in your situation.

I rent at £100 per week with all bills included and am saving up the rest of my (minimum) wage to build a house on the couple of acres of land that I already own by doing all of my own labour. When you have the available funds that you claim to have then buying would be much more profitable.

How exciting slithery - sounds like a great plan.

jimbog

RobHT said:

I noticed that no one here mentioned that after you're 55, in many cities there are plans for people that want to buy, nice houses to be honest at half price.

Do you have a link? Sounds interesting

MobileSaver

RobHT said:

I don't want to live paying the mortgage, I want to live to live, fearless and with freedom.
I move whenever I need, following opportunities and my comfort zone,
I just need to pay a fee to someone, nothing else, it's purely black and white.

My last mortgage was an 18 year term but I paid it off within 15 years and was mortgage-free in my early 40's. Everyone is different but to me that's real freedom - having a roof over your head that no-one can ever take away whatever happens.

For most people moving home is one of the most stressful events in their life. If you own then you decide when to "move whenever I need", if you rent then your landlord can make you move when they decide whether you like it or not.

The risk of having to move unexpectedly may be a price worth paying when you are a single twenty-something but given a choice it's something most people would try to avoid as they get older and especially when they have a partner or children to consider.

Anyway, at the start of the thread you asked to prove you wrong and that's exactly what most people have done. Pretty much every assumption and calculation you made has been proven wrong so it's up to you what you now do with your new-found knowledge.

Sadly for some reason I have a feeling you may be back here when you are 55, living alone in a bedsit in Edinburgh, and telling anyone who will listen that it's definitely time for house prices to fall ...

p00hsticks

jimbog said:

RobHT said:

I noticed that no one here mentioned that after you're 55, in many cities there are plans for people that want to buy, nice houses to be honest at half price.

Do you have a link? Sounds interesting

I susect RobHT is referring to the shared ownership schmes in these retirement villages - for example

https://movingsoon.co.uk/other-amenities/older-peoples-shared-ownership/

lookstraightahead

We are early fifties and probably just as well off as someone who has owned property all their lives. We now have a very small mortgage thanks to income from our own businesses. We moved location and work in a beautiful area, with no commute. We rented for ages and I'm glad we didn't throw our businesses down the drain just to tick the right boxes for a mortgage. 

Now nearly mortgage and rent free and work for ourselves.

you don't have to own a property to feel secure, but you do need to think about what security you do have in skills, investments, income etc. It does depend on your personality and life experiences and what you want in life.  Lots of people don't want to be at the beck and call of a landlord, we didn't want to be at the beck and call of an employer. 

We do keep our skills up to date and are constantly educating ourselves and upskilling. We are settled now, but our home is all around the world (with luck) not just on a little plot of land.

MobileSaver

lookstraightahead said:

We are early fifties and probably just as well off as someone who has owned property all their lives.

While there are always exceptions, it's hard to see how that can be true for the vast majority of people.

All other things being equal, monthly rental payments will always be more than your own mortgage payments since your landlord won't get as competitive a rate as a home-owner and typically will be making a profit on top anyway. And of course after "renting for ages" it's the home-owner/landlord who will have benefited from HPI while you walk away with nothing.

lookstraightahead said:

We rented for ages and I'm glad we didn't throw our businesses down the drain just to tick the right boxes for a mortgage.

I'm not sure what you mean by this? I was running my own business when I took out the mortgage that I paid off 15 years later.

lookstraightahead said:

you don't have to own a property to feel secure, ... Lots of people don't want to be at the beck and call of a landlord, we didn't want to be at the beck and call of an employer.

I just don't think that's true; as a tenant you will be reminded every six or twelve months that you have to agree to new terms if you want to stay in your property - I'm not sure that instils security when you know one day you might receive a S8 or S21 instead of an invitation to renew.

Slithery

MobileSaver said:
I just don't think that's true; as a tenant you will be reminded every six or twelve months that you have to agree to new terms if you want to stay in your property.

Not necessarily. I've been in my current rental for 5+ years now and have never been asked to sign a new tenancy or even had a rent increase.

MobileSaver

Slithery said:

MobileSaver said:
I just don't think that's true; as a tenant you will be reminded every six or twelve months that you have to agree to new terms if you want to stay in your property.

Not necessarily. I've been in my current rental for 5+ years now and have never been asked to sign a new tenancy or even had a rent increase.

Agreed that it doesn't apply to everyone but of course that means that you have even less security as presumably your landlord could give you 2 months notice tomorrow.