Starting again - mortgage and general advice!

J-P-C

Looking for some advice if anyone has any on my situation and can offer any thoughts 

My wife and I agreed to separate at the start of 2022 after our marriage broke down. 

House is currently being sold and after settling our mortgage etc we’ll be left with around £160k equity in December 2022 - so £80k each. I would then settle my credit card and car loan and have around £70k as a deposit 

Currently living rent free (moved back to parents since separating) but this can’t be indefinite for my own sanity and privacy. Looking to buy a 3 bed property near where my ex is going to be buying so I can have the children 2/3 nights per week.  However if I needed to stay with parents for another 12 months I could make it work somehow

My quandary is with interest rates rising - should I buy somewhere straight away or wait and see what happens.  Once all my overheads are clear I could probably save £2k per month from January 2023 onwards, but conscious interest rates are rocketing. Is saving £2k a month for say six months to build up my reserves a better idea than securing a lower 5 year fix now? 

I think I will need a mortgage of around £200k to get what I need to get - so thoughts on what might be best for me financially would really be appreciated.  It’s giving me anxiety and sleepless nights not knowing what to do 

I earn a good salary and excellent credit rating if that helps 

Sorry if this is wrong forum….

K_S

@j-p-c Looks like you looking to borrow 200k at 75% LTV with no credit issues or debt. So as long as affordability (as per lender calcs) isn't an issue, the mortgage part of the equation is fairly straightforward. Whether or not interest rates will go up/down/sideways between December 2022 and June 2023 is hard to predict.

Another unknown is what house prices do between now and mid next year. 

In your place, everything else remaining the same, if it was a choice of buying now vs June 2023, I would probably opt to sit tight for now.

J-P-C said:

Looking for some advice if anyone has any on my situation and can offer any thoughts 

My wife and I agreed to separate at the start of 2022 after our marriage broke down. 

House is currently being sold and after settling our mortgage etc we’ll be left with around £160k equity in December 2022 - so £80k each. I would then settle my credit card and car loan and have around £70k as a deposit 

Currently living rent free (moved back to parents since separating) but this can’t be indefinite for my own sanity and privacy. Looking to buy a 3 bed property near where my ex is going to be buying so I can have the children 2/3 nights per week.  However if I needed to stay with parents for another 12 months I could make it work somehow

My quandary is with interest rates rising - should I buy somewhere straight away or wait and see what happens.  Once all my overheads are clear I could probably save £2k per month from January 2023 onwards, but conscious interest rates are rocketing. Is saving £2k a month for say six months to build up my reserves a better idea than securing a lower 5 year fix now? 

I think I will need a mortgage of around £200k to get what I need to get - so thoughts on what might be best for me financially would really be appreciated.  It’s giving me anxiety and sleepless nights not knowing what to do 

I earn a good salary and excellent credit rating if that helps 

Sorry if this is wrong forum….

Scorpio33

The issue for me as I see it is what impact the change in house prices will have, which is impossible to predict. Some are saying a 30-40% fall in the next year, which would mean that if you can hold off, you should be able to afford something bigger for the same money. 

Of course, it prices still go up, now is the time to buy.

london21

So hard to time the market.

The stamp duty cuts is somewhat helpful but then the interest rates hikes, are people going to be able to afford it and it's impacts on house prices.

The next 6-18 months will be one to keep an eye on.