options...your view..this is a good one!!

airhostess

I am renting a cottage privately (the lady has gone to live abroad indefinitely and it is almost like we are 'looking after' the place for her! We pay our rent every month and we are left in peace. Any maintenance issues we pay ourselves and knock the cost of that month's rent. She trusts us completely and is very easy going, and we stay in regular email contact. The place is gorgeous (period cottage) and I really don't think I would decorate it any differently. Of course there are a few niggly things that I would like to change (different furniture etc, as we are renting part furnished) but as my boyfriend and I are saving £700 per month compared to the cost of both our previous mortgaged properties (now sold) it more than makes up for it!

I would definitley try to rent privately and develop a good relationship with your landlord. Much better than dealing with faceless rip off agents! (Don't mean to cause offence, I'm only going by what I remember of them from my dealings with then in my pre- house pruchase days!)

dolce_vita

airhostess wrote: »

I am renting a cottage privately (the lady has gone to live abroad indefinitely and it is almost like we are 'looking after' the place for her! We pay our rent every month and we are left in peace. Any maintenance issues we pay ourselves and knock the cost of that month's rent. She trusts us completely and is very easy going, and we stay in regular email contact. The place is gorgeous (period cottage) and I really don't think I would decorate it any differently. Of course there are a few niggly things that I would like to change (different furniture etc, as we are renting part furnished) but as my boyfriend and I are saving £700 per month compared to the cost of both our previous mortgaged properties (now sold) it more than makes up for it!

I would definitley try to rent privately and develop a good relationship with your landlord. Much better than dealing with faceless rip off agents! (Don't mean to cause offence, I'm only going by what I remember of them from my dealings with then in my pre- house pruchase days!)

Sounds like the perfect set-up where everyone's a winner.

sarkin

I think you should stay in rented for a year. The market is turning

And these guys in the city are placing a minimum £5,000,000 bet that the market will drop 10% next year.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/markets/article3085193.ece

IveSeenTheLight

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

I've lived in the same rented flat for 10 years, and it's been great.

Wow, I'm glad you are happy, but I dread to think how much you have paid in renting which could have went towards a house for you.

I'm sure you have your reasons which I will respect.

I too rented when I first moved out of my parents for 3 1/2 years. I enjoyed it but it really was only till I could afford to pay off debt and raise enough for a mortgage deposit. While renting helped me understand the costs of living and allowed some independance from my parents, I was always aware that the money I paid in rent I would never see again.

IveSeenTheLight

PJD wrote: »

I don't think renting for as long as 10 or 15 years is even being considered here.

See post 14.
Sometimes it works out this way.

I think the point chriz1000 was trying to make that if the property is for a family home then a more long term approach should be considered.

chriz1000 wrote:

Remember though you only live once. Do you really want to be in rented accommodation for the next 10-15 years until you believe the storm has ended!?
If it’s an investment it’s a totally different ball game, however if it’s you’re family home and you can comfortably afford the repayments what’s more important? The price your house is worth on paper or living in your own home that to all intense and purposes is yours and you can decorate and upgrade to your own taste.

macaque_2

Running_Horse wrote: »

I would ignore price hype and do what was right for my family.

I agree with this but to do the right thing for your family, you have to analyse the options.

Renting
Renting is not a crime and is very convenient. In the current market renting costs are much cheaper than borrowing costs (ie 'less money down the drain' if you rent).

Buying
Is buying a home at any price 'doing the right thing' for your family? Mortgage bills are usually the biggest outgoing in any household. If you get into negative equity, you become chained to the mortgage and this puts you in a precarious financial position. Moving homes or jobs becomes very difficult and redundancy almost certainly becomes a family disaster. In the early 1990s negative equity was one of the major causes of family break up.

There is a balance between the benefits of home ownership and the consequences of negative equity. I don't know where house prices are going but given the smell of cordite in the air and low cost of renting but I would have thought that the decision is a bit of a no brainer (for the moment).

'My home is my pension'

How often do we hear people smugly declare that the price they are paying is irrelevant because they they are buying 'a home to live in'. In the very next breath they will tell you that their home is their pension. How stupid is that?