Buy a home or continue to rent

brokechicken94

Hello everyone!

I am hoping to get some advice around purchasing a home. Up until recently I have not been financially conscious, I am looking to start making good investments and am thinking about purchasing a home as renting just seems like a waste of money. 

This will be my first home and as I look more into the process it seems to get more and more expensive with fees, insurance, etc. Are there cost cutting measures or ways to save money (Outside of just finding a good deal on a house) that you would recommend?

MultiFuelBurner

The MSE forum is full of tips and tricks to save money so get yourself involved and start reading.

I would always say buy a house over a flat/apartment if you can. If you cannot make sure you understand the leasehold costs.

Talk to a mortgage broker and see how much you can afford.

Set a realistic budget and see if you can really afford ownership.

lincroft1710

How much have you got in savings which you can use as a deposit? Because that and your present income will dictate how much you can borrow.

tacpot12

Shopping around for the services you will need when buying is the best way to save money - anything you do save will probably be used up in paying for the move, or in furnishing your new home though.

Not overstretching yourself when borrowing is important. Many recent borrowers are experiences a degree of interest rate shock as a result of interest rates rising. I would recommend that you try to fix your first mortgage for five years. You might pay a little more for it, but by the time the fixed rate comes to an end, your salaries should have gone up enough to blunt the effect of any rate rises. Shorter fixes won't allow time for pay rises to kick in.

AlexMac

Can’t think of any shortcuts or tips (other than to buy the worst/cheapest house in the best street), but in reply to your headline Q I’d say BUY!

I stretched meself to buy a wreck in a nice looking street in a rough area (in 1975, for the now unbelievable price of ten grand for a 4 bedder!) and am now (half a dozen or more homes later) sitting on equity well north of a mil, despite never being a big earner. 

So no regrets despite bumps in the road (redundancy, divorce, illness and recovery…) and despite now crazy house prices, our grandkids will probably be able to buy a home when (or if we’re clever, before?) we peg out. 

So just go for it!  I’ve restored a few dumps with a lot of heavy duty DIY and learning new skills despite having none before; so lots of “sweat equity” altho I’m getting a bit old for that now (anyone want a shed full of tools and decorating and tiling kit..?)

so buy!

grumbler

brokechicken94 said:

Hello everyone!

I am hoping to get some advice around purchasing a home. Up until recently I have not been financially conscious, I am looking to start making good investments and am thinking about purchasing a home as renting just seems like a waste of money. 

This will be my first home and as I look more into the process it seems to get more and more expensive with fees, insurance, etc. Are there cost cutting measures or ways to save money (Outside of just finding a good deal on a house) that you would recommend?

Process of buying or living? House or flat? What fees?  I don't know any significant regular fees for a freehold house, and insurance isn't prohibitively expensive.