Should we buy or rent?

RHemmings

MobileSaver said:

BobT36 said:

MobileSaver said:

RHemmings said:

MobileSaver said:

flamingo123 said:

we would struggle to get a mortgage for our ideal 3 bed home.

Why do you need a 3 bed as your first home if it's just the two of you?!?! The obvious answer is surely to buy a smaller and cheaper home that wouldn't be such a struggle for a mortgage?

If they plan to have children, then buying a smaller place might be a false economy if they have two children in two years time. And, they described the three bed home as 'ideal', not what they need. Personally I find an unused box room incredibly useful, and it can be used in a variety of ways. 

Yes, of course, I can see lots of reasons why a 3 bed would be preferable, it just seems odd to be the main contender when it's clear they can't afford it.

Even if they have two children in two years time then they still don't need a three bed house for many, many more years! (My parents raised five of us in a one bed home... )

 it doesn't mean they only need one room.

Oh, but it does!

As I said, I can see lots of reasons why a three bed would be preferable but an extra bedroom for family to occasionally stay and another extra room for working from home are WIBNIF, not needs.

Five years from now I can see the next generation complaining how easy it was in 2024 to buy a house and how unfair it is in 2029 that starter homes for FTBs are so expensive; we'll then dig into the details to discover that the expectation for a new starter home is now minimum three bedrooms so they can both work from home and a drive and garage so they can charge their two electric cars...

Sorry, but I think this is trivialising the difficulties that many (most?) FTBs are experiencing these days. Many FTBs are desperate to be able to afford anything and are signing their life away on 35 year mortgages at the limit of affordability etc. 

In this case, in this thread, the OP can afford a three bed house with the combined salary of them and their partner. Hence, that's a serious option which is entirely possible. Hence, considering not compromising on a property in the meantime is reasonable. 

_Penny_Dreadful

flamingo123 said:

mexican_dave said:

Your instinct seems to buy. Rent is dead money, and you can't time the market waiting for the "best time" to buy. So there's my answer.

Yeah I just don't like the idea of renting! I never have, I just feel its so hard to then save and I don't like the idea that I'm paying someone else's mortgage

Have you ever lived away from home before?

Have you ever lived with your partner before?

If the answer to at least one of those questions is no then renting is the sensible choice.  See how living together pans out before shackling yourselves together financially with a mortgage for decades.

MobileSaver

RHemmings said:

MobileSaver said:

BobT36 said:

MobileSaver said:

RHemmings said:

MobileSaver said:

flamingo123 said:

we would struggle to get a mortgage for our ideal 3 bed home.

Why do you need a 3 bed as your first home if it's just the two of you?!?! The obvious answer is surely to buy a smaller and cheaper home that wouldn't be such a struggle for a mortgage?

If they plan to have children, then buying a smaller place might be a false economy if they have two children in two years time. And, they described the three bed home as 'ideal', not what they need. Personally I find an unused box room incredibly useful, and it can be used in a variety of ways. 

Yes, of course, I can see lots of reasons why a 3 bed would be preferable, it just seems odd to be the main contender when it's clear they can't afford it.

Even if they have two children in two years time then they still don't need a three bed house for many, many more years! (My parents raised five of us in a one bed home... )

 it doesn't mean they only need one room.

Oh, but it does!

As I said, I can see lots of reasons why a three bed would be preferable but an extra bedroom for family to occasionally stay and another extra room for working from home are WIBNIF, not needs.

Five years from now I can see the next generation complaining how easy it was in 2024 to buy a house and how unfair it is in 2029 that starter homes for FTBs are so expensive; we'll then dig into the details to discover that the expectation for a new starter home is now minimum three bedrooms so they can both work from home and a drive and garage so they can charge their two electric cars...

Sorry, but I think this is trivialising the difficulties that many (most?) FTBs are experiencing these days. Many FTBs are desperate to be able to afford anything and are signing their life away on 35 year mortgages at the limit of affordability etc.

My view is that many of those difficulties are of FTBs own making due to unrealistic expectations. However this is not the thread or forum to debate such things and so we'll have to agree to disagree.

oldernonethewiser

If a three bedroom house is what you want and feel you can afford then I wouldn't buy a two bedroom as a stopgap.

Rent if you have to and look for the house you actually want to buy.

Choirgrl

Buying a smaller place now and then moving to your ideal three bed later would mean a second lot of conveyancing costs and LBTT and removal costs. All of that should be set against the ‘dead money’ of renting for a few months. In your shoes I’d opt to rent initially and then buy based on two salaries later.

[Deleted User]

Personally prefer buying to renting.

Equity appreciation and some stability. 

RHemmings

MobileSaver said:

RHemmings said:

MobileSaver said:

BobT36 said:

MobileSaver said:

RHemmings said:

MobileSaver said:

flamingo123 said:

we would struggle to get a mortgage for our ideal 3 bed home.

Why do you need a 3 bed as your first home if it's just the two of you?!?! The obvious answer is surely to buy a smaller and cheaper home that wouldn't be such a struggle for a mortgage?

If they plan to have children, then buying a smaller place might be a false economy if they have two children in two years time. And, they described the three bed home as 'ideal', not what they need. Personally I find an unused box room incredibly useful, and it can be used in a variety of ways. 

Yes, of course, I can see lots of reasons why a 3 bed would be preferable, it just seems odd to be the main contender when it's clear they can't afford it.

Even if they have two children in two years time then they still don't need a three bed house for many, many more years! (My parents raised five of us in a one bed home... )

 it doesn't mean they only need one room.

Oh, but it does!

As I said, I can see lots of reasons why a three bed would be preferable but an extra bedroom for family to occasionally stay and another extra room for working from home are WIBNIF, not needs.

Five years from now I can see the next generation complaining how easy it was in 2024 to buy a house and how unfair it is in 2029 that starter homes for FTBs are so expensive; we'll then dig into the details to discover that the expectation for a new starter home is now minimum three bedrooms so they can both work from home and a drive and garage so they can charge their two electric cars...

Sorry, but I think this is trivialising the difficulties that many (most?) FTBs are experiencing these days. Many FTBs are desperate to be able to afford anything and are signing their life away on 35 year mortgages at the limit of affordability etc.

My view is that many of those difficulties are of FTBs own making due to unrealistic expectations. However this is not the thread or forum to debate such things and so we'll have to agree to disagree.

Well, OK. I'll leave it there with me disagreeing.