Struggling to pull the trigger

SPRichards

MikeJXE said:

SPRichards said:

MikeJXE said:

A no brainer to me 

A good job but only for another 5 years before you retire, keep it up 

You would love to be near family and thats even more important when you retire so look for the perfect home there, stash the money away. 

I would definitely stick as I am and 5 years will fly by 

Thanks, yeah I feel like if I'm pressed and asked what it is I want, work not being in the picture, then I move 100% of the time. I suppose for me the trouble is if the 5 years needs to become 10. Have I wasted 5 years not building some equity, and not getting any house price growth.

But I'm asking for more than I need from a 'home'. They're not investments, but my mind does go there.
Thanks again for the reply

I’m 83 years old, owned my own homes (10) since 1964, they all weren’t profitable (2008) interest rates as high as 17%. you can’t win all the time

I now live in rented, my 4th in 5 years but at last I have now found the perfect place 

If you are not rich and don’t need much like me 

You will find money isn’t everything and happiness outweighs the bank balance by a country mile 

100% Agree, and that's wise advice. I think that is why the decision is weighing on me. But renting or buying I'm here for work either way, and I'm just going to need to make more efforts to be with family then I otherwise would.

Thanks again. 

FlorayG said:

I think if I were you I would buy but buy something keeping in mind resale possibility - in a popular area, good schools nearby etc. May not be exactly what YOU want, but easy to move on when you are ready
When you rent you rarely get exactly what you want, so you should be used to that part

Yeah, I can see that helping the decision for sure, if I knew I didn't stand to lose much by jumping in, and taking steps to try to ensure that is wise. Thanks for your thoughts. I have days where I lean one way or the other so every little advantage helps the decision process

RHemmings

SPRichards said:

FlorayG said:

have you owned your own place previously or always rented? I think the answer to this would affect any options. If you've never before owned a house you don't know how it 'feels' to own one

Hi, that is a good point. I have never owned a home before. I recently watched a video on this subject, and the perceived happiness owning your own home gives you isn't actually supported by data. All the added stresses of being responsible for anything going wrong. I did find that compelling, but maybe I'm looking for justifications for essentially choosing an outcome by staying the course - Effectively I'm choosing through inaction I suppose. 

Just as a single data point, I was a very long term renter who bought at an older than usual age. I much prefer owning to renting. Maybe I'm in a honeymoon period and I'll change my mind. I'm aware of things I need to do in the house and I'm doing them very slowly bit by bit. But, I don't feel a lot of stress. I feel much more 'at home' here. 

However, having said that, I agree with the above comments that if you're only going to be doing the current job for 4-5 years, then I'd say renting. And, I'd find a cheap rental property so that I could save. If you are paying £600 and sharing with one other person, then I guess the rent is £1200 in total for a two bed flat. Having had a look at rentals in central-ish Manchester, I'm not sure you're going to save all that much by finding a cheaper place. It seems very expensive there. 

SarahB16

Is there no possibility of job opportunities coming up in the next five years that may mean you could move nearer to your family as I know being near to your family means a lot to you?  If you rented you would have the flexibility to look for other job opportunities.  

Don't buy a house because it ticks a box of one of the things people aspire to do.  Sensible decisions are usually made, in scenarios like this, from comparing the costs (plus any equity gain) but as you are definitely not putting down roots in Manchester I question how much commitment and love you will have for your house.   

If you did decide to buy would you consider buying a large enough house and then take in a lodger (claiming rent a room relief)? This would mean that when you do eventually sell in 5 or more years it will have definitely been financially worth it and you may not mind having a lodger as it won't be your long term home.  

mlz1413

Your pro's hinge on the property gaining equity,  whilst houses tend to gain there is no guarantee that in such a short space of time this would be true. It could be worth exactly the same in 5 yrs!

My thought was if you know in 5 years you really want to be back near family then stay renting until you are ready for your forever home and then make a decision at that time.

I'm just going to add one more thought.  Have you considered buying in the area your family live but renting it out whikst you live in Manchester?  It doesn't have to be the house you want as a forever home, but preferable a place you could live in as and when you go home.

This option may give you the ability for equity,  but more positively it is where you know you want to be.
There will be costs involved as you would need to do a B2L mortgage and use an agent, but it was more the principal to consider than the details at this stage.

Cloysterpete

It would be a simple decision for me, keep with your cheap rent and save every single penny possible, four or five years is nothing. Then buy a place close to your family in five years time. I’d not be considering buying property somewhere I didn’t even want to be long term, what use does that serve.

SPRichards

RHemmings said:

SPRichards said:

FlorayG said:

have you owned your own place previously or always rented? I think the answer to this would affect any options. If you've never before owned a house you don't know how it 'feels' to own one

Hi, that is a good point. I have never owned a home before. I recently watched a video on this subject, and the perceived happiness owning your own home gives you isn't actually supported by data. All the added stresses of being responsible for anything going wrong. I did find that compelling, but maybe I'm looking for justifications for essentially choosing an outcome by staying the course - Effectively I'm choosing through inaction I suppose. 

Just as a single data point, I was a very long term renter who bought at an older than usual age. I much prefer owning to renting. Maybe I'm in a honeymoon period and I'll change my mind. I'm aware of things I need to do in the house and I'm doing them very slowly bit by bit. But, I don't feel a lot of stress. I feel much more 'at home' here. 

However, having said that, I agree with the above comments that if you're only going to be doing the current job for 4-5 years, then I'd say renting. And, I'd find a cheap rental property so that I could save. If you are paying £600 and sharing with one other person, then I guess the rent is £1200 in total for a two bed flat. Having had a look at rentals in central-ish Manchester, I'm not sure you're going to save all that much by finding a cheaper place. It seems very expensive there. 

Hi, thanks for the reply. Yeah, unfortunately manchester is very expensive, especially in the center near where I work, but sharing does offset the bulk of that. I wouldn't be able to do much better without moving further out, but too far would mean incurring travel costs and just losing more time in general. 

And yeah, I think there's a lot of hard to articulate nuisances to owning vs renting, in terms of how you feel as an individual. Ultimately I know I want to own, long term that feels like it just makes mathematical sense. I think I'm just grieving the sudden loss of that immediate plan. 

SarahB16 said:

Is there no possibility of job opportunities coming up in the next five years that may mean you could move nearer to your family as I know being near to your family means a lot to you?  If you rented you would have the flexibility to look for other job opportunities.  

Don't buy a house because it ticks a box of one of the things people aspire to do.  Sensible decisions are usually made, in scenarios like this, from comparing the costs (plus any equity gain) but as you are definitely not putting down roots in Manchester I question how much commitment and love you will have for your house.   

If you did decide to buy would you consider buying a large enough house and then take in a lodger (claiming rent a room relief)? This would mean that when you do eventually sell in 5 or more years it will have definitely been financially worth it and you may not mind having a lodger as it won't be your long term home.  

Thanks for replying. There certainly were more opportunities for this before, but remote work is drying up fast and there are few to no local businesses in my industry there. I got a good offer after trying to hold out for something remote and took it. There are a lot of smaller places going under atm, and those were the main ones offering remote. 

And yeah, I would 100% get a place with at least one spare room for a lodger, I simply couldn't justify the cost differences if I didn't. But that in itself changes the nature of the process for me. As I'm going through this with that plan in mind and not just settling for something I'd like. Too far from the city (where I'd like to be) and the demand for a room decreases. I also need to prepare for periods where there is no one lodging. 

mlz1413 said:

Your pro's hinge on the property gaining equity,  whilst houses tend to gain there is no guarantee that in such a short space of time this would be true. It could be worth exactly the same in 5 yrs!

My thought was if you know in 5 years you really want to be back near family then stay renting until you are ready for your forever home and then make a decision at that time.

I'm just going to add one more thought.  Have you considered buying in the area your family live but renting it out whikst you live in Manchester?  It doesn't have to be the house you want as a forever home, but preferable a place you could live in as and when you go home.

This option may give you the ability for equity,  but more positively it is where you know you want to be.
There will be costs involved as you would need to do a B2L mortgage and use an agent, but it was more the principal to consider than the details at this stage.

Hi, thanks for your reply. I have actually looked into this at one point, and thought I read you couldn't get a BTL mortgage unless you already has a residential one. Maybe I'm misremembering, more research needed. It's also very difficult to come out on top atm. With rates the way they are rents are barely covering mortgage payments, let alone the insurances required, agency fees. You'd need a sizeable deposit to offset a lot of this, much more than I had saved for a regular mortgage. 

I had considered renting to family, but it's just too messy, and as unlikely as it might be to get caught out, I wouldn't want to risk anything not being above board. 

Cloysterpete said:

It would be a simple decision for me, keep with your cheap rent and save every single penny possible, four or five years is nothing. Then buy a place close to your family in five years time. I’d not be considering buying property somewhere I didn’t even want to be long term, what use does that serve.

Thanks for replying. Yeah, I think for me the use it serves would be that at least I was paying down a mortgage vs just paying rent, and while the plan is to leave in 4-5 years, as this last year has shown me, these plans can change, and I may find myself needing to stay for longer. At which point Id be grateful I was already 5 years into a mortgage perhaps. 

LeafGreen

SPRichards said:

The last spanner is my slightly longer term goals, I plan to retire (if all goes well) in the next 4-5 years. Or at the very least change careers and work part time

Not sure how old you are but I assume this would be quite early retirement?... what is your plan to make this possible?

By the way I agree with the people saying to continue renting in the short term while squirrelling away as much as possible.  Sharing is ideal if you don't mind not having place to yourself, view it as a means to an end.  I grew up in South Manchester and moved away (4.5 hour drive or 6+ hour train!!) for work.  Initially stayed in bedsits/house shares while saving up.  Was actually really good for meeting people in the new city.  As it turned out I never moved back and bought a place about 10 years later!

SPRichards

grahamgoo said:

SPRichards said:

The last spanner is my slightly longer term goals, I plan to retire (if all goes well) in the next 4-5 years. Or at the very least change careers and work part time

Not sure how old you are but I assume this would be quite early retirement?... what is your plan to make this possible?

By the way I agree with the people saying to continue renting in the short term while squirrelling away as much as possible.  Sharing is ideal if you don't mind not having place to yourself, view it as a means to an end.  I grew up in South Manchester and moved away (4.5 hour drive or 6+ hour train!!) for work.  Initially stayed in bedsits/house shares while saving up.  Was actually really good for meeting people in the new city.  As it turned out I never moved back and bought a place about 10 years later!

Hi, thanks for your reply. yeah, its early retirement for sure, I've just turned 36 and hope to retire/coast in the next 4-5 years (things will need to go very well). I've been saving quite aggressively into my pension and adding to my ISA/GIA. I earn a fair bit more than I need so funneling the excess into my pension, which combined with employer match and employer NI contributions makes up  50% of my savings each year. And the rest gets saved elsewhere (ISAs, GIA, cash). The aim is to have about 400k by 40 (1 third of the way there so far) then consider coasting for a bit/ retiring depending on what my life looks like then. But at the least I'll be in a position to pack in a job that I do as it pays well, and can just move and live where I like, work when and if i like. Not quite FIRE, as I intend to be a lot more flexible and maybe work for myself from time to time. 

And thanks, yeah, I do think that makes sense (renting vs buying). I honestly think after reading a lot of the replies a lot of my desire to buy is coming from it feeling like a lost opportunity. I spent a couple years really picturing it. So moving it out feels bad. But, that's all it would be I suppose. Just a delay. Hopefully there's not another property price boon over the next few years