Bought house now second thoughts

olb81

Hi
Despite a year of mental illness I still felt it was urgent I bought a house as I'd been living with parents.
I had saved 200k by working for 20 years which would get me a one bed flat or maisonette.
I wanted to avoid a mortgage as psychologically I struggle with the endless payments and just don't like being in debt.
I ended up buying a one bed house for 230 but this has meant a 25k loan and 6.5k loaned from family. This means half my income after tax is paying back these debts. So effectively I've given myself a mortgage although for less time.
I am regretting this now and also realise I'm not totally recovered mentally although I'm probably half way there.im just about back at work for example.
What iam considering is selling the house after only a few months and living with parents until next year.
It would mean I could pay back the loan and family still have my 200k in the bank and start again next year when hopefully I'm a lot better mentally. I don't think living on your own is ideal when you're anxious and nervous.
Is there anything to consider, other than fees for agents and solicitors if I did sell?
In the new year I could decide how to go forward whether to buy within my budget with no debts or something else.

Brie

would you consider getting a mortgage to pay off the loan and family so that your monthly payments are lower?

maybe think about what you like about the house.  a garden you like?  nice neighbourhood?  living on your own can be nice at times but if you don't like it would a pet help?  

how would you feel about moving back to your parents?  would it be a repeat of you feeling you anxiously needed to move?  would they object or welcome you back easily?  what would you do with all the things you've bought to furnish the house?  

Meanwhile - I'm well impressed with you saving such a large sum, even over a prolonged period.  

Emmia

I think one of the problems is, that selling isn't cost free - so you'll need to pay an agent to sell your place, so you won't necessarily get £200k back out.

I also wonder if you need to find a way of working through your issues mentally, whilst staying in your house - one day a parent may not be there to provide an alternative. 

I would as Brie suggests consider getting a small mortgage, paying off your family and then having lower repayments - you'll be repaying a faceless institution rather than the people you see for Sunday lunch or Christmas - that imposes it's own pressure 

Grumpy_chap

olb81 said:

Hi
Despite a year of mental illness I still felt it was urgent I bought a house as I'd been living with parents.
I had saved 200k by working for 20 years which would get me a one bed flat or maisonette.
I wanted to avoid a mortgage as psychologically I struggle with the endless payments and just don't like being in debt.
I ended up buying a one bed house for 230 but this has meant a 25k loan and 6.5k loaned from family. This means half my income after tax is paying back these debts. So effectively I've given myself a mortgage although for less time.
I am regretting this now and also realise I'm not totally recovered mentally although I'm probably half way there.im just about back at work for example.
What iam considering is selling the house after only a few months and living with parents until next year.
It would mean I could pay back the loan and family still have my 200k in the bank and start again next year when hopefully I'm a lot better mentally. I don't think living on your own is ideal when you're anxious and nervous.
Is there anything to consider, other than fees for agents and solicitors if I did sell?
In the new year I could decide how to go forward whether to buy within my budget with no debts or something else.

Have you sought medical advice regarding your anxiety?

Have you prepared a detailed budget for your incomings and outgoings?  If you have not, you might wish to use one of the SoA (statement of affairs) templates, such as that available at Lemon Fool.  This can give you clear visibility of your overall financial position and may, of itself, make things look better.

If you sell the house quickly after purchase, allowing for the costs of purchase and sale, you will most likely not have the £200k back in the bank.  In a year's time, the cost of an alternative equivalent property may be more than the £230k paid this time around.

This might be a case where finding a path through the immediate challenges will be helpful in the long term.  It is not uncommon to feel financially stretched or outside of comfort zone after buying first home.

olb81

The location is fine. One decision i was influenced by people was to buy a free hold rather than leasehold..I could get a leasehold in the same area for 180-190k. I'm wondering is it really with the extra 50k for a staircase and no one above or below?
Also I find the house a little depressing such as the layout, tiny kitchen, shower no bath, door straight into lounge, parking around the corner, shared path to door. All these things I knew before but don't actually realise until it's mine.
Are you allowed to sell within a few months?
I think I'd just about get my money back and keep the 200k safe.
I just don't feel I'm quite ready to go it alone as it was isolation that brought on my MH problems year ago. It's been up and down and I still have I think another 6 months or so to get back my confidence and keep my nerves in check.
I really don't like a mortgage as it tied me to my job which I am also struggling with. I've gone back but already had a few unauthorised absences where I couldn't face going or calling in sick on time.

WIAWSNB

Hi olb81.

You've done incredibly well to have saved £200k. As a result, you are nearly 'mortgage free', which is an increasingly rare situation to be in these days. 

Could I ask where the £25k 'loan' is from? If it's a mortgage, then it should only be costing you around £130 per month? It sounds as tho' you are paying more, as you understandably wish to pay this money back as soon as possible? 

Could you confirm the situation with these loans, please?

What to do? Well, buying your property has probably cost you anything up to £2k for conveyancing fees and searches? That money has 'gone', never to be seen again. For you to now sell will be worse - you'll have EA fees on top of everything else, and Google suggests this could all be £5k upwards. That, too, will be money you'll never see again.

So, your hard saving over a couple of decades will likely take a 6, 7 or more thousand-£ound punch. And you'll be back with your parents - only you can say whether this is a good thing 

If the £25k 'loan' is not a mortgage, could you tell us what interest rate it's on? 

Personally, I'd narrow the situation down to three options - stick with it, sell up and take the hit, or rent it out for a year, and actually make some money. For the latter option, I'd use a reputable agent to arrange it all. 

We obviously cannot tell from this side of the screen what pressures you feel under, and what is right for you. But, if it helps, please do remind yourself of what you've achieved over the past goodly number of years, and what it has now bought you - an actual house. Let that wash and give you a buzz

I cannot see how letting this great achievement effectively go is going to feel good, but only you can decide if it's what you 'need' to do.

If you don't need to, then please try and stick with it - take a longer term view if you can; you do have options. You've done well to get here - I bet most of your work colleagues have mortgages well in excess of 100k, or multiples of! And the young ones will be despairing of ever getting on the property ladder. 

Good luck with whatever you decide. 

Albermarle

olb81 said:

The location is fine. One decision i was influenced by people was to buy a free hold rather than leasehold..I could get a leasehold in the same area for 180-190k. I'm wondering is it really with the extra 50k for a staircase and no one above or below?
Also I find the house a little depressing such as the layout, tiny kitchen, shower no bath, door straight into lounge, parking around the corner, shared path to door. All these things I knew before but don't actually realise until it's mine.
Are you allowed to sell within a few months?
I think I'd just about get my money back and keep the 200k safe.
I just don't feel I'm quite ready to go it alone as it was isolation that brought on my MH problems year ago. It's been up and down and I still have I think another 6 months or so to get back my confidence and keep my nerves in check.
I really don't like a mortgage as it tied me to my job which I am also struggling with. I've gone back but already had a few unauthorised absences where I couldn't face going or calling in sick on time.

Are you allowed to sell within a few months?

You own the house, you can do what you want with it.

However buyers ( and maybe their mortgage providers) will wonder why it is back on the market so quick, and if there is something wrong with it. Also the housing market is a bit quieter than a few months ago, and we are going into the usually rather dead period of Winter.
So even if you try and sell it, you may still be there in 6,9 or even 12 months.

Apart from your own MH problems, it is quite common for people to regret major purchases soon after making them.
It is called 'Buyers Remorse' and there may be an element of this in play here.
I would stick it out until at least the Spring, when the housing market perks up again if you still want to sell, and you might find you have got more used to living there by then anyway.

RAS

olb81

Are you the person who had several long threads about a previous flat they hated that was let out and damaged by the tenants? At the time the poster was living with their folks.

There was a lot of angst, so really the issue is that you need to address the underlying mental health issues before making any further decisions. 

HampshireH

You only bought this house 3-4 weeks ago. Seems your not in a position to be making rational decisions if such a huge commitment is being considered so flippantly.

Why not split your time between the house and your parents until you're comfortable living alone.

Selling up now will just eat into your finances as will your next purchase.

Uriziel

How long have you been living there? If you just bought it it is extremely unlikely you'll be able to sell it and recover all of your money. Is that fine with you? Though you can always speak to an estate agent and explain to them how much money you want to sell it for and see if they think it's doable or not.

I have a feeling you feel anxious because you simply are new there and people with mental health issues dislike change because staying in the same place is simply more cosy and familiar. Have you tried to do things you enjoy at the new place? Make yourself a little corner for whatever it is that you like whether it is reading or video games? You might start feeling more familiar and comfortable then.

You write that you dislike the inside of the house. Next time you buy property, have a woman choose. Most men think rationally and practical and they don't care about anything as long there is a room and their stuff will somewhat fit. Most men live like pigs alone. I would ask a woman to help with choosing. Women are pretty fussy on where they live because they want things nice. They also spend on average more on rent than men because they like things being decent. Otherwise you will continue running into this problem.

Herzlos

olb81 said:
I wanted to avoid a mortgage as psychologically I struggle with the endless payments and just don't like being in debt.
I ended up buying a one bed house for 230 but this has meant a 25k loan and 6.5k loaned from family. This means half my income after tax is paying back these debts. So effectively I've given myself a mortgage although for less time.
I am regretting this now and also realise I'm not totally recovered mentally although I'm probably half way there.im just about back at work for example.
What iam considering is selling the house after only a few months and living with parents until next year.

I don't think it makes any sense to sell after such a short period of time, because it'll cost you more than the 25k you've got outstanding; you won't get any stamp duty or fees back, and will need to pay to sell it again. You may then struggle to buy anything similar later as house prices are growing faster than cash. 

The first thing to do (if you're not already doing it) is seek councelling about the debt aversion issue; I understand the anxiety around debt but some manageable debt isn't necessarily a bad thing and in your case with the savings. 

The second is the outgoings, you've presumably taken out a £25k loan over a short term which means your payments are huge? You would be a lot better off financially if you were to convert it to a mortgage over a longer term. It doesn't even mean you'd be paying endlessly though; if you took it over say 10-15 years and maintained payments at the current rate it'd still be gone in the same term as the existing loan, but it takes away the payment burden as the minimum payment could easily be 10% of your current setup. 

Once you've got this relatively small hurdle out of the way you're well set up to being debt free, decades before most of us.