am i young enough to give it all up and start again?

totmalysh

I agree with most posters. Although never in debt (I do not count a mortgage which is 82000 - I am hoping to pay it off in the next 5 years), I had a challenging life.
My future husband and came to Britain 4.5 years ago, all we had was a £1000 for the two of us and tickets back, we never used those.
We started with renting a bedroom in a house with 10 other people in, it was not a heaven, a year later we moved into a studio flat. We've changed jobs during that time and were saving money. All in all we saved more than 20.000 in 3 years and that went down as a deposit in our new 1-bedroom flat, bought through shared ownership a month ago.
So, in all means, if you can downsize, it will help you now and in the future. Smaller place would mean smaller outgoings and you would be able to clear some debt.
Anyway, this is your decision to make. I always believed that things happen at the time when they are needed desperately and not when we have this itching feeling of wanting. And be sure that everything will work out for you.

ms_london

thepinkladez wrote: »

not sure if it would be the end of the world! but we have always been very proud of being on the property ladder so ideally that would be our main goal when we are debt free again.
sounds silly but it is just something we both have as a goal, always have!sad but we both would love to live in a 4 bed detached with garages in nice area thats our dream by 35! so 9 years for me!

Hello!

As you said, you do have time on your side - so you could move into a rented property now therefore clearing your debts and one day own your dream house. There is nothing wrong with saving for a new house once you are debt free, but you need to buy at the right time - no point in buying a house at the wrong time with prices so high, and ended up paying more & having a huger mortgage just for the sake of 'owning' your own home. Not sure if I've explained that too well.

Dont get me wrong, I cant wait to have my own place (but I think I am more excited of living on my own that owning a house!) - but it isnt the be all and end all personally. If it is your dream to have that house, go for it - but it doesnt define you and make you a more successful person - your health & family are more important - the stress, whether its debt, or a huge mortgage, will take its toll on both of these, so do what you think is best for your family.
xx

ms_london

P.S on the subject of you saying you are glad you are in your 20's. I am 27, and I am also glad (?) that I got into debt when I did, as what I learnt from going through that has definately set me up for life.

Obviously I dont know what is around the corner and what will be thrown at me, but I hope never to be in that situation again. It sucks that 'the best years of my life' were taken up with the stress of being in debt, but I see it as a small price to pay though for what I have learnt. Plus I am hardly over the hill yet, even though I sound like it! :rolleyes:

xx

melvis

barnaby-bear wrote: »

BTW if you could get a HA/council tenancy with security of tenure those are great - the private rental sector is nasty to be in though....

I've privately rented for about 6 years now (lots of different houses) and never had a problem. Me and OH are now settled in a nice 3 bedroomed house, which although isn't the most spacious house in the worlr, it has a big garden and a secure out-house for storage and is in a nice area and we only pay £450 per month, which is a lot less than we'd be likely to pay with a mortgage. Our landlord said when we moved in that he hopes not to see us again for many years so although not 100%, we do have some security in the fact that he isn't going to get rid of us any time soon!

ltm07

Interesting thread this & although it is your decision i am surprised at how many people on here are advising you that selling is a good option. OK so house prices have slowed down but by the time you have saved for a deposit the average house price will probably be over £200k. Can you really see yourselves being able to save up a 10% deposit of £20,000 without having to scrimp & save as you are doing now & even if you do manage to save that much,imagine how much the monthly payments will be. Watched Sarah Beeney on a programme a few weeks back & she said selling up to rent is a barmy idea,& if anyone should know,the it's her! Look into the option of downsizing if you really must but think about it,with the way pensions are nowadays,wouldn't it be nice to downsize later in life & have plenty of cash to live on then. Not having a go at you,but i think you should stick it out in your home that you have worked so hard for for a while. Why pay someone else's mortgage for them when you will eventually pay your own off? Good luck whatever you decide to do.

thepinkladez_2

hi all i just wanted to give you all a update on whats happening. it's looking unlikely that we will be selling up for at least another year as we are stuck into a fixed rate til summer 09 and to get out it's a lovely £6k :eek: penalty (obviously at the time of buying this wasn't an issue as we never intended to sell anytime soon!).

We are still going to have the house valued by a few of the local agents least that way we will have a better knowledge on the price of the house and what we could do (if possible) to achieve the maximum price. if they all said it was worth top wack (150 to 160k) then maybe it would be worth paying the redemption penalty?decisions, decisions!

so the ideal situation would be get estate agents round, they value at top price, we sell at top price, we move into lovely rented home at less than £700pcm, save,save save, house prices drop,drop,drop, we buy,buy,buy for cheap,cheap,cheap (like the good old days under £100k for a 3 bed semi!) and we sit back and thank our lucky stars!oh and of course win millions on the lottery;) !!

i can dream can't i!!??

Broken_hearted

I think you are very brave, the though of starting all over again would be too much for me. I'm looking forward to spending my 30's with no debt. rent or mortgage to pay even though its a bit of a struggle now.
Hope the EA come back with a good price.

ltm07

Please try & stick it out or at least downsize. What you are planning to do is worse than consolidating in my opinion,as you will have nothing to fall back on if you fall on hard times again. Your lives & your choice,but i think you will end up regretting it. Good luck.

harryhound

Let us be honest; from what you have said you don't own anything at the moment. Your net worth is virtually zero.
You are renting other people's money, some at a cheap rate and 38K probably at a high rent. As I am mortgage free (and old) it might be my money you are renting.
You have done some sums and renting bricks instead of money looks like a better deal.
In a year's time you may or may not be able to re-mortgage. Rental rates may or may not have gone up or down.

There is a possibility that the government may lose its already weak grip on the money supply and IF you have job(s) that are in demand and secure you will have had a nice big pay rise in a years time, while inflation has devalued your debts.

Either way I think we both need to keep a very close eye in what is really happening in the next 12 months. In the real world there is less per head to go round. I'll cross my fingers for you that house prices don't fall by (say) 12% and you can cross your fingers for me that inflation does not go over 5%.
[Actually as a semi retired pensioner the inflation in my cost of living probably is already over 5%]

Meanwhile the finest investment both of you can make is making sure your DD has the security and education she deserves.

Harry.

jo1972

Maz3374 wrote: »

my OH is 43, I'm 34, and we don't own our own home. We rent a 2 bedroom housing association house with parking and mah-hoosive garden for less than £250 a month and band B council tax(110pm)....

We hope to buy sometime but time is running out for us(due to OH's age, we'd already struggle to meet a 20year mortgage before he retires) and paying £360pcm is preferable to having an £800 mortgage which is where we would be looking at on a shorter term10-15 year mortgage,

Pretty much snap, OH is also 43, I'm nearly 36 :eek: and we have 3 kids and live in a council 3 bed masionette and have absolutely no problems with space. Obviously I'd love a massive mansion but that's never gonna happen! We are unlikely to get a mortgage due to being a bad credit risk and OH's age but that doesn't really bother me either way, TBH the thought of having a mortgage and the risk of interest increases and not being in control of what I have to pay out every month scares the life outta me!!

I think you are in a perfect situation to scrub the lot and start again, I'm very envious

Good luck