Im new

Lanz81

hello everyone

first of all i would like to say i love this site and come on here everyday ad have done for the last year!

i was £19k in debt but was very very very lucky to be left £14k in a will and now owe just £4k which will be paid by the end of the year.

Me and my boyf curently live in a HA house and rent for £320 a month, i like the cul de sac we live in but hate the area, its very rough!

in the last year we have been very fortunate as i have had a promotion and boyf now has a well paid job.

so my question is should we buy our own house? i do not have any savings which may be a prob and the goings on concern me.

do you think i should start saving and wait a while?

many thanks xxx

poppyolivia

I personally wouldn't get a mortgage while having a 4K debt but thats just me.

Good luck though xx

Jorgan_2

You say you have no savings, does this mean you have no deposit to put down? In the current climate I would advise you save at least a 10% deposit, 15% would be better.

poppy_f1

i'd pay off the debt then start saving a deposit

mystic_trev

I'd put your savings in a high Interest Cash ISA for the next two or three years, then think about buying a Property!

KiKi

I concur with people above - if you weren't able to clear any debt this year through savings, then I wouldn't commit to a mortgage, especially not without a deposit.

Pay off your £4K and then save, save, save so that you have both a deposit and some savings aside.

Don't forget, depending on the value of the property, and deposit aside, you want to have about £4K in the bank to cover purchasing costs, and that assumes nothing goes wrong...!

Best of luck.
KiKi

Lanz81

thank you all.

ive just rec'd a letter from my HA about a shared ownership at 40%. have got much detail on this yet (price etc) but what do you think about these shared ownership schemes?

Caffca

I don't know a lot about SO but from what I've read they're not necessarily the best idea - you only "own" part of the house but are responsible for all of the maintenance and there are issues when it comes to selling - it might be you can only sell to a restricted market - i.e someone on the HA waiting list. I'm sure there are far more knowledgable MSE members who can give more details (or search through past threads).

However seeing as in your first post, you say you hate the area - why would SO persuade you to buy the house and effectively strengthen your ties to the area?

Jorgan_2

Lanz81 wrote: »

thank you all.

ive just rec'd a letter from my HA about a shared ownership at 40%. have got much detail on this yet (price etc) but what do you think about these shared ownership schemes?

Research the SO carefully. With the additional costs of renting/maintenance, they are often not cost effective. You maybe be able to purchase a property in your own right for the same monthly costs of SO.

ginger_nuts

your rent at the moment is low .I would keep renting for the moment and pay off the debts.

Helga14

I think you should pay off your debts and then buy. Your rent is very low.

I brought shared ownership but my rent/mortage now shared with my boyfriend is the same as it was renting. However do bear in mind you will bear the full brunt of all repairs if you buy SO as if you own 100%. I'd also say try to buy somewhere where you can get the biggest percentage initally you can. I'm just buying more now and staircasing is expensive. The inital purchase cost me about £4000 with stamp duty, searches, legal fees, mortgage arrangement fees etc. Each time i staircase it will cost me about £1500 in legal fees, mortgage arrangement fees and valuations etc. A lot of lenders won't do SO now unless you are actually putting down a deposit.