commute or buy?

emjayjee

Hello,

First post to the boards, but regular reader! I wanted some advice about what you would do in my position.

I am currently living in my parents accomodation (which is their BTL property). They are not charging me rent - v kind of them. Only drawback is I have a round commute of 60 miles/day. I am getting married and my partner and I are planning on moving in together. If we stay where I am now - we both will have a large commute - total 120 miles round trip/day - obvious financial drain especially with petrol going up. Unforunately our working times dont match for a few months, so we cant car share.

In addition to this, we both have properties of our own - neither of which are any close to commute from - so likely we will let them out.

From what I can see my options are:
1. continue with a massive commute and continue to effectively pay no rent, just bills
2. rent somewhere closer to work, and we both knock off some miles on our commute, so save on commute, pay bills and rent.
3. we buy somewhere closer, and give my parents their property back so they can let it out, so pay mortgage, bills, but save on commute.

We would be looking at having the property for a minimum of 3 years.

With the house prices trend as they are, and petrol prices on their way up, I don't know what would be the best thing to do. I even looked into changing my car!!

Anyway, you know the situation

what would you do

Thanks in advance

clutton_2

i'd go for 3 - then everyone is happy

Scubabe

So 2 and 3 are essentially the same thing, only with option 2 you rent and with option 3 you buy, right?
In the current climate, I'd be renting.
Keep saving your deposit up and in maybe a year or two you could get a real bargain.
What would be the difference between mortgage repayments and rental payments on the same type of property in the same area?
And how much deposit do you have, how much of a % mortgage will you need?
Mortgages are getting harder to get....

I think lifestyle is important, and worth paying for, so for me I'd prefer to live closer to work, even though that means I'd have to start paying rent... that rental payment, in my mind, would be giving me an extra sleep in each morning and the ability to get home earlier each evening, something I'd be happy to pay for!

chappers

What are the situations with the two houses you own could you sell one or both walk off with a nice deposit and just buy/rent closer to work, is it essential you keep them.
Commuting long distances can be demoralising after a while especially if you have the sort of job where your never quite sure when your going to get away.Both having a long commute could mean you hardley ever see each other.
Long commutes can make you hate your job when it's not relly the job thats at fault, it's something that creeps up on you suddenly you just hate it and you never even saw it coming.
I wouldn't call 30 miles each way a long commute but it's all relative to the person doing it.

emjayjee

Thanks for the replies - in terms of deposit, between us we should be able to put down 25% for most places in the area we are looking.

Both our situations with the property means it is unlikely selling is the best option. On my side, I recently purchased the property as an investment with the view that in a few years time I may move to Yorkshire (yes - she knows!).

Her situation is that her brothers will continue to live in her flat, without which they would have to find somewhere to rent - so effectively she is letting to her own family. This means, there is a bit of emotion when it comes to talk of selling her place - and realistically no sale for a few years on either property.

I have to admit, I am slowly getting used to the commute in terms of time on the road, but the wallet doesn't agree!!

Not sure if when the numbers are crunched, is it better to continue to save for a better deposit and buy later, but then know I will be selling the place sooner.

lawrie28

Buy a good second hand (not new) Diesel car or 2 then stay put and save up. Or get new jobs closer to home.....