'Not' buying a property.

SideWinder

SideWinder

SideWinder

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If that makes sense. :p

I was speaking to a mate about buying property and whether we would eventually buy somewhere to live, rather than renting. I am only young and i certainly won't be buying a property for at least 5 or 6 years but i was thinking, do i even want to buy a property?

At least with renting, it is much easier to pack up and change location whether it is for employment or something else. It's also easier to live somewhere 'nicer' - property and location wise. But i see buying a property as 'tying me down' to an area and if i suddenly wanted to move, it would take me quite some time, no?

I know i will need at least £40k to get somewhere i think is alright but unless i come in to a large amount of money, i don't think i'll want to buy a property. I do appreciate that by owning a property, you are a bit more secure and at least you can sell it if you run in to money problems.

I guess it is different for families so they will want to settle down somewhere and the parents would be in secure long term employment.

Anyone else thinking the same? Are you currently renting and intend to for a long period of time?
 
I think in your 20s renting is acceptable if you think you'll be travelling round etc. but when you start to get settled down it makes more sense to buy. You will pay a bit more each year to begin with but by 50 or so you'll have paid off your morgage and once retirement sets in you don't need to worry at all about paying for a house. On the other hand renting means you'll have to find that rent money out of your pension... Essentially it's an investment in the future IMO.
 
Amp34 said:
I think in your 20s renting is acceptable if you think you'll be travelling round etc. but when you start to get settled down it makes more sense to buy. You will pay a bit more each year to begin with but by 50 or so you'll have paid off your morgage and once retirement sets in you don't need to worry at all about paying for a house. On the other hand renting means you'll have to find that rent money out of your pension... Essentially it's an investment in the future IMO.
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Mmm, that's what i am thinking re: an investment. I honestly don't think i will think about buying a property until i am in my early 30s though. :o
 
I'm 26, almost 27, and I pretty much feel the same way, especially as I live with a good mate which makes things really quite cheap and although you could buy with a mate that's fraught with problems...

Renting is nice as there's nothing to worry about, no extra expenditure on insurance/boiler cover etc, if anything goes wrong I make a phone call and it gets magically fixed (it helps here that our landlord is very good, leaves us to ourselves the entire time.

There's also another aspect in that, in my opinion, houses are way overpriced, and I have to ask myself why, when spending probably the largest amount of money I'll ever spend on one item, would I spend more than it is 'worth'

(note, I know that worth is ultimately decided that what people will pay, and that they'll pay the current prices, I'm more specifically thinking it's worth to me)

But then as Amp34 the 'investment for the future' is a very good argument, although I could also argue that the hundreds each month I save by not buying (including sharing vs living alone here) I could put into pension/savings to negate that issue, you really don't need that much saved up to cover rent for the retirement...

It's a tough one, and one in which your circumstances makes a big difference, I mean if you settle down with kids you're going to want to stay in a single place for the kids sake if nothing else, so buying looks that bit more attractive.
 
Whilst in the past people have ridden the wave of greater than inflation rises in capital appreciation, that's unlikely to the be the case in the future.

People talk about rent as "wasted" money - but what do they think the interest portion of a mortgage repayment is? The amount you're "investing" is only equivalent to the principal you're paying off each month.

Buying versus renting makes sense in certain area, but not in others... it all depends on the circumstances - you can't say always buying a property is the "right" thing to do (this is something that needs to be knocked out of the British mindset).
 
People in this country need to get over the idea that they have to buy a property and borrowing many times the joint or single salary. Especially with utilities going to go through the roof.

Too many 20 somethings controlled by mortgage repayments instead of actually living their lives and enjoying their time together without kids.

I personally would like to see tighter controls on the multiplier for borrowing for houses, which would have to bring house prices down to more realistic levels.
 
dannyjo22 said:
People in this country need to get over the idea that they have to buy a property and borrowing many times the joint or single salary. Especially with utilities going to go through the roof.

Too many 20 somethings controlled by mortgage repayments instead of actually living their lives and enjoying their time together without kids.

I personally would like to see tighter controls on the multiplier for borrowing for houses, which would have to bring house prices down to more realistic levels.
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You have phrased it much better than i have. I agree completely.
 
dannyjo22 said:
I personally would like to see tighter controls on the multiplier for borrowing for houses, which would have to bring house prices down to more realistic levels.
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The problem is, that will not happen, if prices drop, speculators will buy them ahead of 'normal' borrowers, and drive prices up again.

Its like making Oil £20 a barrel, it'll be bought up by the superrich and sold onwards to us at massive profit. Speculators can generally afford to sit on property, certainly now they can, as those that can't are gone, and those who can, have the properties rented at a level which maintains their borrowing.

Prices are high, and will remain so, gradually decreasing over the course of the next 2 years, then kicking off again.
 
daz said:
Whilst in the past people have ridden the wave of greater than inflation rises in capital appreciation, that's unlikely to the be the case in the future.

People talk about rent as "wasted" money - but what do they think the interest portion of a mortgage repayment is? The amount you're "investing" is only equivalent to the principal you're paying off each month.

Buying versus renting makes sense in certain area, but not in others... it all depends on the circumstances - you can't say always buying a property is the "right" thing to do (this is something that needs to be knocked out of the British mindset).
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Absolutely. If your rent is less than the interest repayment then rent, and SAVE the rest for your deposit for when you do buy. No sense in buying for the sake of it. And if you actually save the difference, unless there is significant property appreciation then you are no worse off renting, but minus the hassles and cost of ownership.
 
The advantage of buying is that you can pass it on to your kids, depending how many you have, you could either make it so that they don't have to rent or buy at all, or perhaps give them a significant amount of money to start their later years with, as opposed to giving all this money to someone you rent from, for them to pass it on to their kids.
 
frosty03 said:
Absolutely. If your rent is less than the interest repayment then rent, and SAVE the rest for your deposit for when you do buy. No sense in buying for the sake of it. And if you actually save the difference, unless there is significant property appreciation then you are no worse off renting, but minus the hassles and cost of ownership.
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+1

Although I said buying is better for the future doesn't mean you shouldd go in blind.

Lakeland said:
The advantage of buying is that you can pass it on to your kids, depending how many you have, you could either make it so that they don't have to rent or buy at all, or perhaps give them a significant amount of money to start their later years with, as opposed to giving all this money to someone you rent from, for them to pass it on to their kids.
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But, but that gives those kids a unfair advantage! It should all go to the government to be spread around!
 
Rents in the UK are currently expensive. You're generally better off buying and accumulating some capital appreciation when owning a property.

With the reforms to housing benefits, I expect rents to fall over the next 2 - 3 years as agreements come up and people look for more affordable properties.

Our rental market is quite poor compared to the Netherlands, but they also have a functioning market for social housing unlike us.
A single unwed male can reasonably expect to get a property over there, unlike over here where you must be an unwed immigrant single parent to have a chance of getting a property in reasonable time.
 
I wouldn't want to rent forever, can you imagine paying rent from a pension, I bought fairly young and will be mortgage free in just over 7 yrs
 
I've been lucky enough to secure a property that is of a quality I like, offers everything I need and is cheaper than renting the same property. So win/win for me! :)
I achieved this by saving a sizeable deposit for a few years.

I totally agree though that there seems to be a culture of *having* to buy a place at some point in your life. It's not for all people, there's nothing wrong with renting if you're comfortable with it. Some people are, some people aren't.
But the times are a'changing and on the whole it's bloomin' expensive to buy a place worth living in.
 
Something else you didn't mention, in my current rented flat, I can't even hang a picture hook let alone redecorate, get decent windows, carpets etc.
 
Lakeland said:
The advantage of buying is that you can pass it on to your kids, depending how many you have, you could either make it so that they don't have to rent or buy at all, or perhaps give them a significant amount of money to start their later years with, as opposed to giving all this money to someone you rent from, for them to pass it on to their kids.
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I am of this mindset, it also really bothers that im basically lining someone elses pocket when renting.

Although i technically still live at my parents house, im not at home too often so theres no need for me to have my own place yet. This means i can put away a fairly modest amount of money each month (considering how much money im on) for the future. By the time im finished i should have a deposit that is over half the houses value.

The only thing that would hold me back is how happy i am with my current job and whether or not i want to stick with it.
 
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