Buying a house with girlfriend ?

I bought a flat with my GF of two years a while ago and she put in considerably more of the deposit than I have but we just changed the percentage of ownership to reflect that. We both contribute 50% of the mortgage and 50% of the bills etc so its not really a big deal.

Money is a tricky subject for people as those that have it tend to believe that they have earned it more than those who don't have it when its quite often not that simple.

My girlfriend doesn't consider the fact that her parents effectively bought her a house at university as being "given" a house because she pays the mortgage on it. They paid the deposit on it and she has to pay the mortgage until it is paid off. To her that is entirely hers that she has paid for whereas to me, that is something that has simply been given to her. She rents it out which more than covers the mortgage and leaves a bit left over every month which is put aside for repairs.

She has also lived at home for a much larger percentage of the time after University than I have so her savings are much greater.

All this being said, without her input we simply couldn't have afforded a decent mortgage on anything other than a complete hole in the area we were looking at. I wouldn't expect her to give me 50% ownership if I haven't put in 50% of the money for the flat regardless of the means she came by the money.

Life isn't fair but buying a house doesn't have to be unfair if the parties are sensible with the way they do it. As long as you aren't ******* as well then if it all goes wrong you can probably just rent it and keep it as a joint asset or simply sell it.
 
Far too many people on here who think their partner is out to get them. I can't believe it.

It's not thinking their partner is out to get them, it's thinking they may not be with their partner forever and making sure they don't end up losing everything if the worst happens.

It's like making a will. You may get hit by a bus tomorrow - you don't think you ARE going to get hit by a bus tomorrow, but it's still sensible to take some basic precautions just in case.

Besides - in the OP's case, there's already a clear indicator that she's either not committed or not responsible enough to be able to save towards the deposit they agreed on, definitely a cause for concern IMO.
 
personally i dont think buying a house with a girl youve only known for a year is wise, let alone the whole financial side of this thread.
 
Alarm bells everywhere, why cant she save if shes roughly making the same money as you? what on earth is she spending it on? shoes?
Pay 100% for it yourself, have it 100% in your name. Take her on as tenant. If she says no, tell her to save up and give you 50% of the money needed, then 50/50 it.
You need to protect yourself OP, don't let "love" get in the way of protecting yourself.
 
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It's not thinking their partner is out to get them, it's thinking they may not be with their partner forever and making sure they don't end up losing everything if the worst happens.

Alarm bells everywhere.
Pay 100% for it yourself, have it 100% in your name. Take her on as tenant.
You need to protect yourself OP.

See what I mean, though? OK fair enough, the OP may not have been with this girl that long. I was with my girlfriend for 6 years before we moved in together. However, does no one trust anyone?!?!
 
Hi,

Been saving for a house for me and my girlfriend for about 1 year now and I've managed to save nearly all the deposit all by my self!! But my girlfriend hasn't saved anything yet!!

I love her absolute millions but just a little confused has she also really really wants to move out.

What's you thoughts on the situation would you just pay the full deposit or would you make her save up ? hahahaha

If I were you I would put the house half your and her name and half with you parents. The law on this issue isn't black and white and just because the house is in your name doesn't mean jack if down the road your two split up and she can prove she contributed to paying towards household expenditure as she might be entitled some of it as if you were married.
 
See what I mean, though? OK fair enough, the OP may not have been with this girl that long. I was with my girlfriend for 6 years before we moved in together. However, does no one trust anyone?!?!

It isn't about a lack of trust it is simply being sensible and realising you can't know what might happen in future.
 
I don't think anyone is suggesting it is unreasonable to be prudent and and protect yourself if the worst was to happe. Most worrying for me in this situation is that you're not sure where your girlfriends wages are going. How could she possibly not have saved anything?

Edit. Are you already living with her? Who's paying the rent etc?
 
See what I mean, though?

Nope?

OP's GF has already proven that she is unable to save towards the deposit.

Whether that's because she's sneaky and is hiding the money away and hoping to get the OP to pay for everything so she can clean him out, or simply because she's irresponsible and wants the latest handbag/shoes/dress/makeup is irrelevant - she's shown she can't be trusted with money.

This story may have a happy ending.

It may equally have an unhappy ending where she realises she can rely on the OP for money, quits her job, he struggles to pay the mortgage, and loses everything when the house is repossessed.

She might meet someone else and get convinced to try and get half the house.

He might meet someone else and she decides to get revenge by trying to get half the house.

They might just drift apart, and her family convince her to try and get half the house.

In any of the scenarios above, the OP has far more to lose if he's paid the full deposit, so why wouldn't he take measures to protect himself "just in case"?

Life isn't a fairytale where everyone lives happily ever after...
 
Hi,

Been saving for a house for me and my girlfriend for about 1 year now and I've managed to save nearly all the deposit all by my self!! But my girlfriend hasn't saved anything yet!!

I love her absolute millions but just a little confused has she also really really wants to move out.

What's you thoughts on the situation?

She wants to move out, but she wants you to pay for everything & still split things 50/50.
 
Nope?

OP's GF has already proven that she is unable to save towards the deposit.

Whether that's because she's sneaky and is hiding the money away and hoping to get the OP to pay for everything so she can clean him out, or simply because she's irresponsible and wants the latest handbag/shoes/dress/makeup is irrelevant - she's shown she can't be trusted with money.

It could also be that she earns quite a bit less than him and their joint activities together use up almost all of her funds, with him merrily breezing through with change left over for savings, and somehow remaining clueless as to why she can't save.

OP has been a bit vague, so we don't really know.
 
Buy it yourself, make her contribute to all bills and save for some equity in the house.

DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES ALLOW HER ANY EQUITY IN THE HOUSE UNLESS ITS SPLIT EQUALLY OR OTHER SPLIT. THE MONEY SHE SAVES ON RENT SHOULD BE USED AS SAVINGS TO JOIN YOU IN THE HOUSE PURCHASE AT A LATER DATE.

You will get shafted and lose a significant sum if you split. Protect yourself first. Life is not nice when things go sour.
 
It could also be that she earns quite a bit less than him and their joint activities together use up almost all of her funds, with him merrily breezing through with change left over for savings, and somehow remaining clueless as to why she can't save.

OP has been a bit vague, so we don't really know.

This is true...

Although I would hope that the OP would at least know enough about his GF's finances to take into account whether she will actually have the ability to save!

If he doesn't then it's probably just as much in her interest not to buy a property with him :p
 
I bought a flat with my GF of two years a while ago and she put in considerably more of the deposit than I have but we just changed the percentage of ownership to reflect that. We both contribute 50% of the mortgage and 50% of the bills etc so its not really a big deal.

But your are still paying 50 percent of something you don't own 50 percent of.

she's quids in.
 
This is true...

Although I would hope that the OP would at least know enough about his GF's finances to take into account whether she will actually have the ability to save!

If he doesn't then it's probably just as much in her interest not to buy a property with him :p

He's said that he has no idea what she does with her cash, outside of what they do together. None of his business, he thinks.

Should probably have a conversation or two.
 
My best friend recently split with his GF and they bought a house together about 2 years ago.

She put in 5% of the deposit and he paid the rest.

When it came to the house, she ended getting 50% and walked away with £60,000 of his money and he was left with a bigger mortgage which means higher monthly payments too.

Moral of the story, make sure you seek proper legal advice on this as you need to ensure she ends up with nothing (or nearly nothing) if you were to split.
 
My best friend recently split with his GF and they bought a house together about 2 years ago.

She put in 5% of the deposit and he paid the rest.

When it came to the house, she ended getting 50% and walked away with £60,000 of his money and he was left with a bigger mortgage which means higher monthly payments too.

Moral of the story, make sure you seek proper legal advice on this as you need to ensure she ends up with nothing (or nearly nothing) if you were to split.

And she was listed as only having 5% ownership and still walked away with 50%? :eek:
 
My best friend recently split with his GF and they bought a house together about 2 years ago.

She put in 5% of the deposit and he paid the rest.

When it came to the house, she ended getting 50% and walked away with £60,000 of his money and he was left with a bigger mortgage which means higher monthly payments too.

Moral of the story, make sure you seek proper legal advice on this as you need to ensure she ends up with nothing (or nearly nothing) if you were to split.

Yep.

Feminism right there...:mad:
 
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