Saturday 10 October 2009

To Buy or not to Buy

I'm hit with a little quandary today.
I have been given the opportunity to BUY a house. Apart from all the question marks hanging over whether i will actually like this new job or not. The offer is a good one.
A woman friend of my Mum is selling her mothers house. She died earlier in the year and wants rid of it because she her self has moved abroad. It's been on sale since February now and she has lowered and lowered the price with no success. It's in Halifax and as she knows my mum so i'm first in the queue if i want it and she is prepared to sell to me at a stupid price because i'm a first time buyer and there would be no chain.

It would probably skin me to the bone to do it and i'll be taking my bills to the extreme, but on the other hand This is a massive offer too good to miss on a proper house and will be something that is mine. Before you start thinking why buy when you can rent ?. This place has a proper garage and garden, two bedrooms and a box room office. It's more of a family home really and far too big for me. But the price is a stunner and it's only because she is a friend of my mums and she is looking for a quick sale. "Never mind buying it to live in, this would be worth buying just to sell on" said my dad. I need to decide this week if i want it though so she can go back to France.
At the moment it's the only reason she comes back to the UK, to sort out her dead mothers estate.
I spoke to my fabulous new boss and asked him if i could arrange a long lunch one day next week to sort this out and he told me to arrange something for Monday. Which considering i haven't even started yet and i'm already asking for time off is a good omen for me, if not him.

This is all far to sensible for me, but i need to at least look into it. I have an appointment with a pensions advisor on Monday and he may say i have no chance of borrowing that kind of dosh, but if he does i'm still unsure whether i want to do this or not.
Have lots of money and live in rent. Or have no money and buy what looks like a lovely house at a snip ?.
Things are moving too fast, but it's all exciting i suppose. For me anyway, even if it's not for you.
Don't worry i'll get back to the descriptions of drunken sex again when i get chance LOL

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

There are total and obvious reasons why you should bust a gut and pick up a bargain.

Your dad is of course right - although I would have thought (without knowing you really or the house or the area of Halifax it's in) that living in it, waiting for house prices to go back up (which they will) and then selling it on if you want to move elsewhere, was better than getting it now and trying to sell it on because at the moment it won't sell - that's the one thing we do know.

The other side of the coin is that once you are on the property er, ladder - you should NEVER leave it because you'll almost certainly spend any money you've gained and then have to start over with a deposit when you're ready to try again.

I couldn't sell a house in Todmorden when I just didn't want it any longer - and lost heavily on the eventual disposal.

My only real advice, I guess, is not to do what I did then!

Houses are really like dogs - not just for Christmas.

Anonymous said...

I spent nearly all my life paying a (controlled) rent until Westminster Council cancelled an agreement with the trust owners, supposed to be till 2030. Result - takeover by American investors, rent up 300%! Had to get out (self employed) and lucky to find a cheap place on the Mediterrnanean (shed tears for me!) before prices went crazy here. Buying late in life is not easy but I was lucky. Renting seemed very attractive at the time, because it was so cheap. But if I'd stayed I'd be f----d by now. So, Michael, think of rent as money thrown out of the window, and if you have a chance to buy - with your dad's support - I'd say go for it. As he says, it's an asset - you will at least get your money back, if you sell for what you paid (plus loan interest of course). You'll never recover rent paid. Good luck, take advice and let's know what you decide. Take care - Peter-D (in the south of France!)

samadidris said...

I see no downside to this.

(a) you can rent out the extra rooms, and use that to reduce your monthly payment

(b) the price is way below market (like what you said). if things get really bad (jobless for long long time), you can easily sell the house on the market. since it's below market price.



Go for it.

Michael said...

As alway i'm ever grateful for your advice. I suppose it's a no brainer really isn't it ?. And if i'm honest i sort of knew i would be mad not to. But its helpful to get opinion from elseware to confirm or deny your own.

Micky
I like the dog analogy, i'll be honest, doing the gardening could be a house equivelet of having to take if for a walk when you don't feel like it. I'm crap at gardening.

Peter D
I have also fallen foul of rent increases so i understand that part only to well. i wonder how much i have paid in rent since i lived here ?. No..i'd better not think of that one

Samadidris
Rent out extra rooms!!!!! now that sounds an interested one i never thought of that !.
Some sexy guy who might just have to pay in other ways if he can't stump up the rent one month.
Sorry my fantasys running away with me again.
But you do have a point. :-)

naturgesetz said...

If the house is in good shape and won't need you to pay for a lot of repairs, it sounds like a good deal.

Anonymous said...

Get a full structural survey.

Make the cute tenants pay up front in cash.

I.m guessing Halifax ain't at the top of the proerty ladder but you know it's not selling now. So see it as a medium term investment, say 5 years, that should give you an decent return on your capital and enable you to move elsewhere if you wished.

Michael said...

Naturgesetz

The only thing that seems a bit dodgy is the central heating. It's about 25 years old. The kitchen is a bit old fashioned looking but my dad says that is just cosmetic.

Kinkynik

I will do that. Any cute guy who wants to live with me will require a structural survey. I'll be the one doing the survey and i may need to check the structure is rigid enough ;-)
I think you are right about seeing it as an investment.