£8000 - what to do? - Looking to first time buy a house
Discussion
First off - sorry for another one of these threads but I am kind of stuck so need some advice.
I have come into some money so plan to pay off all my debt. Once paid off I should have about £8000 spare. My and my partner currently rent and was planning to use some extra spare cash we will have renting a better place (our landlord is a bit of a let down when it comes to maintenance).
We made some enquiries with an estate agent, who suggested it would be better if we went into a help to buy scheme as the mortgage would be the same. With our current out-goings we could get an estimated mortgage of £130k. The better houses in the area priced between £170k - £195k. When adding up the estate agent/solicitors fees it makes us about £1500 short then there's a new bed we need to get, removal fee's, new sofa's as the ones we have are old and need replacing.
The current wages situation is this. I am on about £17.5k per year but I will be due a pay rise next month upto 3% plus a further pay review is due but with no date yet. My girlfriend works 2 days a week part time as we have a 1 year old son. She gets about £6k at the moment but in 2 years time will be able to do another 16 hours per week so that will take her upto £12k again before tax.
I have thought of a few ideas on what we can do. Some a great, some are not so..
1. Stay where we are. Pay current rent £575.00 per month and do things up at our own expense - fit new fences in the garden, tidy up the garden, decorate, replace flooring/carpets, sort mould out, get new furniture and spend the money.
2. Do the same as the above but put the £8k in a savings account then spend the money we save on doing the place up.
3. Spend upto £700 per month renting a bigger/better place then spending some of the money on things we need such as furniture etc.
4. Try and get on the property ladder now and get into some debt paying the fees' - however the types of property going for £130k are not that great.
5. Stick £8k into a savings account for 3 years and try and stick some more money in there to raise the funds. Stay where we currently live and try and do the essentials needed to the flat in the meantime. Once the 3 years are up try and get a 95% mortgage on a place then.
There are some issues with the above points. Our current landlord may decide to sell up at any time leaving us losing out if we have spent money making it better. House prices may increase so much we may not be able to get anything much better - or may be even worse. We are based in Bexhill so being in the South East is a bit more pricey.
Sorry for the long winded threat but any help, tips or points will be much appreciated.
I have come into some money so plan to pay off all my debt. Once paid off I should have about £8000 spare. My and my partner currently rent and was planning to use some extra spare cash we will have renting a better place (our landlord is a bit of a let down when it comes to maintenance).
We made some enquiries with an estate agent, who suggested it would be better if we went into a help to buy scheme as the mortgage would be the same. With our current out-goings we could get an estimated mortgage of £130k. The better houses in the area priced between £170k - £195k. When adding up the estate agent/solicitors fees it makes us about £1500 short then there's a new bed we need to get, removal fee's, new sofa's as the ones we have are old and need replacing.
The current wages situation is this. I am on about £17.5k per year but I will be due a pay rise next month upto 3% plus a further pay review is due but with no date yet. My girlfriend works 2 days a week part time as we have a 1 year old son. She gets about £6k at the moment but in 2 years time will be able to do another 16 hours per week so that will take her upto £12k again before tax.
I have thought of a few ideas on what we can do. Some a great, some are not so..
1. Stay where we are. Pay current rent £575.00 per month and do things up at our own expense - fit new fences in the garden, tidy up the garden, decorate, replace flooring/carpets, sort mould out, get new furniture and spend the money.
2. Do the same as the above but put the £8k in a savings account then spend the money we save on doing the place up.
3. Spend upto £700 per month renting a bigger/better place then spending some of the money on things we need such as furniture etc.
4. Try and get on the property ladder now and get into some debt paying the fees' - however the types of property going for £130k are not that great.
5. Stick £8k into a savings account for 3 years and try and stick some more money in there to raise the funds. Stay where we currently live and try and do the essentials needed to the flat in the meantime. Once the 3 years are up try and get a 95% mortgage on a place then.
There are some issues with the above points. Our current landlord may decide to sell up at any time leaving us losing out if we have spent money making it better. House prices may increase so much we may not be able to get anything much better - or may be even worse. We are based in Bexhill so being in the South East is a bit more pricey.
Sorry for the long winded threat but any help, tips or points will be much appreciated.
I'm a Mortgage Broker, so my view may be slightly influenced, but if I was you I wouldn't spend a penny on your current rental property!!!
How likely is it that you will be able to get an £8k deposit again?? I would be protecting that money as much as possible and doing something productive with it by getting onto the property ladder. I'd rather a slightly lesser property that was my own, than spending even more in rent.
The levels of debt you mention ( a few beds and sofa etc) are relatively small considering the benefit of owning your own property.
How likely is it that you will be able to get an £8k deposit again?? I would be protecting that money as much as possible and doing something productive with it by getting onto the property ladder. I'd rather a slightly lesser property that was my own, than spending even more in rent.
The levels of debt you mention ( a few beds and sofa etc) are relatively small considering the benefit of owning your own property.
Property "ladder" and thats the key word here.
And as ive been telling my step daughter and her boyfriend who think they need £50.000 deposit befire they can look.
Sarnie is your man and could tell you figures im sure on the cost of such a mortgage against what you pay in rental.
This is the scenario with Mrs400's kids.
Daughter and boyfriend. Pays £585 a month on 2 bed semi. Reasonable new build circa 7 to 10 yrs old.
Son and girlfriend. Bought a 3 bed semi again newish estate, mortgage is £600 iirc.
My point being everyone in the family said if you can genuinely afford it buy rather than rent.
My 2p
And as ive been telling my step daughter and her boyfriend who think they need £50.000 deposit befire they can look.
Sarnie is your man and could tell you figures im sure on the cost of such a mortgage against what you pay in rental.
This is the scenario with Mrs400's kids.
Daughter and boyfriend. Pays £585 a month on 2 bed semi. Reasonable new build circa 7 to 10 yrs old.
Son and girlfriend. Bought a 3 bed semi again newish estate, mortgage is £600 iirc.
My point being everyone in the family said if you can genuinely afford it buy rather than rent.
My 2p
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