# 1st home (buy or rent)



## Krash (May 9, 2012)

Ok so the time has come for me to fly the nest, and move in together with the other half (also currently living with parents)
But im unsure on weather its best to buy or rent then buy a few years later, living togethers not a problem and we have a good understanding of each others needs, 
Roughly between us we have £45kpa (Primary school teacher, Baker) so if we were buying we'd be looking at something roughly just under £100k depending on the rates offered 
But with renting if it all goes **** up its alot easier just to return to the nest, plus it gives us a better idea on making the finances work with out the bank taking the house due to our inexperience if it doesn't, also if we have problems with the house it doesn't come out of our pockets 

What are peoples suggestions and experiences


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## VW STEVE. (Mar 18, 2012)

Krash said:


> Ok so the time has come for me to fly the nest, and move in together with the other half (also currently living with parents)
> But im unsure on weather its best to buy or rent then buy a few years later, living togethers not a problem and we have a good understanding of each others needs,
> Roughly between us we have £45kpa (Primary school teacher, Baker) so if we were buying we'd be looking at something roughly just under £100k depending on the rates offered
> But with renting if it all goes **** up its alot easier just to return to the nest, plus it gives us a better idea on making the finances work with out the bank taking the house due to our inexperience if it doesn't, also if we have problems with the house it doesn't come out of our pockets
> ...


.............if you can afford it & find the right house buy it. Renting is just paying the owners morgtage.:thumb: Remember if you buy every payment made is one closer to being morgtage free!!!!!!!.


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## rob750 (Apr 17, 2006)

Buy Buy !


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## R7KY D (Feb 16, 2010)

If you find the right house where you will both be happy - Buy it 

If you cannot find that house at the moment then rent for several months until you can 

If you can both stay with your parents (i'm assuming) then wait until you find the house you want to buy 

IMO the sooner/younger you get on the ladder the better


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

If you rent that will take a lot of your cash up and make it difficult to save any money to buy later. 

Renting does seem easy but once you start, unless you've put a few thousand aside to let for a year to see how your relationship works on top of buying a house, you might get caught in a dangerous cycle.


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## cbr6fs (Aug 15, 2011)

Although it makes more sense long term to buy, my advice is to rent for the first year.

I know it might seem a bit negative, but buying a house together before you've both had a chance to live together in my experience is very very risky.

Sure you could sell again, the problem is in the short term there is a chance you won't make back what you paid for the house, especially if you need a quick sale.

So i would rent, spend a year together and see how it goes.

Only other advice i will give is don't fall into the trap of buying everything you need on finance.
I've seen time and time again couples crumble because of the stress of having no money, in nearly all these instances the couple were struggling month by month but their houses were kitted out with brand new widescreen TV's, washers, driers, dishwashers, brand new settee's etc etc.

It looks great in the shop getting all the house kitted out, even more so when it's 0% finance, but it does all add up and hangs around your neck like a lead weight.

I don't mean to lecture, but it's just i've seen this time and time again and although the couples no doubt had problems, the money problems just magnified everything.


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## S63 (Jan 5, 2007)

cbr6fs said:


> Although it makes more sense long term to buy, my advice is to rent for the first year.
> 
> I know it might seem a bit negative, but buying a house together before you've both had a chance to live together in my experience is very very risky.
> 
> ...


Excellent advice:thumb:


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## Matt. (Aug 26, 2007)

Kerr said:


> If you rent that will take a lot of your cash up and make it difficult to save any money to buy later.
> 
> Renting does seem easy but once you start, unless you've put a few thousand aside to let for a year to see how your relationship works on top of buying a house, you might get caught in a dangerous cycle.


That cycle is very hard to get out of! Trust me, I'm in it now.


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## Alzak (Aug 31, 2010)

I would say stay with parents for another year save as much as You can for good deposit and buy house then as if You have 20% + You have big chance to get great deal from lenders


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## cobra (Feb 18, 2012)

save up as much deposit as you can, you will achieve a much better rate on your mortgage. 25% will open up much better deals.

dont forget the purchase price is just the start - stamp duty, insurance, legal fees, any maintenance work, appliances etc, furniture etc etc. I totally agree with cbr6fs re credit!

If you can/want to stay at home do so, otherwise get a cheap flat/house to rent for a year or two, you can then get furniture together and save up for deposit etc.

BTW, every penny counts save everything you can! it adds up quickly!

best of luck!


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## steveo3002 (Jan 30, 2006)

id stay put and save up as much as you can ...try putting aside what the rent and bills will be and see how you cope

then buy something if you can , at least its your's and wont get kicked out with a bit of notice etc


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## Gruffs (Dec 10, 2007)

If it's really time to move out, depending on the size of your rent/income ratio, this is what i would do;

Seriously look around at all the houses in the area you live and work out if you really NEED to buy there. If you do, please, do not buy a house you want to move from (i.e. a small flat).

There just is not the money in it any more. unless you can afford to pay the mortgage on that and rent it out then pay the mortgage on the bigger property. All you will be doing is paying the interest on that Mortgage and not accruing any equity unless you significantly over pay.

If you have to move out, My advice would be to rent the SMALLEST property you possibly can and save like hell for a deposit on a house you can have a family in and only need to move from should you choose to do so.

There is a housing ladder, but at this moment in time the rungs are a long way apart. 

Please don't buy a small property, you won't 'make' any significant amount of money on it as there are thousands being thrown up. It will also be difficult to sell with construction companies offering incentives to buy theirs. 

Hell, live in a static caravan site if you really want to keep it cheap. Please don't be sucked into the 'buying is best' mentality. It's only best if what you are buying is a good investment.

Which brings me onto new builds. IMO, they will be falling down 5 years after you've paid off the mortgage. Rendering them worthless. There will be a lot of people very angry in the next 20-30 years. If I were buying again, i would be looking at 15 years old minimum. And visiting the place after 5 pm to see where everyone parks their cars. How they get away with one space for a family home is incredible. And robbing room space for ensuites. Who wants to take a **** in their bedroom?

Anyway, I'm ranting now.

Good luck with your adventure with your better half. It's the best thing I ever did and we have a riot together. I hope you have as much fun. At the end of the day, you are building a future. Don't lose sight of that and you will be fine.

Like any investment, choose wisely before you invest.


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## kh904 (Dec 18, 2006)

I totally agree 100% with Gruffs! 

Maybe visit the area at various hours especially friday & saturday. You'll tend to see what sort of people/trouble makers hang around the street that you won't necessarily see during the day & the general state of the area. Also the parking situation as already mentioned.

I also agree about waiting to find the right property for the long term rather than a stepping stone. 
New builds that i've seen are not very good imo, not very durable in the long term from what i can tell. They may look good at first but in effect the layouts and practicalities 
are very poor. The living rooms tend to be too small, and the bedrooms aren't very spacious once you put in decent wardrobes etc.
It just seems that property developers buy what land they can and build as many flats/houses are possible to maximise profit without any foresight.


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## Gruffs (Dec 10, 2007)

If they had any foresight, They would build less houses, to a higher standard, create bigger plots with realistically sized garages and a good Community shape to the layout. 

Then they could charge more for them and get a reputation as a great builder. It would be feasible to have queues at the salesroom door for these kind of properties. 

If i ever get to the point of having land to do it, I would. 

I'd even rent the houses that didn't sell to young families at market rate but put away 10% of that as a leaving gift to them if they look after my property well and even improve it by gardening etc. It would encourage better tenants and reward the best ones.


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## Spoony (May 28, 2007)

Having the same thoughts myself but its looking like I'll rent for a year. In a years time I should be on a better salary as would the other half and the car loan will be paid so going for a mortgage would be better then. 

Plus we don't know if we will like living together, I'd imagine we would but might be harder than we think. Unlike the lucky ones I know I am not in the position that I have a good few k stashed away for a deposit! My thoughts are that I pay digs anyways do this will cover the other half of my rent, then it's just bills and such.

My fuel bill will come down as we will be in the same address, less driving for lifts etc. I also believe with bills to pay we will become better at saving (odd sounding I know) as with little bills I tend to spend my money as I enjoy buying the things I want lol!


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## Beancounter (Aug 31, 2006)

Gruffs said:


> I'd even rent the houses that didn't sell to young families at market rate but put away 10% of that as a leaving gift to them if they look after my property well and even improve it by gardening etc. It would encourage better tenants and reward the best ones.


Hmmm...I like that idea :thumb:


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## Gruffs (Dec 10, 2007)

If i am wealthy, £50pm is peanuts. But to those struggling to save, If they rented for 3 years and cared enough about where they live enough to keep it in good condition, then the £1800 they would get back would be a lovely reward and it would make me feel better.

Those that cost me money would just lose out as they obviously don't give a stuff about the conditions they live in or other people's property.

There would also be NO letting agents involved. Thieving winkers.

Of course, it's all hypothetical.


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## derbigofast (Dec 6, 2011)

buy a morgage is often cheaper than rent and you have something to show for the thousands of pounds youll spend at the end renting is expense for nothing at the end of it


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## D.Taylor R26 (Feb 5, 2012)

I'd avoid renting if possable personally due to the cost of it all. 

My personal choice was to live at home for 2 years over renting and saving enough in that time for a 20% deposit with cash left to spend on the house. 

I'm now spending £300 LESS on the morgage that it would have cost renting. 

That's just how I did it personally and obv this only applies if you know your going to be able to live together! 

This also gave us both time to make sure our credit rating was in good shape and what they would lend etc etc. Its a lot more complexed that just turning up with the money these days.


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

Krash said:


> living togethers not a problem and we have a good understanding of each others needs,


If you haven't lived with a women, or indeed this woman before, DO NOT believe this.

You have no idea of each other until you are under the one roof.

I would always suggest to anyone to rent first, epecially if it's YOUR first place, and your first place as a COUPLE.

if things don't work out, you walk away from a rented house and the girl...

If things do work out, then you can really start to plan your life together....but please, don't think for a second you know all about her if you haven't lived long term with someone... (2 weeks while someone's parents are away is not long term)

:thumb:

just to add... if it was just you, my advice would be to buy ASAP.... the extra caution is just for the "couple" aspect......


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## alan hanson (May 21, 2008)

sod it isnt it best nowadays to give up work have 10 kids and claim 45k with a free house?

im with sataying at home and saving, guess getting on depends on you and how long you have been together?


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