Well I’m 29 and not getting any younger. Currently living in a rented house in a ok area. It’s close to work (15 miles) and family are a 15 minute drive away. The landlord I hardly hear from apart from the yearly gas and electric check.
Rent is £300 pcm. The house is not in fantastic condition and needs completely redecorating in the back room (2nd lounge) the kitchen needs completely redoing due to the roof leaking and causing it to be quite damp.

Main roof needs Re tiling.

Plan to completely redecorate the back room and replaster the walls. And make it nice again. The bathroom Re floor it. And replace the shower for a newer version.

Probably cost a few grand and get the landlord to hopefully fix the kitchen roof.

Now with this in mind is it actually worth it? Or rent a more expensive but nicer house I have a dog and own a couple of large snakes (boa constrictor and Burmese python) and not a lot of landlords accept pets.

Or the mortgage I’m being offered is a maximum of £52,000 with 10% deposit.
But properties in that price range are similar to current house and need work also.

Is it worth continuing to rent current place or go for a mortgage?

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/buy-rent-calculator.html?_r=0&abt=0002&abg=0
Some actual calculations, skip the stuff not applicable in the UK and see what it says.
Hundreds will be along just like the kids thread saying it makes 100% sense etc. It’s not always true. Do the numbers and see what it comes out as.
An Australian perspective so a slightly different market but some well put points
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-14/renting-or-buying-an-even-money-call-says-reserve-bank/5595814

The bit I don’t get, are you planning to do the work on the house? If you are then the buying side gets more attractive. One of the upsides of renting is zero property maintenance costs. What is available locally for 300/month. No pets is sometimes a blanket thing but it’s worth asking if your dog is non shedding and well behaved and you can get a good reference for your snakes etc.

The other part is do you have the deposit ready? How much are you budgeting to do up houses and how much can you afford when they go wrong.

Plan to do a spruce up rather than a full refurbishment. The kitchen is a abomination though. And not fit for purpose. No ventilation so if the dryers on the whole kitchen becomes wet through. Even with the door and window open. The electrics have damp in them so it sometimes trips out if kettle, dryer, washing machine are on.

The gas fire in the bedroom has been condemned and looks like the original from the 60’s/70’s. The Windows are double glazed but wood framed. So rotting.

For slightly more £150 pcm could have a bigger nicer house. Deposit probably one or two months of saving up.

Have you spoken to the landlord about it?
Lots of those things are the responsibility of landlord, sounds seriously dangerous

The landlord I hardly hear from apart from the yearly gas and electric check.

Do they do anything other than condemn stuff? Regardless of the choice going forward something nicer/safe. Run the numbers through the calculators above and see what they say.

Not yet, the tenancy agreement is in my other halfs name she has lived there since 2006 the landlord owns various properties on the street and next street. However my missus’s ex decided he didn’t like the lamp on the wall and ripped it off Leaving a gaping hole. He played golf indoors (don’t ask I’m equally baffled) so The walls have dents in them.

Missing platerboard in the roof due to shower tray leaking. I’ve resealed the tray and replaced the drainage pipe (also leaking)

They just test the electrical items oven and shower and metre. Gas just the fires and boiler

Tell the landlord politely that if he does not do the needed work you will vacate maybe offer 50 a month more if he does the work. if he does not want to know move on or up.

Snakes! I never did get the snake pet thing.

For slightly more £150 pcm could have a bigger nicer house. Deposit probably one or two months of saving up.

To buy, you mean, or to rent? Sure you can’t muster £6k in one or two months…? That doesn’t sound slightly more either, it’s a 50% increase. If you could afford that why not save for a bigger deposit and buy somewhere nicer?

If that’s for renting, so we’re talking a month or so rent as a deposit, ie you can put away c£400 a month I’d say just get saving and buy somewhere in a year or so. Don’t understand for a second why you would entertain undertaking work on a rented house, unless you could negotiate favourable repayment – free rent or something.

Agreed re. Not Doing the work, not only will you be sinking time and money into something that’s not yours, but if the landlord doesn’t like it or you do something wrong he probably has grounds to get you to pay to change it again. Not saying he would but it’s a bit of a grey area in tenancy I’d have thought.

Get a better landlord.

52k doesn’t get you much. Have you looked at 1st time buyers schemes and shared equity schemes?

http://m.millermetcalfe.co.uk/residential/property/37140452

This is the only thing within Budget in the area not far from my family (round the corner) don’t understand really the shared ownership schemes.

Shared ownership means that you only buy part of the house and rent the other part. It reduces the size of the loan so allows you to get buy with a lower deposit/income.

If you want to buy a house buy one that you want to live in, the more often you move the more it costs you (fees etc.)

Interest rates have been at historical lows for some time now and whilst I am not by any means in the know, there is possibly only one way they can go. Which would be up. So, what is affordable now, might be completely unaffordable even with a small increase in rates. Okay, fixed rates are available I’m sure, but a mortgage is for life, not just for Christmas.

Mr teamhurtmore on here appears to be more savvy on this, so maybe he can provide some better crystal ball type gazing than I can.

It sounds like you are living in a slum. You should be dragging your landlord through the courts to rectify the faults not offering to fit him a new kitchen.

The prospect of paying rent until you die is madness. Once you have paid your mortgage off the property is yours. It’s an asset; and more than that it’s somewhere to live rent free; until you turn up your toes. Then you can leave it to the local snakes home or, god forbid, your family.

You have found a property that looks OK, under budget, in your area. Why are you not looking around it today?

It might be in Breightmet but at least you are not breathing fungal spores from the damp all the time.

Anyway, what happened to moving in with your mother?

The prospect of paying rent until you die is madness. Once you have paid your mortgage off the property is yours. It’s an asset; and more than that it’s somewhere to live rent free; until you turn up your toes. Then you can leave it to the local snakes home or, god forbid, your family.

Is, isn’t, can be, could be…. have a read of the 2 links in my first reply for some serious thought on the issues. It also depends on what the value of the asset is compared to the amount you have spent to acquire it. Depending on the price, length of time you will live there, level of extra spending (especially as the houses to buy all need work) and more mean it’s not that simple. The rate of house price growth will have to reflect earnings and some of the historic growth may not be possible in future.

Hmmm. Some may take issue with the ‘asset’ philosophy of owning your own property.

Putting the onus of responsibility of ongoing maintenance that is required to maintain the ‘asset’ to one side ( that onus being the mortgage payer, not provider), how many people who are looking to get onto the ladder are aware of the relatively short life expectancy of new builds? At the moment, there is no requirement or regulation to provide any life expectancy. It used to be 60 years, but that has recently been removed from the regulations and some developers are asking for a reduction to a 50 year lifespan. Which suddenly makes the asset as a long term investment a little less appealing, especially if one has to realise the capital in later years to fund care costs, only to find prospective purchasers are unable to get a loan as the providers are not willing to lend for something that’s out of date.

Here’s a relevant article, albeit dated from 2012, but as far as I’m aware, the situation remains unresolved. Ticking time bomb for our kids springs to mind.
http://www.building4change.com/article.jsp?id=1497#.VYZ8EHCkqrU

29.. BUY BUY BUY.. moneys never been cheaper pile everything you earn into it and pay it of sharpish.. mortgage free is Sooooo much easier way to live..

Front of the house and bedrooms are fine. Just need a spruce up. However the kitchen is a disgrace.
I’m thinking would I be better going for 50% shared ownership or buying a property in budget and doing that up.

At this point I would suggest speaking to an independant financial advisor about shared/full ownership and look at the details of what shared means – who is responsible for what, if the boiler fails who pays? Also look at the rules for selling if you want to move.

29.. BUY BUY BUY.. moneys never been cheaper pile everything you earn into it and pay it of sharpish.. mortgage free is Sooooo much easier way to live..

Only if it costs you the right amount, the property retains value and as slackalice points out is usable or at least sellable when you need to get your money out. This isn’t a buying good or bad thing it’s a assess your own situation before committing to something that can either help you or trap you.

GET OUT OF THAT PLACE

It sounds lie a dump. You shouldn’t be required to do anything other than keep the place clean, change lightbulbs and report any faults to the landlord and accommodate any minor repairs and required yearly checked.

£300 is incredibly cheap so I am guessing you are in an area with cheap housing (wish we were and just about to post a question from the other end of the spectrum) so it may make sense to buy.

Buy if: your job is stable and you want to stay in the area, buying is not much more than renting and you have the deposit spare.

Rent if: you are not sure what you will be doing in a year or three. If buying will mean you are struggling and cannot afford to really live how you want to (buy bikes, go on holiday etc).

You could consider buying and renting a room out to someone. Doesnt suit everyone but can do. Bare in mind you will have some additional costs to this but buy a place you can afford without someone else there and then enjoy the income they bring which allows you to do stuff.

Yeah your right it is a dump. Just found loads of plug sockets round the house don’t work.
I’d Luke to buy but I don’t think £45,000 is gonna get much in the Darwen/Bolton area.

Not read everything above, but have you though about offering to buy the place you are currently renting? If the area is convenient and nice enough to rent, there’s no harm in asking. If you start a campaign of complaining about all the stuff that wants repairing for the next couple of months, the landlord might just think it’s easier to sell.

My opinion is that it’s better to pay your own mortgage than someone elses.

Yeah your right it is a dump. Just found loads of plug sockets round the house don’t work.
I’d Luke to buy but I don’t think £45,000 is gonna get much in the Darwen/Bolton area.

On such a low wage buying could easily leave you broke (and more). ie you’re not earning enough if you have a problem that needs fixing.

Better to just get the house sorted – speak with your landlord for a ‘plan’ for HIM to spend the money.

Why don’t you just find somewhere else to rent?

Personally I wouldn’t be spending anything on a rented house apart from personal decor but on the other hand, £300 a month AND you can keep dogs & snakes!!

I am of the opinion that renting is dead money and as such recommend people try to avoid it. however Its an evil necessary.

you through a letting agent?

I am of the opinion that renting is dead money and as such recommend people try to avoid it. however Its an evil necessary.

Rent is no more dead money than interest – it’s all a ‘cost’.

£300 a month will be hard to beat on a mortgage, unless you take out an uber long 35-40 year.

If your planning on moving in the future what are current rents like for somewhere decent? It usually transpires its on par with a mortgage then, with the benefits mortgage paid in the future so a massive outgoing not needed each month.

For the next 25 years you can either rent or pay a mortgage.
After that you can continue to rent, or have a house you own.
The sooner you start paying, the sooner you stop. It’s as simple as that. 🙂

Sounds incredibly wrong but I will be left with my mum’s house which is now mortgage free. Rent for a decent house in current area probably £50-100 extra pcm for the area family live in around £450 for a two bed to £550 for a three bed.

£44,000 mortgage £198 a month with santander

I took out a mortgage of £53,000 back in 2001. Interest rates were about 5% and my monthly payment was £325 (on a repayment mortgage).

Go rent somewhere decent until your old mum departs.

No offence, but you cant count on your mums house. If she gets ill or needs home care or to go into residential the cost of her house will be eaten up in only months.

It also depends on how old she is now and how her health is. If say she is only in her 70’s and fairly healthy she could easily live into her 90’s and the number of people living to 100 is rapidly increasing. The side effect of that is not ‘how long until I inherit’ but more along the lines of what social care right wing governments in this country will continue to provide – at the moment doctors, dentists, hospitals are low cost to the individual and there are financial allowances for the elderly who need home care etc. All that could be gone totally within 10 years given how this government is heading and that people seem keen to vote them in (next election too?), so the costs will have to come from her savings, the value of her house or from her family supporting her (plus their own healthcare bills in addition). People are desperately poor in America for such reasons.

£44,000 mortgage £198 a month with santander

and that only gets you half a house and a rental bill for the other half.

Take a look round some rental places, give yourself 6 – 12 months in something livable to make a real decision.

Gonna look into this shared ownership. Looks like mortgage payments of £198 with santander with £7000 deposit. Plus £176 rent for other have plus £12.56 service charge per month.

Current monthly income is £1900 with £489 outgoings ( credit cards, mobile, loan and half of food bill) her monthly wage £1600 and £750 outgoings (loan, rent, council tax, mobile and half food) we split council tax between us I pay one month she pays the other month and is Band A £85 per month.

£300 a month will be hard to beat on a mortgage, unless you take out an uber long 35-40 year.

I’m on £465pcm on SVR with an original 25y mortgage of £87500 5 years ago, £300 wouldn’t be that hard.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/mortgage-rate-calculator
Quick checker, see the impact of interest rates doubling etc.
Not an expert but also check which mortgage products are available on part ownership. Whats your liability for repairs and upkeep on the house? Does the part ownership side allow snakes?

From what I gather yes, mates in a similar property part owned and owns big snakes. And also rats to feed the things.
I’d imagine like rent you’d be liable for pet related damage. But snakes on the whole make no mess.

I’d imagine like rent you’d be liable for pet related damage

Surely it would simply come out of your share of the proceeds once sold?

Surely it would simply come out of your share of the proceeds once sold?

Always best to find out first then you know where you stand. Otherwise you have another thread on here complaining about things at the end.

I wouldn’t spend anything on the rental. If you are considering buying, put the £1k of decorating/tarting up towards the deposit, it will get you £5k in additional mortgage assuming the loan to value is 20%.

Your current place sounds like its in pretty more condition so as long as you buy something in slightly better nick you don’t necessarily need to do much work to it.

Central heating, a water tight roof and windows in a good state of repair are the big ticket items you want to ensure are already sorted if you buy.