Best option

My decision won't be based on this thread, but some help with ideas would be appreciated.

DH and I have sold our house, got a decent price for it. But we have nowhere to go.

Option 1: move into rented for a year and see if we find anything we like in that time -rent indefinately, don't move until we have a dream house. Advantage is we're ready to move, disadvantage is that there will be a LOT of stuff in storage indefinately, including most of my books. Yes, I know I'm getting an e-reader but it isn't the same: I like the look of a booky house. And there are rental inspections every few months: I am very busy at work.

Option 2: There is a little house in the right area, bit larger than what we have now but with one more bedroom, end of terrace with attached garage and driveway parking for two cars. Not our dream house, but we aren't able to afford that anyway. Doesn't need much doing to it either. We can happily live there for a few years, have another child, have children share a room even (smallest room would fit Lieb's new bed and a toddler bed - or at a push a double bed and nothing else, but still OK for the odd guest), then move after a few years when we find our dream home. Advantage is that paying a mortgage will help our deposit, it isn't overly expensive, we'll be OK for payments if rates go up, disadvantage is that we have to sell again.

What would you do and why? (I have a feeling DH and I prefer different options, so backup for my arguments will be appreciated!)

I would personally go for option #2 as I have definitely learnt my lesson with renting!! Based on my experience, the instability it brings (and the fact rent can increase every time you renew your contract anyway) made renting the worst thing we ever did. We said we wanted long term rent (as wanted to relax with more $ and slowly save for a home) and we were put under that impression but they ended up selling on us only months later and it was AWFUL! And they can do that at anytime and you are forced to share your space with people for open home inspections etc - it really does not feel like a home IMHO in so many ways. We were lucky enough to have our house finished building a year later but it will definitely be the first and last time my family will be renting!

If you can own your own home i would say go with that option for sure - at least your money is going towards owning your home and not in someone else's pocket and you just cannot beat that feeling of security just knowing that it's YOURS and no one can take it away from you. Plus house prices are only going up so more than likely when you go to sell in a few years you would make money anyway!

Good luck with your decision and I hope I have helped in some way :)


Sent from my iPhone more than likely while I should be doing something else

Personally, I would never rent but that is just me. I refuse to pay somebody elses mortgage off for them, when I could pay off my own & have an asset / equity in the end. I know when we were looking to buy (took us about 18 mths to find something) that we got about 80% of what was on our dream list/wish list. Unless we were to build, we weren't going to get everything we wanted, so your option two is what suits me personally. Gl with your decision

I'm not sure if the situation is the same in the UK but there are costs incurred in Aus for selling (agents fees) and buying (stamp duty). I would factor those into the equation too.

I know what you mean about a booky house. I thought I couldn't live without my books (I've transported some of them halfway around the world) but they are currently sitting in my garage and I haven't missed them one bit.

Thanks ladies. Just FYI, where we are living property prices may not continue ot rise and indeed may fall due to what local and global markets are doing. But it would probably be a short-term fall, so we could weather it out over a few years if we bought. But the property may not go up in value.

Location-wise it is in a nice area, but close to a leisure centre so traffic-wise it may not be great.

Hi im a renter, but would love to own oneday. I would go with the renting until your happy with the house that you want to buy. Its a huge investment and shouldnt be jumped into in my opinion of corse lol. The house inspections are only to check that your not destroying the place untidy is fine. If I was you maybe look at it money wise, if you can rent and do storage and live without dipping into your new funds from selling the house, then i would do it and rent. On the otherhand if you had too dip into the money for buying then why not invest it into buying a house and sell again when you feel its right. Food for thought

OK, thought about this some more and I think I would rent (as long as you're pretty sure you could get somewhere you liked). Buying and selling are a pain. We're in a house that's very nice but is not our dream house either and I'm getting a bit itchy after only having been here just over a year. So now we're in a situation where I'm constantly thinking of ways to 'fix' the house versus buying somewhere else. I guess it depends on how much of a compromise the house(s) you would buy would be. For us, the move has been worthwhile - big house, lots of land versus the compromise of the house not having great views of the garden because it's basically orientated all wrong on the block.

I think I just contradicted myself :)

If in doubt, just go with your heart. There's no right or wrong answer. If you see a rental you really like, do that. If you see a house for sale that you really like, buy it and figure the rest out later :)

Can you not take your books with you in a rental? We rent and the bookshelves are overloaded with books.

I'd draw up a list of pros and cons including costs. There are costs to both options. I think moving is a PITA but sometimes you have to take the short-term step before finding your dream home. Stamp duty is a loathesome waste of money though I realise the rules are different in the UK.

I certainly wouldnt make the decision based on the gamble that property prices will rise or fall.

I'd stick the proceeds from the sale of your house in a high interest bank account and use the interest to pay the rent while you find your dream home. I wouldn't buy a house you didn't absolutely 'love' just to avoid renting, especially when you could very well be earning enough interest to pay the rent comfortably anyway.

Thanks for the thoughts ladies.

Interest rates are pretty much at 0%, so even with £40k in the bank, that won't cover £1200 a month rent. We have a high interest rate account and again, even that won't cover it (have looked into this already). And we've calculated if we buy this house on a 20-yr mortgage, we will pay less than the rent each month right now. (A 15-year mortgage would be a little more, but worth it in the long run, as we'd be living there for about 5 years.) However, I haven't looked into overseas accounts, as I know there are other countries where it would be affordable to do this.

We don't love this house, but it is nice and would last us for 5 years until we move again. We'd have a larger deposit by buying. Houses in this area are not difficult to sell. (Major factor for DH.) I will probably be itchy after 3 years, but it will depend on the markets. We are not expecting a rise in house value and are prepared for it to drop too, but should recover over a few years.

If we rent, even for 2-3 years, DH will not allow unpacking of frivolities, including most of my books and some of his tools. I have selected about 100 or so books that are not being packed yet (quite a few DS's) and will be unpacked as soon as we move, no matter where. The other books will either stay in storage or be unpacked a couple of months after we've settled into a bought house. We rented for a year at the start of our marriage and packing everything up was a hassle, not something we'd want to repeat.

Anyway, I was inclined towards buying anyway. DH isn't fussed, but will look at it in preference to renting if the price is right, but isn't easy to please. So let's see what happens now.

perseonally if my house was up for sale i wouda been looking at houses along time ago.

as for you're options it all depends on how long it takes for you to find a house you like.

if you wanted to rent you could look at maybe a short term lease. There arent rental inspections every few months, you will find most agents dont even do them. or you may have one after the first 3 months.

dont buy a house just because its convinent for you right now. will you want to live there in 5 years? will you and you're family fit into this house?

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perseonally if my house was up for sale i wouda been looking at houses along time ago.

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We did, found one, offer in. The afternoon we sold ours, that was the morning the house was withdrawn for sale. That's why we're not in a fun place now, and looking at compromising in a hurry or renting.

thats pretty rude of the other agent/owners.

i guess whatever is best for you'r situation. how long do you plan on staying in ur next house? is for the next 40years of you're life or just for now.

renting can be a good option if you have a time limit

You could buy and rent.
I'm not sure how much equity you have in your home but if you buy something cheaper outright and then rent it out you can use the rent towards paying most of your own rent.