Owning your own home

A colleague just told me yesterday why don't I look at 30, 35 years + mortgage to make my monthly repayment a bit easier... I truly did not know how to respond... As like you said, my potential monthly repayment would be less or about the same as the rent I am paying now...

Thanks for all the advice. Sliding doors, hanging space...Matrix coats. There is a lot I need to consider.

That's not actually a bad idea if available, and gambling on London prices.

In 3/5 years time the property value goes up, you get a much better deal, you shift down to 20/25 years.

It's a bit crap compared to what you want but it's probably better than renting.

I have been playing with various mortgage calculators online and at the moment, I could comfortably afford a 25, or even a 20 years mortgage deal with the budget I have in mind, so I don't really see any reason as to why would I want to pay unecessary interest for a 30 years deal? Maybe I am missing sth?

Ah, I was mixing you up with bleakreference who was struggling with multiples of salary.

Ignore me, if you can afford it there's no point extending it.

I was thinking about this in the shower (yes I can think most clearly when I am in the shower). I think I might explore this option if it means I can borrow a bit more... as you are right, there is only 1 way London property prices go... UP!

People have short memories. It was only 8 years ago that prices dropped quite significantly.

In London?

Briefly, longer term though the point stands, one way.

Yes. We bought our current place at the top of the market, values dropped by 15-20% shortly afterwards.

Chances are, unless you buy and stay on a tracker or similar that you would be renegotiating your mortgage deal well before the end of your mortgage term. By taking a longer mortgage your repayments each month will be lower and you are right you will pay more interest. However if your deal allows you to overpay you can do that and effectively treat your 35 year mortgage as a 25 year one - the figures would all end up the same. The only difference being that instead of being required to repay (say) £1,500 a month you are required to pay £1,200 and you choose to pay an additional £300 each month. Many deals then let you claw back those overpayments by underpaying in future, allowing you to treat the mortgage like a savings account with a limit on monthly withdrawals.

The main reason you might not be able to take out a longer term is because it might take the end of the mortgage beyond the maximum age they'll lend to.

So, don't worry too much about the term - work out what you can afford to repay, find out what you can be lent (4-5× salary typically - try HSBC for a low number, Halifax perhaps for a higher one) and how much of a deposit you can scrape together.

Then figure out how stable your future might be and see how much leeway you might need on the above figures. If you're working in an unreliable industry where things can change on a whim, you won't get unlimited holidays from mortgage payments. Alternatively you might be on an upwards career path and be earning double what you are now in 10 years, or you might be planning a family or need a heap of cash to redecorate, furnish etc. (can easily be £10-20k if you have lots to do).

Loads to think about and it can get kinda stressful but ultimately it all comes down to you having an extra bill to pay which replaces your rent and a load of juggling to get the interest part of that bill as low as you can. Once you've done it all and got a property and the mortgage, unless you are struggling to make repayments all this calculating and worrying will be a thing of the past and you'll be too worried about paint, furniture, the state of the roof, the jungle of a garden, the local yoot, the lack of a decent local takeaway etc. etc.

Note I am not a mortgage advisor so don't take the above as gospel - I'm sure if I'm way off the mark someone will call me out on it. Don't forget to read up on moneysavingexpert etc.

Although after 2012 that graph looks a bit different

Personally I think it's important to get somewhere that you're happy to live in for a few years. If all goes tits up then you need to be fine living there until the market settles down.

I have just turned 30 this year, so I am not worried about having to still pay of my home well into my retirement however long the mortgage is... think I am going to look into some of the longer terms deal now that you have mentioned something I hadn't thought about before.

I like the idea of treating a 30+ years deal as 20/25 by voluntarily paying in extra, this sounds like a safe bet for rainy days... touchwood, I haven't had much rainy days yet so far work wise, so let's hope it stays this way... I work in higher education, and I have just secured funding for my PGCE, so future is looking stable for now. The only time I see myself out of a job is when I have had enough of our students, sorry, I mean customers.

In terms of doing up the flat, worrying about the garden etc etc, due to the very cheap rent I pay, I already do this anyway... so I am used to it. Guess the only difference is I would have to actually pay for things 100% rather than chipping in , fixing things for free to keep my landlady happy.

Thanks a lot for the advice! :-)

Tardy response for the fast-moving forum, but when we looked 4 years ago the quality of Ikea/ Howdens/ Wren etc was basically on a par, but the cost of Ikea was 1/2 to 1/4 of the rest. Everyone goes on about the cabinets needing cutting to run pipes. We simply built the base units out 100mm from the wall and had deeper worktops, which we wanted anyway. Honestly, I don't think you can do better for a budget/mid-range kitchen than Ikea.

We chased pipes/wires into the wall but still required some cutting out around the pipes under the sink which is a pain as it looks ugly. Might get some MDF boxing cut neatly and painted to slide in and cover it.

This book has helped me and many friends.

Reminds me, must get my copy back from the last people I lent it to.

So. Where do people get their ideas from for?

Pinterest is ok... However without re-creating a Ikea show room what to do?

Good at building things but after renting for so long I just have accepted present colour scheme and added to it...

We got a lot of ideas from Houzz http://www.houzz.co.uk/
Although without realising have made our flat a bit like a shoreditch cafe complete with hanging lights and tolix chairs.

This is the problem with shit like Houzz and Pinterest, too. Before you know it, you have installed bare copper 'feature' pipes and industrial plumbing valves for taps in your OSB-clad bathroom...

We got a lot of ideas from Houzz houzz.co.uk/

hmmmm...

1 Attachment

The kitchen in our office has a boat like that in it

I like the sound of it.

Dezeen and Instagram are also good options.

Yep. I've found Houzz quite useful but that's exactly the problem. Also worth baring in mind that things that have been popular in East London cafes like bare copper pipes and valves and OSB were originally used because they were cheap and looked good for that given value of cheapness - fine to use at home if you're on a budget, but most people want something more permanent. A healthy dose of self-awareness and scepticism is always useful.

For inspiration, personally I didn't rely much on social media and websites but I did visit a lot of buildings and read quite a lot (dreadfully old fashioned I know). Obviously it helps if you've at least narrowed your interest down to a particular style. The end result of this for us was that the work we did on our flat was heavily influenced aesthetically (it's not that radical as buildings go) by the Schindler House in LA which we visited while on holiday there and In Praise of Shadows, the essay on Japanese aesthetics by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki.

I'd also recommend just thinking a lot about what you want then doing it how you want to do it. It's your house! Sounds like that's what you need to digest @Mr_Sworld :)

time to pearoast this, i see.

http://fuckyournoguchicoffeetable.tumblr.com/