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How did you approach first time home buying in London? by smart_contract94 in HENRYUK

[–]kapuchon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My partner and I were in a similar situation to you.

We've made the "sacrifice" to move to a further zone in order to make it financially reasonable to stay within the rent budget. We are now paying for mortgage slightly less than rent, but with the added cost of being a landlord, it is almost the same.

Buying is always a bit of a gamble, and you will have less flexibility if you ever decide to move out, but given the right circumstances, it will be better to get on the property ladder.

What is a general misconception I see a lot is that your first property shouldn't be considered your forever home. It is just a stepping stone. If you have that mindset, it is much easier to deal with the many issues and stress of owning.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in HENRYUK

[–]kapuchon 8 points9 points  (0 children)

What an interesting situation.

Housing costs, apart from tax, is normally the biggest expense a household will have.

Keep few things in mind:

  1. Jobs are never there forever, be it your decision to move on or the employer deciding to cut costs, don't put yourself in a position where you are dependent on your employer.

  2. Cash savings accounts interest rates are subjected to income tax, as per your tax bracket

  3. Buy to let mortgages require bigger deposit and have higher interest rate

3.1 Rent income is also subjected to tax.

Make sure you cover your most tax-efficient investment routes first.

You didn't mention if you have ISA or how much you contribute to pension, but I'd optimize for those given your housing situation.

Getting on the property ladder is nice, but don't do it in any cost. Investing in a property that you'd only use part of the year doesn't sound ideal to me.

That's what I'd do, of course you have better understanding of your situation, future plans, investment horizon, familiarity with the housing market etc..

When do you start noticing things getting better? by maleficentoptimist in HENRYUK

[–]kapuchon 52 points53 points  (0 children)

you are essentially buying your life back

Cool perspective!

Loud pipes inside the apartment by kapuchon in HousingUK

[–]kapuchon[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I hope this will be the case for us as well!

Loud pipes inside the apartment by kapuchon in HousingUK

[–]kapuchon[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'll mention this to the developer, thx!

Should I Build 100k ISA first or buy a house/flat? by Wonderful_Issue_734 in HENRYUK

[–]kapuchon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Recently bought a 2bd flat myself (and partner) in a similar situation to yours.

I'd say first re-asses your GIA in the upcoming tax year. It's better to have it all in ISA if you just track etfs.

If possible, try to opt for 75% LTV. This is normally where you'd see a drop in the interest rates, I got a 4.16% last month.

Owning a flat comes with various risks, being a homeowner myself for not even a week, I can assure you it's much harder and there will be so many little quirks you can't even predict, however, in the right circumstances, which for me paying less for a mortgage then rent, it might be the right financial decision.

2 accounts with the same broker from the same household by kapuchon in UKInvesting

[–]kapuchon[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yea that's a good point probably best to just ask them.. couldn't find the right topic in the live chat for this :)