Are we that desperate to get on the housing "ladder"?

[sasguru]

You need to factor the lifetime cost of renting versus buying.
If you pay off your mortgage in 25 years, assuming you buy at, say, 30.
By 55 you are debt free and have about 20 years left to live, with no major outgoings, mortgage or rent.
If you are a contrcator you should be able to pay it oiff well before 25 years.
In these 25 years you probably pay less on a mortgage rather than rent anyway.
If renting you need to find rent for the last 20-30 years of your life. Plus you have nothing to hand down.

[original PM]

You need to factor the lifetime cost of renting versus buying.
If you pay off your mortgage in 25 years, assuming you buy at, say, 30.
By 55 you are debt free and have about 20 years left to live, with no major outgoings, mortgage or rent.
If you are a contrcator you should be able to pay it oiff well before 25 years.
In these 25 years you probably pay less on a mortgage rather than rent anyway.
If renting you need to find rent for the last 20-30 years of your life. Plus you have nothing to hand down.

My god!

I agree with you.

Think I need a lie down.

But for me unless you desperatly need the flexibility of renting - e.g. the ability to move at short notice then I think it is crazy to do so unless you have no choice.

[sasguru]

My god!

I agree with you.
.

this is getting tedious but, if only I had a penny etc etc,

[SueEllen]

If renting you need to find rent for the last 20-30 years of your life. Plus you have nothing to hand down.

Nothing for the government to steal in care home fees when you go gaga.

[Ketchup]

You need to factor the lifetime cost of renting versus buying.
If you pay off your mortgage in 25 years, assuming you buy at, say, 30.
By 55 you are debt free and have about 20 years left to live, with no major outgoings, mortgage or rent.
If you are a contrcator you should be able to pay it oiff well before 25 years.
In these 25 years you probably pay less on a mortgage rather than rent anyway.
If renting you need to find rent for the last 20-30 years of your life. Plus you have nothing to hand down.

#

2 other things i try to factor in are:

1) Increase in value, what a lot of people fail to realise is the % increase in the value of the property is actually a great return, say you bought a house for 200k with a 10% deposit and house prices rose 2.5% over the year, 2.5% doesn't seem a lot (people think they can get more in the bank) but that 2.5% growth equates to £5k, which is a massive 25% return on the £20k deposit the owner put down.

2) The money for the deposit could be earning money elsewhere, it may not be an enourmous amount of interest in the current climate, but it's not unrealistic to get 5%, on a £20k deposit this equates to roughly £100 a month.

[original PM]

Nothing for the government to steal in care home fees when you go gaga.

easy to avoid with some very basic financial planning...

assuming you can trust your offspring.

[darmstadt]

You need to factor the lifetime cost of renting versus buying.
If you pay off your mortgage in 25 years, assuming you buy at, say, 30.

• By 55 you are debt free and have about 20 years left to live, with no major outgoings, mortgage or rent.

If you are a contrcator you should be able to pay it oiff well before 25 years.
In these 25 years you probably pay less on a mortgage rather than rent anyway.
If renting you need to find rent for the last 20-30 years of your life. Plus you have nothing to hand down.

Then the roof collapses and the insurance company (which you're still paying for) won't pay out as it s an act of god, then the drains get blocked, and then you need to paint the outside of the property, and then...and then...and so on. There will also be outgoings with a property whether you've paid it off or not...

[sasguru]

Then the roof collapses and the insurance company (which you're still paying for) won't pay out as it s an act of god, then the drains get blocked, and then you need to paint the outside of the property, and then...and then...and so on. There will also be outgoings with a property whether you've paid it off or not...

Funny I've never had the roof collapse in 20 years of home ownership.
Who are you trying to convince? Yourself?
The outgoings on a property will not match the 30 years of extra rent you have to pay, as a rule.
Not to mention the capital you are providing for your offspring.

[tomtomagain]

Lower cost of living

A key benefit for me of owning outright as a contractor versus renting indefinitely is that it vastly reduces your monthly outgoings.

As a contractor I was able to clear my mortgage after 7 years.

The upshot of this is that if I am out of contract I can easily reduce my monthly commitments and live ( well exist ) of the wife's income whereas if renting I would still have significant monthly expenditure.

[DimPrawn]

Funny I've never had the roof collapse in 20 years of home ownership.
Who are you trying to convince? Yourself?
The outgoings on a property will not match the 30 years of extra rent you have to pay, as a rule.
Not to mention the capital you are providing for your offspring.

More likely, you rent, to roof collapses and you find out the landlord didn't bother with insurance to save a few quid and you end up living in a house with no rent whilst spending months trying to sort it out.

Renting, no thanks.