How do I dissuade my friend from buying a flat?
My friend is 22 and has just finished his second year of studying medicine. After having been turned down for a mortgage about a year ago he's been living in student halls. He hates it, so the plan was that the two of us would rent a 2 bedroom flat together.
Now he tells me he has seen a flat he wants to buy and has passed the first round of checks. I've told him before that I'm not keen on the idea of being his lodger, because I wouldn't feel as comfortable living in his flat rather that us sharing a rented flat on equal terms.
He has over £25k saved up in the bank and he spends very little - I think he could probably afford the mortgage with his part-time job, money saved up and income from a lodger (whether that's me or someone else).
I don't know very much about buying a home but is he being naive about how easy it's going to be? He needs to be moved in by the end of August because that's when he has to move out or renew his student place. Can it happen that quickly if he has nothing to sell and the flat is unoccupied, or will it still take months to happen? Are they likely to give a mortgage to a full-time student anyway even if he does have plenty for the deposit?
What else does he need to think about before rushing into buying a home? There's no guarantee he'll be staying in the area after he graduates but he seems to think he'll just be able to sell it easily. But on the other hand with the prices going up so quickly now maybe he should just get on the ladder now? Should I just let him get on with it?
Now he tells me he has seen a flat he wants to buy and has passed the first round of checks. I've told him before that I'm not keen on the idea of being his lodger, because I wouldn't feel as comfortable living in his flat rather that us sharing a rented flat on equal terms.
He has over £25k saved up in the bank and he spends very little - I think he could probably afford the mortgage with his part-time job, money saved up and income from a lodger (whether that's me or someone else).
I don't know very much about buying a home but is he being naive about how easy it's going to be? He needs to be moved in by the end of August because that's when he has to move out or renew his student place. Can it happen that quickly if he has nothing to sell and the flat is unoccupied, or will it still take months to happen? Are they likely to give a mortgage to a full-time student anyway even if he does have plenty for the deposit?
What else does he need to think about before rushing into buying a home? There's no guarantee he'll be staying in the area after he graduates but he seems to think he'll just be able to sell it easily. But on the other hand with the prices going up so quickly now maybe he should just get on the ladder now? Should I just let him get on with it?
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Yes he could move in that quickly if his mortgage, the searches, application, conveyancing was done within that time.
His mortgage application would be based on whether he can afford the monthly payments out of his own income. Lodgers income is a bonus on top, not guaranteed. His income also needs to be long term and secure.
My personal advice, is buy as young as you possibly can and pay off the mortgage as quickly as you can. But thats just my opinion.
If that's what he wants to do and he's confident he can afford to then yes, you should just let him get on with it.
You sound like you want to dissuade him from buying the flat for your own purposes, not his.
What he does his his business and for you to put him off for you own satisfaction is well... Out if order and clingy as well..
Let him get on withnit
I thought that would probably be the case. During term-time he only works in a call centre for about 22 hours a week. I think he wants to somehow con them into believing he isn't a student by just showing how much he has been earning during the summer. But he wouldn't get away with that would he? They'll find out from his tax code presumably.
I have made it sound a bit like that, but I'm actually OK with staying on my own if necessary. Us moving in together is all his idea. Honestly, it's more about helping a friend make the right decision. If that's patronising, so be it.
Im sure when we got our mortgage we needed several months wage slips, not sure exactly how many.
Its unlikely he will get it but who knows.
Its normally 3 months payslps and 3 months bank statements to be updated throughout the process, so at some point his payslips will have nil on them if he wants to complete by August
Having your friend's best interests at heart isn't a bad thing at all.
The only thing i can see that he might be being a bit naive over is selling it quickly. Sometimes it can take months to sell a place and also it might not necessarily sell at the price you want either.
I've rushed headfirst in to many things before and, with hindsight, would have probably been grateful for someone to say "hang on a second" so in some respects you could well be doing him a favour.
Maybe you could sort of meet him halfway and do some of your own research into the process and if you feel he's about to make a big mistake you can step in and maybe get him to take a second and think it through.
But you shouldn't try and out and out dissuade him unless it looks like it will all go horribly wrong and he'll lose everything because having your own property rather than not will give him a degree of financial security if he's sensible with it.
. If your friend thinks it will be easy to sell, ask him to ask himself how he found it.
I hope he's got a pension sorted out as well and got Tarquin's name down for that very good Private School.
Does no-one live a rock n roll lifestyle anymore, did we take large amounts of recreational drugs in vain ?
You could look at it as 'tying yourself down' or you could look at it as a great opportunity to stop throwing money down the toilet, which is essentially what you are doing by paying rent. And, really, a mortgage doesn't tie you down if you buy sensibly. If you want to move on, you sell up - and make a profit, hopefully. Plenty of us manage to have a rock and roll lifestyle while also owning a home - or at least we did before we became old and crusty.
You can't beat the feeling of owning your own home, your bricks and mortar, your kitchen , your toilet, it's yours....
Why waste money paying somebody else's mortgage......
I would love to buy another house and rent that out. One day I will.. I would like a couple of houses
I bought myself my first property at 24, from the minute I moved in, I lived the life of riley as my mortgage was so much cheaper than comparable rent. I remortgaged quite a lot (I am not recommending anyone do this) and so spent spent spent. I dont regret it for a second.
A poster mentioned before they were spending £700 on rent and didn't even have heat...
for that kind of money, my mortgage is half that and I have a 3 bed semi detached new build.. With a conservatory...that landlord had failed his tenant ... That flat should be spot on
The only thing that beats the feeling of owning your own home, is owning your home mortgage free.
Younger you do it the earlier that will happen.
Agree with this.
He could sell up later or rent it out, I assume it's in a university location, so he could let the rent pay off his mortgage in the future, assuming he is successful with his studies his income will only exponentially increase anyhow.
Also, his wages etc will obviously be accessed regarding his mortgage application, and the possibility of parents as guarantors may alieviate a lenders concerns...
I'd be encouraging to him, to be honest if I was you and he's a good friend, consider buying with him? I bought my first flat with a uni friend and we sold and split after our studies and it set me up well for my next property, and as others said, wasn't wasting all my money paying someone else's mortgage!
Agreed
The earlier someone is in a position to buy the better, and if it has a spare room is great for letting out to help with the mortgage and if it's near a major university - better still.
Hell, I'm guessing if you are both med students you are near a major hospital - even better for letting out in future.
Bet you wished you had saved your pennies now and could afford a deposit!
It rented the spare room for 4-5 years, which covered the mortgage, which meant I could over pay.
It's hard, but can be done, and so worth it now!
As he goes into his 3rd year, I doubt he'll have the opportunity to work as much, it all gets rather intense from now on. I'm sure you don't know the ins and outs of all his finances, for all you know his family are helping support him with this .
Do you want to live with him, or are you feeling forced into it?