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Home ยป Latest Posts ยป Should I save for a house? – pros and cons๐Ÿคทโ€โ™€๏ธ

Should I save for a house? – pros and cons๐Ÿคทโ€โ™€๏ธ

Should I save for a house pros and cons

Should save for a house? pros and cons –

Introduction ๐Ÿ‘‹

Buying a house can be really expensive. ๐Ÿ’ธ

It takes a lot of effort to save up the money, find the right house, and wait for the purchase to go through.

But – is it worth it? ๐Ÿคทโ€โ™€๏ธ

Today we’re weighing up the pros and cons of buying a house!โš–๏ธ

Disclaimer: This website provides information for guidance and educational purposes only. The Grown-Up School does not provide regulated financial advice. You can seek independent financial advice from a suitably qualified and regulated professional advisor. Check out our disclaimer policy for more information.

The pros of buying a house ๐Ÿ™Œ

1. Making it yours ๐ŸŽจ

If you haven’t bought your home, the likelihood is that you’re renting a home off someone else.

What is renting? ๐Ÿ 

One of the most frustrating things about renting is that your landlord (the person who owns the house) is in control of how the house looks! ๐Ÿ‘€

If you buy a house, you don’t have to put up with your landlord’s weird taste in decoration – you can make it your own!

This means you can easily do things like:

  • Paint the walls ๐Ÿ–Œ๏ธ
  • Put up pictures on the walls ๐Ÿ–ผ๏ธ
  • Pick your own furniture ๐Ÿ›‹๏ธ
  • Refurbish the house – change the floors, kitchen units, bathrooms ๐Ÿšฝ

and you don’t have to ask permission from a landlord!

2. Staying in the same place ๐Ÿ“Œ

When you’re renting, it’s possible that you could be asked to leave by your landlord, or people that you’re sharing the home with. ๐Ÿ‘‹

This can be frustrating because you don’t get to choose how long you live there, making it difficult to put down roots. ๐ŸŒณ

When you own a house, it’s easier to settle down, and stay there for the long run. ๐Ÿ“†

3. Keeping your money ๐Ÿ’ธ

When you rent a home, your money goes to the landlord. ๐Ÿง‘โ€๐Ÿ’ผ

If the value of your rented home increases, the landlord could make extra money from selling the house.

When you buy a home, your money goes towards your house instead! ๐ŸŽ‰

If the value of your house increases, you could make extra money from selling your house.

Owning a house means that you’re not giving your money away to a landlord, but instead you’re investing it in your home. ๐Ÿก

4. Privacy ๐Ÿคซ

When you’re renting, it can be really annoying having to deal with your landlord coming to visit or “inspect” your home, or having housemates around all the time. ๐Ÿฅด

When you buy a house, you can enjoy a private place to enjoy with your loved ones.

5. Owning the house when you’re old ๐Ÿง“

Once you’ve finished all the payments on the home, you’ll get to enjoy a house that is all yours! ๐ŸŽ‰

This can be particularly helpful when you’re old and living off your savings. ๐Ÿง“

Owning a fully paid off house when you’re older means that you don’t have to worry about paying rent every month to keep a roof over your head. ๐Ÿ 

6. Fixing things yourself ๐Ÿ› ๏ธ

When you’re renting a house, it can be really annoying relying on your landlord to fix everything. ๐Ÿคทโ€โ™€๏ธ

Some landlords take ages to fix things, and when they do, they might pick the cheapest way of fixing it.

When you buy a house, you don’t have to wait for your landlord to fix things- you can:

  • fix things straight away
  • make sure things are fixed properly
  • fix things so they look the way you want them to

7. Having control ๐Ÿ’ช

When you’re renting a house, you don’t have as much control around your living environment.

Some landlords can be fussy about things like:

  • not letting pets in the house (although in some places this might be against the law)๐Ÿถ
  • letting people sleep at the house for long amounts of time ๐Ÿ›Œ
  • how long you’re allowed to live in the house โŒš
  • the temperature of the house ๐ŸŒก๏ธ
  • your job or the way you get money e.g. not renting to people who receive benefits/help from the government (although in some places this might be against the law) ๐Ÿ’ธ
  • your relationships e.g. not letting a romantic partner move in ๐Ÿ’”
  • not renting to people with children (although in some places this might be against the law) ๐Ÿ‘ถ
  • not letting you put up pictures, decorate, or choose the furniture ๐Ÿ›‹๏ธ

If you buy a house, you can be in more control. ๐Ÿ’ช

The cons of buying a house ๐Ÿ‘Ž

1. Moving is more difficult ๐Ÿ—บ๏ธ

When you own a house, moving can be really difficult.

If you own a house and want to move, you have to think of things like:

  • The cost of selling your house
  • Finding someone to buy your house
  • Getting accepted to buy a new house with your mortgage loan (The money you’ve borrowed to buy a house – What is a mortgage? ๐Ÿก)

If you rent on the other hand, it can be a lot easier to move around. ๐Ÿš—

2. Negative equity ๐Ÿ˜ฌ

House prices go up and down all the time. ๐ŸŽข

Once you’ve bought a house, the price could do down, and you could end up in “negative equity”. โฌ‡๏ธ

Negative equity is where your home is worth less than the price you bought it for. ๐Ÿ“‰

For example, if you took out a ยฃ110,000 loan to buy a house, but a month later the value of the house dropped to ยฃ100,000 – you’d be in ยฃ10,000 negative equity.

This is because the house is worth ยฃ10,000 less than the loan you’ve got on the house. ๐Ÿ 

Negative equity can make it difficult to:

  • sell your home (because you might not be able to sell the house for enough money to fully repay the loan) ๐Ÿท๏ธ
  • move house – you might need to repay the difference with your savings! ๐Ÿšš
  • switch your mortgage deal to something cheaper ๐Ÿ”€

If you rent a house on the other hand, the landlord takes care of the house finances, so you don’t have to worry about them!

3. Expensive deposits ๐Ÿ’ฐ

When you buy a house, you have to put a big chunk of money towards buying it – this is called a deposit. ๐Ÿ’ธ

The average house price in the UK in 2022 is ยฃ281,000.

This means at a minimum you would need a deposit of either:

  • ยฃ14,050 (for a 95% mortgage, where you borrow 95% of the value of the house – these types of mortgages aren’t always available because they’re lending you a lot of money)
  • ยฃ28,100 (for a 90% mortgage, where you borrow 90% of the value of the house)
  • ยฃ42,150 (for an 85% mortgage, where you borrow 85% of the value of the house)

This is a lot of money to save up! ๐Ÿ˜Ÿ

4. Keeping up with mortgage payments ๐Ÿƒโ€โ™€๏ธ

If you don’t keep up with your mortgage payments, your house could be taken back off you (repossessed). โ˜น๏ธ

It’s a big commitment to make sure you keep up with all of your mortgage payments!

5. Money that could be used elsewhere ๐Ÿ’ธ

Whether it’s:

  • Paying a huge deposit
  • Buying things like buildings insurance to protect your home
  • Paying lots of fees towards buying your house e.g. tax, legal fees etc.
  • Putting money towards maintenance/repairs/refurbishing the house
  • Paying your mortgage off

buying a house can be expensive. ๐Ÿ’ฐ

It’s important to consider if you’re happy with your money going towards this, or whether you’d want to use your money elsewhere! ๐Ÿคทโ€โ™€๏ธ

6. Paying for everything! ๐Ÿ’ณ

When you buy a home, you have to pay for everything!

This could mean sorting out things like:

  • plumbing – paying plumbers
  • building – paying builders
  • making sure the heating is safe/working – paying heating engineers
  • electricians – paying electricians

to make sure that your house is a comfortable and safe place to live in.

If you rent on the other hand, these are things that your landlord usually sorts out! ๐Ÿคทโ€โ™€๏ธ

The verdict ๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€โš–๏ธ

So – buying a house could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your circumstances!

Saving for a house might be a good idea for you if you:

  • want a house to make your own ๐ŸŽจ
  • are happy staying in the same place ๐Ÿ“Œ
  • want to keep your money instead of paying it to a landlord๐Ÿ’ธ
  • want more privacy ๐Ÿคซ
  • would like to own a house for when youโ€™re old ๐Ÿง“
  • want to fix things yourself instead of waiting for a landlord to do it๐Ÿ› ๏ธ
  • want to have more control ๐Ÿ’ช

Saving for a house might NOT be a good idea for you if you:

  • want to move around ๐Ÿ—บ๏ธ
  • don’t want to risk negative equity ๐Ÿ˜ฌ
  • don’t want to pay an expensive deposit ๐Ÿ’ฐ
  • would struggle to keep up with mortgage payments ๐Ÿƒโ€โ™€๏ธ
  • would want to use your house money elsewhere ๐Ÿ’ธ
  • don’t want to pay for everything! ๐Ÿ’ณ

Conclusion ๐Ÿ‘

So that’s it!

Buying a house can be both a good thing, and a bad thing, depending on your circumstances.

Hopefully you’re feeling more confident about understanding house buying.

If you know any friends or family members who might benefit from learning about house buying, share this post with them!

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