@Doug

Yes, the preliminary rates I've seen seem pretty good. We are looking for a ranch as well (I hate stairs!), but they are harder to find. 15 years is probably a bit too fast for us, but I'm hoping for 20-30 and then paying it off sooner (watching out for penalties).

@fiedler

Yes. Mostly, I want land, but I would like a house as well, especially a basement to work on projects that aren't suitable for a 1 bedroom apartment.

most big bank dont have prepayment penalties, just be sure

abgemacht must be getting a reasonable return from his Ombudsman's pension if he's planning to buy a whole ranch, woo.

Not sure if a joke or a different in terminology across the pond, but "ranch" refers to the style of house you would find on a ranch. Ultimately, I would like to have a lot of land, but that is either a lot of money or very far from where we want to live, so that will have to wait for another day.

The style of house you expect to find on a ranch is a drafty cabin with an outdoor toilet and a cow standing in the porch. I fear the media has served us Brits poorly in explaining some of the details...

Octavious is right. To a British person, you're basically saying you want to live here:

http://podibleparadise.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/jackshack.jpg

I'm going to guess that your dream home is more like this:

http://www.thebarrierealestateblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/5-Pods-Ln-Pano-Front.jpg

In the UK we'd call that a "Bungalow"

lol. Yeah, more along the lines of the second one.

One of my businesses is buying and renting property, but im in UK so any advice I could give might not be accurate, but if you need to know something specific about contract terms or something just ask.

When I bought my first house (to live in, not to rent) i was too concerned with decor even though I knew I'd redecorate. Later when buying houses I look for any defects, (check the loft always) - and make sure you have enough storage space, small thing I know, but where are you going to keep vacuum cleaner and ironing board. My wife always buys houses based on where the xmas tree will go. Got to love her.

Advice: don't vuy a house with your girlfriend. Buy one with your WIFE. that's number 1.

Two, buy more than you think you need, less than a realtor wants to sell you. Money devalues over time, therefore so does the value of your debt.

Three: schhol districts...which are you in? Affects long term value of home.

Four: how handy are you in that fixer-upper. Don't let "oh...I can do that repair..." Become your second and third job...if you don't love doing it.

Five: where is the baby's room goons be?

Six: do you like or *loathe* close neighbors? Dk you want to own an egg-laying chicken?

Seven: a fireplace can be useful to burn evidence and get freaky naked in front of (see No. 5)

Shall I continue?

Number 1. Abge is old and ugly enough to know whether his relationship is built to last or not. He is not a damned teenager with his head in the clouds shouting "she's the one" at anyone who'll listen :p. Marriage is not remotely important for the sake of house buying.

make sure the house you're buying isn't actually a giant, wild, opossum which resides in Estonia. MAKE SURE.

If I had a pound for every time I've made that mistake...

I doubt you'd have that many pounds. I can't think of a single time I've taken issue with your comma usage.

I am actually going to have to agree with Krellin here. Not so much the marriage part, but if you're going to buy the house, make sure it's you buying the house. What happens when the two of you break up, your girlfriend wins the court case that she retains ownership of the house because your alternate ego AKA Diplomacy fucked your relationship over and you cared more about the game than her?

I'm just saying, if you do buy a house make sure it's YOUR house...

I reckon abge's smart enough to discuss the possibility of things ending with her and his lawyer-in-law and make a plan accordingly.

"Money devalues over time, therefore so does the value of your debt."

i thought you were in finance?

money does not devalue. Currency values rise and fall based on economic conditions internally and to global macro events---king dollar is here to stay for a long while

debt is good here, because of the strength of the dollar and low yields on treasury notes...take on the debt now, you might never see this again in your liftime

"Number 1. Abge is old and ugly enough to know whether his relationship is built to last or not. He is not a damned teenager with his head in the clouds shouting "she's the one" at anyone who'll listen :p. Marriage is not remotely important for the sake of house buying."

The problem he states is the following:

"I'm looking to buy a house with my girlfriend in the next few months. Any advice?"

Well, I don't see why the "advice" should be restricted to the house part. If people think that the broader problem statement "buying a house with girlfriend" is something they feel like giving advice about that seems perfectly legitimate. I don't see why from the problem statement it would follow that the technical element of buying the house is the part he wants to know more about. :-)

It is indeed perfectly legitimate for people to offer advice on the girlfriend aspect. As it is for me to insist that advice is a load of dingo's kidneys :).

How exquisitely Voltarian of you ;-)

@ssorenn ""Money devalues over time, therefore so does the value of your debt." - i thought you were in finance?"

I think what Krellin means is inflation erodes the value of your debt overtime.

@maniac you should know from what you do, that currently, good debt has high value with near zero interest rates and lack of inflation...the search for yield is in good debt

@ssorenn - my point still stands any inflation (even at low levels) erodes the value of the debt overtime and mortgages are long-term rather than just looking at last few years of relatively low inflation. in the UK house price inflation far outstripes RPI or CPI so the house will increase in value relative to other prices.

I can't speak to the UK but in the states at sub 2% inflation and closer to 1 with zero interest rates. It's good to own quality debt.

UK homes are horrifically overvalued so I'd be loath to take a long-term mortgage because at some point the market will crash and a lot of people will find themselves in negative equity.

Baby Boomer estate sales will be flooding the market soon?

If by soon you accept 2025, yes. Considered that mortgages live in 30 year spans, this could be soon indeed.