Value, it would seem to me for the UK is supply driven, around lack of space. Not like the island is going to get larger.

Damnit ssoren.....I'm not sayin' debt is bad. THAT is why I said buy more than you need (but not as much as the realtor want to sell you, unless you want to dine exclusively on mac-n-cheese and crackers.)

DEBT devalues over time, not money, is what I meant to say. Even at inflation of <2 %, that is 2% compounding reduction in the value of your debt. yes, money is dirt cheap right now and anyone not buying shit with other people's money right now (who can) is a silly nut-butter...

GO GRAB YOUR CHEAPO DEBT ABGE!!! Just make sure when girlfriend leaves you keep the house along with the debt, because it's her fault you are future-broke-up.

For anyone thinking Abge is old and ugly enough to make a decision about his girlfriend, etc, blah blah blah. HAAAAA ha ha ha ha ha ha!! Divorce rate is fucking 50%!!! Which means that the "she's my girlfriend..." rate of "get yet ass OUT of her" is presumably higher than 50% (pure conjecture...but I'll stand by it).

Can't get divorced if you don't get married.

Abge, I recently bough a house and made the decision that to buy as much as I could afford. Obviously it depends on the market and area, but my reasoning was that area where I bought in Toronto was not going to devalue in the long term. I got a house that I'll be happy to live in for the next 10+ years so the short term value isn't a real concern to me.

What really made it possible though is that it's enough house that I can accommodate tenants while I live there. Rent in the city is so fucking ridiculous that I calculated that I can have a tenant (housemate) or two and have the same (or less) monthly payments than I would for renting. I decided that I was tired of paying someone else's mortgage payments when I could just be paying my own.

"Divorce rate is fucking 50%!!!"

So your argument for marriage being important for long term stability is backed up by your evidence that marriage is no longer any guarantee of long term stability? I'm confused...

abge, be sure to include the escrow and PMI into your calculation if it's really cheaper than your current rent. I'm assuming you have less than 20% down like most first time home buyers.

It may be worth saving up the 20% before buying a house unless you get a good deal on the house or know it will appraise higher in 5 years (minimum time required to pay the PMI typically) -- you'd have to do the math.

Regarding your personal life.

Just go to the justice and get married. new house; new life; all grown up.

I'm almost crying here.

divorce has nothing to do with whether or not she takes half...
so fine...I'll modify...make sure you have proper legal shit in place to protect yourself, which may be more important in non-marriage situation depending on the laws in your state. Who knows....just make sure you have legal counsel.

Octa - my point was that if divorce rate is 50%, I can only image that the break-up rate of the "uncommitted" relationship is even higher. Oh sure...they say they are commited...so commited they won't officially commit....i.e. it's really fucking easy to walk out when all it means is packing your bags and leaving, with no legal recourse to the decision. At least in a divorce it takes a bit of effort to unentangle yourself (thus keeping some people unhappily married....lol).

Bottom line - our friend needs to make sure that he is looking out for himself on a legal/financial level if he does this....and the best way would be to keep her name off the paperwork.

@ag. That's a good point. I need to do more research after the bank comes back with what I'm preapproved for, but based on some conservative estimates, we should be saving $250-$750/mo depending on the price of a house we go with. Even on the more expensive end, PMI should still work out to be less, but I will of course do all the math out.

Abge - FUCK PMI and escrow. If you can't put 20% down PMI rapes you. And Escrow? FUCK THAT too....escrow means that instead of being intelligent enough to save enough money to pay your property taxes, the bank takes extra from you each money and holds it to payh your taxes. My experience is that the bank usually kept too much...and occasionally came back and told me they didn't have enough and...FUCK the bank. I more than capable of saving money out for my property taxes. Escrow is for chumps.

The best way of encouraging your other half to leave is to keep her name off the paperwork. If you are committed to a life together you should make the big decisions together and share the dotted line.

@krellin, Escrow is not for chumps. It's a tool a homeowner can use. Is it the most efficient way to manage your money? No. It is a bad way to manage your money? Also no. The cost of money is the only factor, and it's so minor that it's not even worth talking about.

My point is that your strong CHUMP stance seems a little too caffeinated.

<got my popcorn and Pepsi >. Keep it up please.

It's probably better just to save up to straight up buy the most affordable and livable house you can afford with cash. No mortgage, no PMI, no escrow, no monthly payment. I get bored making monthly payment.

Said nobody in San Francisco.

@zultar

Is that a joke?

No.

Could you give an example of how that's possible? It would take me 5 years (with a good salary and little debt) to save up for a house that is smaller than our 1 bedroom apartment.

It is called " not living in a city " or " being a millionaire "... Am I the only millionaire here? ( disclaimer! I'm poor as shit )

The only houses most people could pay off up front are small places, specifically those of the mini house movement.

http://usat.ly/1uIP63T

Sure, I could buy a 900 sqft house 45 minutes from my work, but what would that gain me?

A 900 sqft house 45 minutes from your work.

Well, in a lot of places in this country, you can still buy a very nice house for $200k-$250k, and it's not absurd to think of saving that much in a few years in a good high-tech job with some discipline. Still, abge lives in the northeast, so it's not so probable.

You could always just get a pretty short mortgage, which kind of duplicates it -- the interest, which doesn't amount to too much, can replace having to pay rent while you save up for your house.

Yeah, after running some preliminary numbers, I'm now thinking of going for a 10-15 year mortgage.

or buy 2 houses at 30 years and the girlfriend can stay in the second so you can live free from an unholy union before the Lord's eyes.

Hi abgemacht!

I'd recommend you go for a long-term mortgage. You can always change to pay off faster/later.

Furnishing your new home will be more expensive than you expect, plus it would be good to just enjoy your first year there. At the end -of-the-day its all about your enjoyment. When you die I'm going to buy your house and turn it into a brothel for lemon parties.

I keep misreading the title of this topic as "Buying a horse". I think I prefer that version.

true. they really should buy a horse instead! It's way more gentle to have a good ride than to attend to a house!

Get a radon inspection. You don't want to turn around and sell and have that problem need fixed.