Hi All,
Okay, I'm thinking it might be about time to stop renting and start looking for a place to buy, and I've got some questions:
- My salary is composed of base + car allowance + bonus. How much of this will be taken account of in the mortgage multiplier ?
- I can probably afford to get a 1 bed or studio flat, but would much rather get a two bed flat and rent out one of the rooms to a lodger. If I did this, I think I could comfortably meet the monthly mortgage payments. But will the bank take account of this?
- Do you think this is a bad time to buy? Since house prices in London (I live just outside west london) having been going up faster than salaries, I feel that the market must slow down. The question is, do you think that there is much risk of prices dropping over the next few years ?
- I'm probably going to keep this place for about 2 years. Do you think this is too short a time period to see any return on the investment (capital growth) ?
- What sort of properties tend to go up the most? I think a 1-bed flat is probably better than a studio in this respect, and a 2 bed more so ?
- What precisely is meant by a "Masionette" ?
The main thing I'm wondering is if I'm better off just carrying on renting (where my total monthly expenditure is going to be much lower than owning my own place) and saving (or investing in a tracker fund etc) rather than buying a place and hoping to see some capital increase.
All advice appreciated,
Art