efdemin

No, as always it depends on your circumstances. IF you have a large deposit (>25%) AND you plan to stay there for at least 5 years AND the salary multiples are not too big AND you are in a fairly safe job, etc. etc. I don't think I have tried to push anyone into buying a house, I am simply saying it is not as clear-cut as some of the rent-only loonies would have you believe.

As I said (but you seem to have missed it) 'value' is not a purely financial measure. Maybe you don't value having somewhere to call your own that much but other people do and good luck trying to convince them otherwise.

Yes, but 'value' is not necessarily the price it would sell for is it? All I'm trying to say is there is no absolute right or wrong answer, only it depends on your own circumstances.

In an actual house to live in, in a BTL, or in a property-based fund?

Erm, how long has the reported CPI/RPI been over 3% now? And do you think that reflects the real rate of inflation in food, fuel and utilities? 7% gross, minus 20 or 40% tax, so in reality 5.6 or 4.2%. Just about squeaking past the official RPI/CPI figures - brilliant. NS&I index-linked certificates have done well though. I suppose the fund managers for my stakeholder pension are 'pretty stupid investors' because they have barely kept up with CPI/RPI as well. You could have done well in the yellow shiny stuff but equally, done really badly in FTSE trackers so good luck if you're currently up on your investments.

Funnily enough, the money I am saving on rent (mortgage interest much lower than rent for equivalent property) means I can 'save' (i.e. build up equity) quicker than I could when I was renting. And it's an offset mortgage so it's not all locked away either. But I had to save for a long time to be able to get a big enough deposit to get a good mortgage deal. So in my case renting is not far more sensible. Swings and roundabouts, as I said.

Viva the car-less recovereh!

And for renting... Unless you are happy to stay on a rolling periodic tenancy you will have to re-sign a contract every 6/12/x months and this usually comes with a £50+ 'admin fee'. You still need contents insurance for your own stuff. For me, this was about half of what I pay for contents & building. Unless you are renting fully furnished you still need to invest in beds, sofas, TVs, kettles, toasters, possibly even a fridge or washing machine if white goods are not included. Rent levels can change as well. Although the rent market is just as localised and the buying market so they may go up or down depending on where you are. Over the length of a mortgage I'd bet the would go up though, particularly in the SE. You still have to pay council tax & utilities (although some may be included in the rent). Unless you are a good/lucky investor you will be seeing the real value of your investment pot being decreased by inflation year on year. Swings and roundabouts.

This one is also bland and dreary. It's like someone who is used to more modest 4/5 bed detached houses thought that just because it was bigger it would be worth more i.e. they've missed the point of exclusive houses at very high prices. The one at £3mill or so looks good though, even if it is too big and blingy.

What, so some fund manager can skim of a % of her hard-earned? She's learned about the loan sharks the hard way, I hope she doesn't find out about the investment sharks the hard way as well. 'Out of the frying pan and into the fire' springs to mind.

It appears to have been designed by the architects Cut & Paste. It's bland and lacking any interesting features other than it is big and in the countryside. For the best part of a million quid I'd want something with at least a modicum of style. Whether that is an old house or a modern 'grand design' style it doesn't matter, but it has to have something. It's also built on land taken from another presumably older house, so is it overlooked at all?

Fair enough, I was just playing devil's advocate

Are you sure he's not just updating the property in order to get it in a good state to sell?

I though we were talking about a house to live in, not to buy as an investment? If you were looking to buy as an investment then now wouldn't be a good time, generally speaking.

On the other hand, they have no rent, no mortgage interest, no negative equity. In the long term not having those ongoing costs will more than make up for any short to medium term loss on missed investments. Knowing that the majority of your wealth is not passing through the hands of a load of middlemen each day is also a nice feeling to have.

No, you're alright because you don't always crow about it. Nothing wrong with 'winners' per se.

No, you were comparing 1) the rent on a 4-bed house vs. its purchase price in reply to the example of 2) the rent on a 2-bed house vs. its purchase price. Comparing 1) to 2) is what I meant when I said an apples to oranges comparison. Someone on £20k probably wouldn't be able to afford the £695 rent either so whether they could afford to buy is a bit of a moot point, no? However, if they were able to get HB then they could afford the rent. Oh, now I see why the rents at the lower end are less value...

But you're comparing apples to oranges or rather, detached houses to 2 bed terraces / flats. Compared to the purchase price, that £1250 rent seems a lot better value than the 2 bed house at £695, no? Do. You. See?

All you've proved is that renting is financially better in your situation. Can you do the same for a prospective FTB with say a 10% deposit?

Am I a VI? Hmm, not sure anymore. I joined HPC as a prospective FTB but I've made the plunge in the last year or so, so maybe I am now. I can still vividly remember the pain of seeing house prices increasing faster than I could save a deposit though. And living like a student in shared houses until I was nearly 30. I think you are in a different market for rentals tbh. It seems in general you can get good 'value' renting a nice 3 or 4 bed detached house, compared to the purchase price at least. But at the other end of the market, it is not as clear cut. I.e. £750+ or so for a two-bed flat or terraced house that may cost between £160k- £220k ish around me. If you can show me a two-bed house/flat that is as good value to rent as the house you are in I'd 1) be surprised. 2) be willing to admit you're not just posting on here like LoadsaMoney to rub it in our poor FTB faces.

The issue with Bruce is I think he is not really representative of the majority on HPC. He is semi-retired and has a great big pile of cash that he has earned either via his own business or by STR'ing. So of course he has all the odds stacked in his favour when it comes to getting good rental deals and looking for the house he wants - he is under no real pressure to settle down and have kids (I guess he has already gone through that phase). On the other hand, many FTB's don't have a big pile of cash to sit on until the time is right, they do have pressure to settle down and start a family and they also have a restricted choice based on commuting to work. So although Bruce is correct, it is only for his specific situation. I doubt his posts would be as smug if he was a potential FTB'er with a small deposit and student loans to pay off. His posts do grate a bit because he seems to be rubbing our noses in it a lot of the time rather than discussing a point.

Good grief. Ring Transco today or as soon as possible to get a second opinion. The first guy you had around sounds like a numpty who only said it was fubarred because he doesn't know what he is talking about. I thought carbon monoxide alarms were required for rental properties now? I know the place I used to rent had one and seeing as the landlord was as tight as a gnats whatsit I doubt they bought it out of the kindness of their heart. Basically, man up and get things moving instead of over analysing it on the internet. Edit: From the link you posted, the boiler seems to be a fairly modern one (and Vaillant are generally regarded as an ok make). However, a quick google threw up this page: http://www.vaillant.co.uk/installers/Service/service-reminder/. So it may be the seal mentioned in there has not been replaced with the graphite version, it's got damaged and the soot you see is the result of something getting burnt. But you really need a proper gas engineer to look at it.

Ouch. Sounds a bit like the planning changes Labour made that lead to lots of 'garden grabbing' developments - law of unintended consequences etc.. Thankfully the coalition got rid of them pretty soon after getting into power.

Don't buy one then. I like it for all the reasons already mentioned. Battery life of more than a day is also perfect for going on holiday and the weight and volume saving of not taking paper books helps with packing for the aeroplane.

Yes, it's a loss-leader - they expect to make more money on the sale of eBooks over time. Although it shouldn't lose that much money, it's not really that amazing technology-wise. Yes - you can add notes anywhere you want to on the Kindle. They are saved in your account as well, I think, so if you got another Kindle and put your account details into that, it would pick them up. They can also be shared, i.e. you can see other people's notes somehow. I don't use it myself so can't comment much more than that.