Hi. I arrived at this site after reading Will Hutton's article in the Observer. I feel like I've been sleepwalking. I'm 24 hours away from signing a mortgage on a £135,000 bedsit in Brighton, and I'd appreciate your comments. I know this is old ground to you, but I'd just like to explain my situation.
I'm 35, been renting all my life. While my friends took to the 1990s with alacrity, I was drifting, and wishing it was the 1960s. By the mid 2000s I'd wised up, getting good work (internet) but still without any serious savings. My friends had kids and big houses. I'd grown to hate the property market for the way it fostered speculation, greed and envy -- including my own. I was feeling so disenfranchised I couldn't even visit my friends in their London houses.
And now I've snapped. My mother has offered to secure the £135K against her home. She's concerned for my wellbeing, and sees it as an investment. I'm freshly self-employed, and can't get a mortgage of my own. I can pay the mortgage now, but a 9/10% interest rate will be difficult. If I pass, she won't get another mortgage offer (too old).
I've held out so long, pissed so much money up the wall -- I'm tired of not having a place of my own. It feels like my last chance. But am I crazy? It's hard to turn this opportunity down, but I'm beginning to wonder if I might be making the worst mistake of my life.
I'm not trolling, and I don't need to be told to RTFM - I've been reading this board and other financial sites for the last eight hours. But I have no-one who can offer me sensible financial advice, and I'd appreciate anything you have to say. It might give me the strength to take a course of action that everyone around me would think is nuts.