S
skenny
Guest
Age: 36
Spouse’s/Partner's age: 34
Annual gross income from employment or profession: 85k self-employed
Annual gross income of spouse: 30k private sector
In general are you:
(a) spending more than you earn, or
(b) saving?
Saving
Rough estimate of value of home 400,000
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: 420,000
What interest rate are you paying? Tracker 1.59%
Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc
Car loan 25k over 5 years
Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? Yes
If not, what is the balance on your credit card?
Savings and investments: 200k in various high interest deposit accounts
Do you have a pension scheme? No, no faith in pensions & distrust most schemes
Do you own any investment or other property? No
Ages of children: One on the way this year
Life insurance: Mortgage Life Cover 800 per year
VHI 1200 per year
What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?
Due first child this year and wife will be giving up work to look after it. We currently live in a two-bed townhouse with no garden so we will need to move to a bigger house within the next year or so.
We bought current house in 2006 for 660k including stamp duty, and since then through a combination of overpayments and some lump sum bonuses have managed to bring the amount we owe down to 420k. When interest rates went lower than deposits we decided to save instead.
Problem is that all we have done is kept pace with the negative equity and while we hope to sell our own house this year, we know we may need to take even more of a loss than the 240k we have already lost (contrary to some people’s belief that neg equity is only ‘notional’ this is real money that we will never get back)
My income is solid for the next four years at least (contracts secured) and should continue thereafter particularly if economy starts to improve, so despite loss of my wife’s income we still have a reasonable amount to live on.
My question: Because of the huge loss we have already sustained, we are reluctant to risk our 200k in another property (we would need close to 650/700k to buy even a 3-bed in good area in South Dub) which is why we are considering giving up on buying altogether and just renting instead, given our first foray into the market was so badly-timed and a huge loss-maker.
That way we get to keep our nest egg and perhaps rent an even nicer/bigger place in a better area but without the 30-year commitment and the risk of losing more of our hard-earned money.
What do posters think of this strategy? Is it a good/bad idea considering our circumstances and are there any pitfalls that we may have overlooked? Besides the Irish psychological attachments to property which given our recent experience, we can certainly live without.
Thank you
Spouse’s/Partner's age: 34
Annual gross income from employment or profession: 85k self-employed
Annual gross income of spouse: 30k private sector
In general are you:
(a) spending more than you earn, or
(b) saving?
Saving
Rough estimate of value of home 400,000
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: 420,000
What interest rate are you paying? Tracker 1.59%
Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc
Car loan 25k over 5 years
Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? Yes
If not, what is the balance on your credit card?
Savings and investments: 200k in various high interest deposit accounts
Do you have a pension scheme? No, no faith in pensions & distrust most schemes
Do you own any investment or other property? No
Ages of children: One on the way this year
Life insurance: Mortgage Life Cover 800 per year
VHI 1200 per year
What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?
Due first child this year and wife will be giving up work to look after it. We currently live in a two-bed townhouse with no garden so we will need to move to a bigger house within the next year or so.
We bought current house in 2006 for 660k including stamp duty, and since then through a combination of overpayments and some lump sum bonuses have managed to bring the amount we owe down to 420k. When interest rates went lower than deposits we decided to save instead.
Problem is that all we have done is kept pace with the negative equity and while we hope to sell our own house this year, we know we may need to take even more of a loss than the 240k we have already lost (contrary to some people’s belief that neg equity is only ‘notional’ this is real money that we will never get back)
My income is solid for the next four years at least (contracts secured) and should continue thereafter particularly if economy starts to improve, so despite loss of my wife’s income we still have a reasonable amount to live on.
My question: Because of the huge loss we have already sustained, we are reluctant to risk our 200k in another property (we would need close to 650/700k to buy even a 3-bed in good area in South Dub) which is why we are considering giving up on buying altogether and just renting instead, given our first foray into the market was so badly-timed and a huge loss-maker.
That way we get to keep our nest egg and perhaps rent an even nicer/bigger place in a better area but without the 30-year commitment and the risk of losing more of our hard-earned money.
What do posters think of this strategy? Is it a good/bad idea considering our circumstances and are there any pitfalls that we may have overlooked? Besides the Irish psychological attachments to property which given our recent experience, we can certainly live without.
Thank you