Flats For Rent London

The first thing many people think of when they consider buying a house is to rush down to the latest subdivision and sign on the dotted line. That may be a good idea, and again there may be other possibilities that should be investigated.
The needs of all families are not the same.
Some people are better off in an apartment; others get along better in a house, but find it more to their liking to rent. Many people find ready-built houses in a tract or subdivision the exact choice to meet their needs. Some people are content to buy older houses that require extensive repairing and major remodeling to be livable, if they can get them cheaply enough, whereas other people find it more satisfactory to buy old houses that are in pretty fair condition needing only minor repairs and painting. In either case watch your step.
If all houses look about the same to you, if individuality is not a prime consideration in your thinking about houses, if you can be satisfied with a house in a new subdivision where the contractor is building them by the dozens or hundreds, you will probably get a better value there than anywhere else. You should get more for the money with less trouble over financing and other bothersome details. The house is complete.
All you need to do is to pay $100 a month for the rest of your life. You would pay the same for rent anyway, meanwhile accumulating a large bundle of worthless rent receipts. If you buy, you are gradually building up an equity in the house by your payments. Part of the payment goes for interest, taxes, and insurance, the rest for payment on the cost of the house.
The houses offered for sale in the various subdivisions vary greatly in quality. But still, the best values in houses are often found in subdivision or tract houses where companies build houses to sell on a mass production basis.
These builders have worked out the most economical ways of building, and, we hope, pass on part of these savings to the buyers. Since they have the financing already worked out, all you need is a small down payment. You have the advantage of living in a community where the houses are all of the same age and general quality of design and construction, even if that level is not of the highest.
If a tract house that suits you is near your work, or near where you want to live, it may be the best solution for you. As you shop around trying to find the best house offered for the money, don’t be taken in too readily by flashy advertising, high-pressure salesmanship, and low down payments.
Good buys can sometimes be found with small operators who build to sell, but only a few houses a year. There is more variation in quality among small builders, and it is well to check thoroughly, as some small builders are away above average, and some far below. You might get a very good buy from a small builder.
Buying an Older House
When a house owner is transferred to another place, he will often sell his house at a reasonable figure. But remember that you are getting a house that is not exactly new. If all it needs is painting and the price is low enough so you can afford to spend four or five hundred dollars on minor repairs and redecoration, it might be a good buy.
If a house is two or three years old, the defects such as settling of the foundation, shrinkage of the lumber, cracks in the plaster, and other evidences of poor workmanship or faulty construction will have had time to make themselves obvious to the most casual observer. You can thus rely with more confidence.
Maybe you can find an older house in the vicinity where you want to live that is well arranged, that is in good condition, needing only a few minor repairs plus a good paint job to make it as good as new. If you can get it cheap, it might be a good buy for you.
But the deepest pit you can fall into is to buy an old house expecting to remodel it completely: put on a new roof, change the doors and windows, move the partitions, level up the floors, put a new foundation under the house; and of course put in new
plumbing, new wiring and light fixtures, a new heating plant, new floors, new kitchen cabinets, new screens, and new steps on the porch or, worse yet, tear off the porch and build a new entrance.
Always use a mortgage calculator to help you find the best mortgage, this can help you save a small fortune over the months.

Knowing the good news for property investors is only half the story! Investing in property is a roller coaster ride and you need to avoid major and minor mistakes when investing in property or you could lose a lot of money rather than gain the riches property investment can bring!Here are our top 10 â??bad newsâ?? stories for property investors to be aware of:-1. The current property stock to purchase is low, so to find a great Below Market Value deal you need to search through 150 property deals, find 50 that work, and then find 10 thatâ??ll take an offer. Of these you can usually bag one!2. Some areas and property types with oversupply in 2010 will FALL in value, so beware what you buy!3. Finance is tough to find, you need (and will continue to need) 25% deposit and if buying to let, rental income 130% of the mortgage costs.4. Fees are on the rise. For example, mortgage costs are up to 4% of the propertyâ??s value and fees in the thousands of pounds. Some insurance prices are going up due to the increased number of tenant arrears.5. Mortgage rates for new properties are likely to remain at 5-7% long term.  Some investorsâ?? portfolios wonâ??t stack up at these rates â?? will yours?6. Rental income inflation usually lags behind actual inflation and if it doesnâ??t keep up with your rental cost inflation, the income you receive will be worth a lot less.7. Average yields of 4-5% for buy to let is not enough to cover you for the â??unexpectedâ?? in the future eg interest rate rises, oversupply of rental properties. As a result, if income is your prime investment objective, then itâ??s essential to ensure your rental property delivers more than the average! Some investors look for 8%, others for 10% minimums.8. Rent arrears are on the rise from tenants being made redundant, costing some landlords thousands of pounds!9. Local Authority Housing allowance being paid directly to tenants is causing some poor landlords to lose out to tenants sending the money somewhere else, or just spending it on themselves!10. Population changes in the next 15-20 years WILL change the demand for property stock in the future. An ageing population that lives outside of London are highly unlikely to be that interested in small one or two bed flats that are three or more floors up!So property investors need to wade through troubled financial waters and also now not just buy something that looks like it stacks up now, but identify when and who you will sell onto, to make a profit in the future!Thinking about Buy to Let or already a Buy to Let investor?Donâ??t do anything without purchasing one of our Buying and Renting a Buy to Let Property Packs to ensure you avoid costly mistakes with your property investments.  The pack is full of comprehensive information covering all aspects of buying and running a buy to let property. Each pack also comes with a FREE Which? Book – Renting and Letting or Property Investorâ??s Handbook, plus full access to the Designs on Property website, and all the expert and independent help you require from the UKâ??s leading property experts.

Knowing the good news for property investors is only half the story! Investing in property is a roller coaster ride and you need to avoid major and minor mistakes when investing in property or you could lose a lot of money rather than gain the riches property investment can bring!Here are our top 10 â??bad newsâ?? stories for property investors to be aware of:-1. The current property stock to purchase is low, so to find a great Below Market Value deal you need to search through 150 property deals, find 50 that work, and then find 10 thatâ??ll take an offer. Of these you can usually bag one!2. Some areas and property types with oversupply in 2010 will FALL in value, so beware what you buy!3. Finance is tough to find, you need (and will continue to need) 25% deposit and if buying to let, rental income 130% of the mortgage costs.4. Fees are on the rise. For example, mortgage costs are up to 4% of the propertyâ??s value and fees in the thousands of pounds. Some insurance prices are going up due to the increased number of tenant arrears.5. Mortgage rates for new properties are likely to remain at 5-7% long term.  Some investorsâ?? portfolios wonâ??t stack up at these rates â?? will yours?6. Rental income inflation usually lags behind actual inflation and if it doesnâ??t keep up with your rental cost inflation, the income you receive will be worth a lot less.7. Average yields of 4-5% for buy to let is not enough to cover you for the â??unexpectedâ?? in the future eg interest rate rises, oversupply of rental properties. As a result, if income is your prime investment objective, then itâ??s essential to ensure your rental property delivers more than the average! Some investors look for 8%, others for 10% minimums.8. Rent arrears are on the rise from tenants being made redundant, costing some landlords thousands of pounds!9. Local Authority Housing allowance being paid directly to tenants is causing some poor landlords to lose out to tenants sending the money somewhere else, or just spending it on themselves!10. Population changes in the next 15-20 years WILL change the demand for property stock in the future. An ageing population that lives outside of London are highly unlikely to be that interested in small one or two bed flats that are three or more floors up!So property investors need to wade through troubled financial waters and also now not just buy something that looks like it stacks up now, but identify when and who you will sell onto, to make a profit in the future!Thinking about Buy to Let or already a Buy to Let investor?Donâ??t do anything without purchasing one of our Buying and Renting a Buy to Let Property Packs to ensure you avoid costly mistakes with your property investments.  The pack is full of comprehensive information covering all aspects of buying and running a buy to let property. Each pack also comes with a FREE Which? Book – Renting and Letting or Property Investorâ??s Handbook, plus full access to the Designs on Property website, and all the expert and independent help you require from the UKâ??s leading property experts.

The government predicts an increase of more than 2 million UK households over the next 10 years, due mainly to an increase in EU immigrants and a trend of smaller households. This obviously leaves a good opportunity for would be buy to let landlords, especially with the better buy to let rates we are currently experiencing and the extra tenants wanting accommodation.

So, what are the requirements of buying to let? Well, the main requirement of a buy to let mortgage is that the rent value of the property can cover costs of purchasing and maintaining the household. This can include mortgage payments, letting agency fees, building maintenance, building insurance, advertising, accountancy fees, management charges and any other associated costs. For example, licenses will be required for houses with more than 3 stories and more than 5 occupants. In fact, a general requirement is that rent covers 130% of the mortgage payments.

For example, a £100,000 mortgage will require potential rent of £520 per month. This is calculated from an £80,000 mortgage (after a £20,000 deposit payment) with an assumed rate of 6%. This example would command mortgage payments of £400 per month, so add your 30% to this and you come to the previously stated £520 rent. This appears to be a fair assessment when you consider the possible periods of time without tenants on top of all the previously mentioned house costs.

Fortunately for you, Council Tax is the responsibility of the tenants once they are occupying the house. However, you will be responsible for a percentage of the area rate if the house is unoccupied for more than 6 months. This will be a smaller percentage if the house is unfurnished.

Once paying tenants are in place, you will need to inform HM Customs and Excise of your new source of income. Expect a fine of £100 if you’ve not spoken to them within a month. Once you are making money from the house then taxes of 22 to 40% will be charged on any profit. Remember this is profit and not rent received so be sure to subtract mortgage payments that don’t cover the part paying the principle (this does incur tax unfortunately), and other related outgoings from this amount.

So, with all this information at hand you have decided to go ahead and purchase your buy to let household. The next question is where to buy this house. Obviously, if you want to manage repairs and any other issues with the house yourself, it makes sense to purchase close to your home town. However, if you are using an agent then this isn’t so important and you can buy in one of the more profitable areas.

According to UCB home loans (these are the buy to let division of the Nationwide building society), the better performing areas for property investment are Colchester, Rugby, Peterborough, Swansea, Belfast and Glasgow. Also worth noting is that East London, having been less desirable of late, is now making a comeback due to the current regeneration of the area (London having secured the 2012 Olympic games).

If you decide to sell the property, then capital gains tax (CGT) will be payable, assuming the value of your household has increased. You do have an annual allowance of £8,800 (couples can both claim this amount) and Taper relief which allows for inflation. Taper relief is a discount of 5% after the 1st 2 years and continues to be applicable up to year 10.

With buy to let mortgages on the market for as little as 5% and more specialist buy to let lenders around, this really is a good time to consider this investment. I would suggest you search the internet to find yourself a good broker and get all the information to hand if you decide to go ahead.

Buying and selling for a profit used to be ‘easy’. Through the millennium you could buy a property and be guaranteed it would make money in a few years and in some cases, a few months. Some people (and mortgage lenders!) seemed to think house prices would continue to rise, others warned of a housing bubble, but didn’t seem to be able to accurately predict when it would burst.However, burst it did, starting in the States and hitting the UK very hard. The recession appeared to start in the property sector and within months we saw sales drop by 50% prices fall by 20% from a 2007 peak. Rental income which normally rises when house prices fall, has suffered with year on year falls of 5% or more, voids have increased as have tenant rent arrears.At the moment we seem to be in a strange state of flux. No-one seems to know what’s going to happen next. No-one can quite believe that such a sharp recession, within less than 12 months, can appear to be ‘over’. Yet, reports of green shoots in the property market and the wider economy seem to be talked about daily. The private sector is claiming their order books are growing again and recent figures even suggest unemployment is slowing.But are things really starting to turn around? What about the huge debt we owe as a country, estimated at £13,000 per head of our population*? It is true that business has taken the brunt of the credit crunch and the public sector has yet to be heavily squeezed? If this is true, what effect would public sector job cuts and pay being frozen (or cut) have on our economy – and the property market – next year?More importantly, as property investors, what does this mean for you? What’s the good news? What’s the bad news? And most importantly, if you have money to invest, are there any properties that are ‘safe’ to invest in? Are are short term profits from property possible, or is it only possible to make money out of property in the long term?The good newsMany investors who had pulled out of the market back in 2006 (or before) have been buying heavily since October 2008. Those that bought within the first six months of the crash benefited by snapping up bargains from the huge over supply of property for sale and a massive rise in repossessions. Buying ‘below market value’ became the ‘favourite phrase’ of the property investment industry and canny investors were buying properties up to 50% below their true value.  The bad newsThe credit crunch however meant that investing in these bargains was only for cash rich buyers as buy to let, commercial and development finance became difficult and in some cases impossible to secure. The return of 25% deposit requirements, higher finance costs and recently a dramatic fall in the supply of property in many areas has made even ‘below market value’ deals have, in the last few months been difficult to fund and find.Added to the financing difficulties is the six month re-mortgage rule which stops an investor buying a property ‘below market value’ and then re-mortgaging it immediately to take cash out to invest in the next property. Although some still claim this can be done, most investment experts believe it’s only possible if during the process, someone commits mortgage fraud. So, if you can access cash, is this a good time to invest? Currently there are two schools of thought. The first believes that we are in an ‘artificial’ state of recovery. Interest rates are artificially low, help from the government is currently stopping repossessions and we have yet to see the effect of reducing public sector costs. As a result one school of thought continues to predict property prices falling further and staying low for some years as the impact of unemployment and a return to normal interest rates continue to depress the economy.The second school of thought is that although low demand and supply is causing the current signs of ‘green shoots’, the likelihood of lots of properties coming back onto the market is small. Some predict that interest rates will stay low for many years (CEBR estimate interest rates will only increase to 2% by 2014). As a result, their predictions are that property prices will remain stable, and in areas where there is a shortage of supply such as the South East and London prices may even show small rises.Whichever of these scenarios you believe will happen, one thing is for sure, that spotting the ‘bottom of the market’ is impossible. You will only know it’s been reached AFTER it’s been recorded! For example, for those hoping to pick up repossession bargains, latest statistics from David Sandeman at www.eigroup.co.uk show that the ‘bottom’ of the repossessions market (ie when repossessions sold through auction houses were at their highest) was Quarter 4 2008 – nearly a year ago!However, good investors will always be able to make money – in good and bad markets. And, although you may have missed some of the bargains that have been around in the 12 months, there are still plenty of areas and properties that are worth considering investing in, as long as you’ve:-1. Carried out extensive research2. Considered different ways of making money from property 3. Accurately valued the property you are buying4. Identified potential future capital growthResearch, Research, ResearchIn my view few people carry out enough research when buying an investment property, especially in unfamiliar areas. Those that don’t visit a property before they buy shouldn’t be investing at all, unless they have previously tried, tested and trusted independent people who carry out valuations independent of any property clubs or sourcing businesses.When researching an area or property it is essential to:-1. Visit the street and surrounding areas, research current supply and demand from a buyers/tenants perspective.2. If the property requires updating, make sure you have accurate quotes, and refurbishing the property will deliver a 20% return.3. If you are planning to rent the property out, check the rental value from an agent that specialises in rentals, rather than an estate agent/letting agent that may have a conflict of interest or have only just started a lettings business to help survive the recession.4. Check what properties are in short supply now for buying or renting. Areas that seem to be recovering from property price and rental falls already are likely to be the ones that will deliver good capital growth in the future.5. Secure feedback on potential sales value from estate agents and an independent RICS surveyor who is acting on YOUR behalf.6. Check out the future supply of other properties that might affect demand for your property. If you are buying a two bedroomed flat, what if another 1,000 are planned to be built? What planning permission has the local authority already given?  7. Find out about the future population changes. If you are buying a large property to rent out to students, will there be enough families who can afford to buy a big property when you want to sell?  8. If you are buying a three bedroomed property and are planning to turn it into a five bed, make sure the cost of the additional space will be covered by a real rise in the value of the property.  Consider different ways of making money from property Many people just look to buy to let or renovation to make money from property. However, you can also invest in:-1. Buying land and build to let or sell.2. Commercial as opposed to residential property. 3. Develop mixed use property, for example buying a shop and a flat above and renovating to then sell or rent at a profit.  4. Property funds and syndicates.5. Working with developers to buy properties below market value via a ‘part exchange’ scheme.Accurately Valuing PropertyWhen we used to value properties at a professional part exchange business, we used to spend approximately three full days and use five professionals to help value the property accurately. And we had to. To make money from part exchange you have to buy a property at a discount of between 10-20% and then sell the property (typically via agents) within a three month period, or you’re likely to start losing money.To value a property you need to:-Understand what is happening in the local marketUse www.hometrack.co.uk and then visit local estate agents that have been selling similar properties. Hometrack will show you how many weeks and how many viewings properties require to sell, as well as what the average offer price is versus asking price. Use this information to check with local agents how accurate it is and what their experience of the market is currently.  Identify previously ‘sold property prices’:-1. Go to a property portal for example www.rightmove.co.uk and click on ‘sold prices’. 2. Put in the property’s postcode. 3. Select a distance first time of 1 mile, then if few or no results select up to 3 miles. 4. Put in your type of property.5. Put in 10% below the minimum price of the property valuations you currently have.6. Put in 10% above for the maximum price of the property you have.7. Then tick the box that says ‘include sold, under offer, subject to contract’8. Find properties that have just gone under offer/sold and then follow up with the agent who sold the property.Find comparables of similar properties which have recently been soldA recent comparable is vital in understanding a property’s likely value, and is defined as a property that has sold recently in a similar location, ideally in the same road or a very similar property in a nearby street eg 1930’s semi, detached or Victorian terrace.Other Valuation MethodsYou can use the ‘on-line’ automated systems, such as www.zoopla.com but be warned, these are never as accurate as carrying out your own research and their figures are typically based on ‘past’ not future prices. Finally if you are sure you have a property that is worth investing in, and especially if it’s in a terrible state and difficult to value, call in a local RICS surveyor to give a professional valuation which includes the likely costs of works and check these costs with local tradesmen.  Identify potential future capital growth Up until the credit crunch, terraced houses have outperformed other types of residential investments from a capital perspective for the last ten years. Both investors and first time buyers competed to buy this property type and it led to an increase in the value of these typically two bed properties.Over the next five years, with a large public debt and recovering from a recession may mean people’s income doesn’t increase much and with a fall in the number of people able to invest, property prices are unlikely to increase much. In fact some reports (such as Knight Frank) suggest it will take until 2014 for prices to recover to their 2007 levels. So, if you want to buy property now and sell it at a profit in the future, you’ll need to start predicting which property types in your area are likely to sell in the future and appeal to as many buyers as possible. It’s unlikely that there will be a ‘magic’ answer to this. It’ll depend on local property supply, demand (which will vary according to the population and availability of finance) as well as how well the local economy recovers. To help you do this you’ll need to search for information on:-1. Likely population changes.2. Planned increased supply of new builds and social housing.3. Transport changes that shorten or ease the time it takes to get to towns and cities. 4. Areas and property types that will remain in short supply now and in the future.  For example if the area you are investing in has an ageing population, then maybe there is a shortage of bungalows with manageable gardens. If another area has a shortage of two bedroom apartments within easy reach of a train station, shops and work and a relatively young population, then this type of property may be the best to invest in. In summary there are ‘no short cuts’ to make money out of property in the future. You’ll need to have cash for deposits and financial fees and carry out extensive research about the viability of an investment property now and in the future. Finally, with the government wanting to find lots of ways of paying of their debt, you will also need to ensure you secure good legal and tax advice so you buy the properties in the right way and minimise any tax bills that may be due now and in the future!

Renting should be thought of as the short-term solution to the housing problem. Let us not rush out and buy a house, and get stuck too permanently in one place. Don’t be in too big a hurry to buy.
Renting will provide a place to live, without too much capital investment, and will permit you to move without too much trouble, if necessary.
If you have moved to an entirely different part of the country, you should be careful not to buy until you have decided for sure that you intend to stay. It may also be better to rent for a year or two, until you discover what town or what part of town is best for you.
Sometimes a good house can be rented for a year, with an option to buy included in the contract. This gives you more time in which to make up your mind.
Buying a house is a large undertaking, which should be given plenty of thought and consideration. In the meantime, renting is obviously the thing to do. If you rent in the part of town where you think you might like to live, you can study the neighborhood to find out whether it is just the district you want or not. When you have decided exactly where you want to live, it is time to begin thinking of buying or building.
Buying a House
It is too bad to get a house bought and then decide to move. But it is equally unfortunate to postpone buying too long. Rent money is lost and cannot be recovered. If you are reasonably sure that you are permanently located, that is for five years or more, then it is time to begin to think about buying or building a good permanent home.
Perhaps the ideal way to get a suit of clothes would be to find a good tailor, have him take your measurements, and help select a suitable fabric; then let him make the suit. But most of us go to the places where they sell ready-made suits and buy them di¬rectly. This saves time and is usually less expensive, though admittedly the fit is often not perfect, and the tailoring somewhat less than might be desired.
It is a good deal the same way in getting a house. You can hire a good architect to design you a house and find a reputable contractor to build it, or you can buy a house ready made. The ready-made house may not fit your family as well as the custom-built house, but it may be a pretty fair fit, and you can live very happily in it.
A tailor-made house will probably cost more than a ready-made one, but whether it will be worth more will depend upon the wisdom of the designer, the skill of the builder, and the cooperation of the owner.
In this present chapter we shall consider only the proposition of buying a house already built. In a later chapter we can go into the problem of actually building your own house.
It costs something to keep a roof over your head, any way you do it. It is one of the expenses of living just as food and clothing are.
The question to decide is how to get the most satisfactory roof with the least expenditure of time and energy.
The ownership of a home is now within the reach of any person who has the determination to go out and get one. It may take time and it will certainly take effort, but it is greatly worth while.
The satisfaction of having a place of your very own, a fortress from which you can defy the cruel world, a headquarters for your living, a place where the landlord does not tell you what to do, and particularly what not to do; these are some of the Why do you want a new house? Are you tired of renting, or has your family outgrown the present house? Or are you in the wrong neighborhood? Or is the house getting obsolete? How much do you want a new house? Enough to spend the best years of your life paying for it?
Why should a person own his house?
Because he does not like to have a landlord come and collect a big price every month for the privilege of living in his rundown old house; because the payments he makes on his own house gradually give him an equity in the place; because it saves the necessity of moving so often.
In a rented house a person can’t make any changes without permission and then he doesn’t want to make them anyway, as he may have to move soon,
If you want to buy a house it is well worth using a free mortgage calculator to save you money on your mortgage.
rewards of owning your own home.

There is no vantage point like the apartment next door for keeping track of the neighbors.
When they come and go; who comes and goes with them, and at what awful hours, and what disgraceful things they do.
Of course, it is well to remember that when you look in a goldfish bowl, the fish also look at you.
All kidding aside, for families where both the husband and wife have steady, full-time jobs in business or industry, where they both work so hard that they don’t have time or energy enough left to keep up a house, they are surely better off in an apartment, as it does save work and responsibility.
If a house is just a place to sleep, a place in which to eat a hurried breakfast, and a starting point from which to rush off to work, a place to return to after a late show, to tumble into bed, and to get a little sleep before another hurried breakfast, then off to the rat race again for another day, and a repetition of the same routine, then do not buy or build a house.
By all means rent an apartment; it will save you work and worry and will fit your needs much better.
One way to get luxury living without having to own and service all the features yourself is to buy an apartment in a group where the apartments are individually owned, but the swimming pool, tenni3 courts, barbecue, and other recreational facilities are owned cooperatively by the group of people living in the apartments.
An individual family might find it too expensive to maintain a swimming pool, for one or two uses a week, but it wouldn’t cost too much, in either money or effort for a group of fifty people to keep up a pool.
Renting a House
But an apartment house is obviously not the place for a family with children. It is a poor emotional climate for them, when they must always be quiet so as not to disturb the neighbors, and when they have little opportunity to get outdoors and run and exercise, and shout as they ought to be able to do.
If they must always be afraid of getting in someone’s hair, how can they grow up normally and naturally? Life can be so much more interesting for them if they can be in a place where there are trees to climb, pets to love and care for, and where they can feel that these things belong to them. A public park helps, but it is not nearly as good as a place of their own.
If you think an apartment is not the best place for you to live, perhaps you can find a house to rent. This also has its advantages and disadvantages. You are not tied quite so securely to one place.
If you are not too sure how long you will be in a place, or are subject to sudden transfers by the policy or caprice of your company, or if you are the type that takes sudden notions to quit and try your luck somewhere else, then you should rent, and not try to buy or build a house.
Renting also has the advantage of relieving you of some of the responsibilities that go with owning a home. When the roof leaks, just call up the landlord and ask him to take care of it. If you need paint or repairs, let him look after it, and pay the bill.
When the tax collector comes around, it is not your problem. You do not need to worry about depreciation. If your family outgrows a house, you can move into a larger one without too much trouble and expense.
It is well to remember that money paid out in rent is gone completely. If you had bought the house ten years ago, and had made rent-like payments for ten years, you would have accumulated a considerable equity in the house, and you would also have benefited from the large increase in property values during that same period. Buying a house gives you something to sell when the time comes to move.
There is not much point in having a house and land, if you do not find pleasure and enjoyment in taking care of it.
If the yard is so large as to be a burden to either the husband or the wife, then they would be better off without quite so much. As long as maintaining a house and garden can be fun, all is well, but what future is there in having to work yourself to death in order to live in fine surroundings which you do not have time to appreciate?
Enough is enough. There are two extremes to avoid a spacious house and wide-spreading lawns, or a tiny house and no lawn or garden. Let’s not overdo it either way.
If you would rather buy than rent make sure you use a mortgage calculator to get the best mortgage available.