Help- mortgage and bills?! Birmingham

[alicemummy]

So I really need help!!!

Now im going to be doing it alone, i need to make sure i'm getting the right deal.

Who is paying what for: Gas and electricitiy (or duel fuel), broadband, house insurance, water and council tax?
I will be living in Solihull but I imagine other than council tax and water there isnt much difference countrywide.

I can get a mortgage of just 60,000- can i get some help or should i just rent?! As I cant get a nice place for that, and couldn't afford a deposit alone anyway

Will be moving to Birmingham soon.

 

[prettykitty]

I didnt want to r&r hun, obviously I dont know all your circumstances, but its a hard decision if to rent or buy. The markets are not brilliant at the moment and if you bought a big chunk of your money would be taken on deposit, but if you rent you can test out a place first and see if you like it before deciding.

I know renting is dead money some will say but it gives you a better option before you commit. And should your circumstances change you have more options available to you then

I cant comment on Birmingham as unfort I dont live there, but Im not sure if there are websites where you can put your details in and it may give you estimates of what you may expect to pay. The best thing to do like I do is to do a spreadsheet of your incomings and outgoings everymonth and then at least you know what you have and what things are expecting to cost. Your local C/tax office will be able to give you an idea of the bands and if you look at rented they will be able to tell you when you enquire how much it is per month. Water rates can vary quite a lot and also you need to check its not on a meter as sometimes this can cost you more/less per month.

There are some good deals on things like broadband etc at the moment, but if you are budgeting as I have been on my own before all I can say is just becareful what you commit to initially and keep it to the things you really need and shop around as there really are some good deals to be had. Martins Money is a good website to look at and there are some good forums on there which point out some good daily offers too.

Hope you find something xxxx

 

[Babushka99]

Have you looked into part-buy part rent schemes?

 

[Pandora11]

Have you asked on the birmingham thread in wtt, they could give you a better idea?

 

[nickibrum]

hey im in the birmingham wtt thread.

I live in the city centre. we have a 3 bed house and council tax is 126 a month- Band D i think. On a water meter so only about 17 a month. As its a new build everything is well insultated etc but we pay 87 for duel fuel with Eon.

I would have a look at the rent to buy schemes/shared ownership. There are a few new developments. im actually just about to get a mortgage on a shared ownership property. the rate is 4.49 with hsbc, so maybe you can work out some repayments and work out what works best for you.