Do i get on the property ladder or start up my own business?

[Ali7865]

Hi, I live in my parent's house and will need to purchase my own house a few years down the line. I have £15,000 saved up but i am stuck between saving a bigger deposit for a house or starting my own business. I have no experience in starting a business but i feel this has always been my passion would you buy a buy a house first or open a business first?

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

Hi, I live in my parent's house and will need to purchase my own house a few years down the line. I have £15,000 saved up but i am stuck between saving a bigger deposit for a house or starting my own business. I have no experience in starting a business but i feel this has always been my passion would you buy a buy a house first or open a business first?

The answer depends on so many factors but certainly starting a business can be easier when you have no mortgage and commitments.

 

[Ian J]

If you invest all of your savings in a business that is unsuccessful you'll be living with your parents for the foreseeable future until you've saved up enough to make it all back plus the extra needed to cover the increase in house prices.

 

[myfairworld]

I think the issue lies in the word 'passion'. If you really have a passion for running your own business you won't be happy with a house but no business. If your passion is to own your home then having a business will not compensate. Of course you should be able to have both but you have to make the decision if your passion for business is sufficient to power you through the difficulties to ensure that in the long term your business will also pay for housing you.

I suppose a lot also depends on the relationship with your parents. Could you live with them comfortably while your business gets off the ground even if this takes some time. Are your parents comfortable with you staying in house as it were while you work on developing your business? Personally I left home at 18 and couldn't get out fast enough but a friend had such an excellent relationship with her parent that after a period of living away from home she moved back which suited them both and by sharing living expenses both parties could pursue their own careers and interests in a way which would have been much more difficult if they had maintained separate households. Once upon a time it was the norm for family members to live together at least until the younger members married and in many cases even for younger and older married members to live in combined households and not just out of desperation but just as a normal and sensible way to live. Today the norm is to move out and establish your own home but sometimes other arrangements work perfectly well for some people so worth not following the crowd if it works for you.

N.B. My father came from a family of small business owners. The inclination passed him by and he had something of a horror of the small business life. This rubbed off on me for a long time. Then one day one of his aunts who'd had a financially comfortable life told me how much she regretted never having had her own shop, hotel or pub! She'd been brought up in the pub trade, used as cheap labour by her parents, and knew all the demands of such life yet she still wished she could have had her own business.

What is your passion? What is your greatest passion? You have to decide that before you can know what to do.

 

[Talay]

Buy the house, rent the rooms out and use the income from that to fund borrowing via "car loans" if necessary to get back in the business game.

Seriously, you can borrow £15k for about 3.5% or £35k for about 6% and the interest on loans taken out to invest in your own business is tax deductible from your personal tax return.

 

[Sam Bircumshaw]

why not look to buy into a start up? that way everything is in place

 

[Peter Durrant]

Go for a start up if you have the idea and it is targeted - otherwise look elsewhere eg. ladder, where you do not need the same focused element to it

 

[Funding for Communities]

If you have to ask the question then it's not the right time yet to start a new business

 

[LowPrices.uk]

Buy a house first. You have to have somewhere to live, it's an unavoidable expense, so get on and do this first.

 

[MrComputerSaint]

Buy the house, rent the rooms out ...

I was thinking the same thing. Or rent the whole house for a while if you can live with your parents for a year or 2 more.

 

[Scott@KarmaContent]

There's no easy answer. It's tough to start up a business without any experience so you need to address that and work out where your strengths and skills lie, what you'd like to do and how you can facilitate getting the experience and skills you need to do it. £15k won't last long in inexperienced hands.

On the other hand, buying a house might not be such a good idea either. You might end up having to work in a job you hate just so you can pay the mortgage every month and find the dream of owning your own business further away than ever.

 

[TOPPBOX]

If you're passionate about starting your own business, then go for it! Just a heads up, it wont be easy! You'll come across many obstacles, many set backs, but how you overcome and learn from these is what makes a great entrepreneur.

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do!