It could be said that society is usually split into two types of people: homebodies who want to spend as much as possible building a life for themselves in one place, and those with wanderlust who want to see the world and pool all their money into travel and short-term living.
Of course, there’s always the possibility to be both: you want a comfortable first home for yourself and to get onto the property ladder, but you also don’t want this to compromise your ability to take a nice holiday during the year and still see the world.
Unless you have a high-paying job where you’ve never had to worry about finances, it can be difficult to try and get the best of everything without falling into debt. Nevertheless, it’s possible to have both if you make sound financial decisions.
Below are some ideas on how to get the best of both worlds.
• Consider Renting Out Your Property Down the Line
You may have travel dreams for the future where you spend several months — or maybe even years — traveling. However, if you’re planning to give up a securely paid job to do a bit of traveling, you may be left worrying about what will happen to the house you own.
Renting out your property can be a beneficial plan if you’re not going to be living in your home and traveling instead. Having a tenant means your mortgage payments are still covered by the rent you can charge, leaving you still free to travel for a while.
Or, if you can still afford your own monthly mortgage repayments, the rent payments from a tenant will be a bonus for your savings or travel fund.
• Save for a Larger Deposit
If possible, saving for a larger initial deposit means your overall monthly mortgage payments can be significantly less for the same property. The more you can pay upfront, the less you’ll have to pay later. This could mean extra money every month to put into your travel pot
• Look into Help to Buy Schemes
Help to buy schemes can be a huge help for first-time buyers looking for a new build. New builds mean more dependability in your investment, as you then don’t have to worry about renovation or maintenance costs which may be more likely on older houses (meaning more money spare for travel).
Not only that but help to buy schemes like from Linden Homes means you can pay less on your upfront deposit.
• Consider a Smaller Home for Less
If you want to travel while being a homeowner comfortably, you may have to compromise on the size of the home. If you’re willing to cut down the size of your home, you may be able to bag a cheaper property cost overall, as well as significantly reducing your monthly outgoings for utilities if you have less space to heat and maintain. Not only that, but you’ll have less to pay on your mortgage every month for a cheaper and smaller property, too, so more spare cash for travel.
While a lot of people can struggle to take big holidays every year or make their travel dreams come true whilst paying for a mortgage and bills, it’s always possible to save money where you can with property purchase and still be able to see more of the world.
Featured image by pasja1000/Paul Brennan.
