Moving into garden cottage - is it worth while

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Dot1

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Hi

My parents recently starting building a garden cottage on their property.
This is where I have lived my whole life.

I will be able to move into the Garden cottage rent free for as long as I like, but I am getting older and need to start spreading my wings.

My thinking is I can move into it and save my "rent" for a house I want to buy in a few years, or I could move out and rent now.

The location is also great.

Opinions please? Would you live here or would you get your own place?
 
Dot1 said:
Hi

My parents recently starting building a garden cottage on their property.
This is where I have lived my whole life.

I will be able to move into the Garden cottage rent free for as long as I like, but I am getting older and need to start spreading my wings.

My thinking is I can move into it and save my "rent" for a house I want to buy in a few years, or I could move out and rent now.

The location is also great.

Opinions please? Would you live here or would you get your own place?
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Stay as long as you can. Rent is hectic and you not paying off your own bond, you paying someone else's bond. Personally I would only move out if I'm married and my wife wanted to start a family. Are you the only kid? If so you get the house when they kick the bucket anyway :p
 
As long as you don't end up spending the "rent" money on other things and actually save it, by all means, stay there as long as it's practical. You will save a small fortune in a couple of years, which will make for a good deposit on a place. I would setup a monthly debit order into an ETF.
 
jano said:
As long as you don't end up spending the "rent" money on other things and actually save it, by all means, stay there as long as it's practical. You will save a small fortune in a couple of years, which will make for a good deposit on a place. I would setup a monthly debit order into an ETF.
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Good advice. Don't use the rent money for recreational purposes.
 
Put as much of that money away as you possible can while you don't need to spend it.

It will pay huge dividends in future, possibly set you up for life.

R4500 x 12 months x 5 years = R270 000

Put that into a decent interest bearing investment and you will have 50% deposit for your first place.

(R358 000 in compound interest over 5 years if it averages 10 percent).

Don't see it as free money, see it as rental money. And base it on a value that you would be able to afford if you were forced to rent, not the cheapest figure you can put towards it in your mind.

Basically go through all the suffering as if you were really renting so as to train yourself to get used to the idea.
 
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If you have an option to stay somewhere rent free, take it for as long as you possibly can...
 
Hell's yeah! Are you kidding me? Unless your parents don't allow you to bring "friends" home or something, living rent free is never a bad thing.
 
Stay, as long as it is practical, and then just a little longer.
Save (actually save) the money you would have spent on rent.
Alternatively, if you're up to it, buy a place of your own and rent it out. It's nice when other people help you pay off your bond. Of course, this is not without risk (bad tenants are rather common), so evaluate everything carefully.
 
Dude stay at home. Just put the bond/rent money away so your used to paying that portion of your salary away monthly.
When you eventually jump, your already used to the payments.
 
Sodan said:
Alternatively, if you're up to it, buy a place of your own and rent it out. It's nice when other people help you pay off your bond. Of course, this is not without risk (bad tenants are rather common), so evaluate everything carefully.
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Hear this often but i can't fathom owning something and now using it myself.
 
In reality, nobody ever saves the extra money from living at home. Move out and start living your own life. You will have a head start on those that live with their parents until they're 30.
 
Pho3nix said:
Hear this often but i can't fathom owning something and now using it myself.
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I've had 2 properties since.... 2005, and often had at least 1 of them rented out. Lots of stress with non-paying tenants, so I always make sure I can cover the bonds and expenses without rental income.
And when you find a tenant that actually pays, all the time, you hang on to 'em for dear life!

It's best (imho) to get a place in a security complex, with strictly enforced rules. I got one such property when there was no security in the complex. We have since added a remote controlled gate, and electrified fencing. Other nice upgrades of the common area have also been done. Needless to say the value of my property has risen adequately + someone is helping me pay off the bond :)
 
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Stay and pay your parents rent, thats what i had to do when i got a job and was living at home.Its sets you up to for that bond later on in life.
 
garp said:
In reality, nobody ever saves the extra money from living at home. Move out and start living your own life. You will have a head start on those that live with their parents until they're 30.
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How? Renting for 5 years @ R7k + Car @ R3k = R10k worth of expenses already when your living alone. This doesn't even account for food and DSTV and Internet etc.

Staying at home:
Rent ~ Free
Car ~ R3k
Food ~ R1-2k to help out.

Living at home, if your focused on saving gives you a better start of not having to rely on credit to start your life.

Independence wise, I do agree. But when working with a single income, moving out and owning property is a long way off for most of the country.
 
Batista said:
Stay and pay your parents rent, thats what i had to do when i got a job and was living at home.Its sets you up to for that bond later on in life.
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I agree you should be paying something or making a contribution.

In my house the rule was always that I would pay 10% of my salary to my folks to entice me to move out when it actually became more affordable to do so as my salary went up.

Worked out well as I had the concept of rent in my mind but wasn't spending all my hard earned cash and could still save.
 
Pho3nix said:
How? Renting for 5 years @ R7k + Car @ R3k = R10k worth of expenses already when your living alone. This doesn't even account for food and DSTV and Internet etc.

Staying at home:
Rent ~ Free
Car ~ R3k
Food ~ R1-2k to help out.

Living at home, if your focused on saving gives you a better start of not having to rely on credit to start your life.

Independence wise, I do agree. But when working with a single income, moving out and owning property is a long way off for most of the country.
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Sure, economically it makes sense (only for the individual concerned, though), but freeloading off your parents for ten years IMHO does more financial and personal growth damage than it's worth in the long run.
 
Pho3nix said:
wait what??
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Pay your parents a % of your take home pay as rental for letting you stay there.Why must your parents look after you when you have a job of your own?

SauRoNZA said:
I agree you should be paying something or making a contribution.

In my house the rule was always that I would pay 10% of my salary to my folks to entice me to move out when it actually became more affordable to do so as my salary went up.

Worked out well as I had the concept of rent in my mind but wasn't spending all my hard earned cash and could still save.
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Exactly, so when it comes time to bond a house, you already have the concept in mind and have learnt how to budget...
 
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