Author Topic: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread  (Read 247759 times)

Offline Giz a Gobble

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The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« on: June 25, 2013, 02:49:29 pm »
Couldn't specifically find anything about this so apologies if duplicated but me and my fiancee are currently enjoying the joys of saving for a house. We've only been saving for two months but have stashed away £3k so far and are hoping to throw £600 a month between us in as soon as payday hits every month.

I'm trying to read up as much about house buying, mortgages etc but finding it a bit bewildering/daunting at the minute, worrying about house prices, costs etc. Also looking around at what might be suitable for us, new build - help to buy? 5% deposit mortgage etc? Sticking to an older house?

So anyone else in our position of s(l)aving away or anyone further down the line and facing the joys and troubles of house buying who fancies sharing advice, comments, rants about estate agents that we can all sympathise with?



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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #1 on: June 25, 2013, 02:55:38 pm »
Couldn't specifically find anything about this so apologies if duplicated but me and my fiancee are currently enjoying the joys of saving for a house. We've only been saving for two months but have stashed away £3k so far and are hoping to throw £600 a month between us in as soon as payday hits every month.

I'm trying to read up as much about house buying, mortgages etc but finding it a bit bewildering/daunting at the minute, worrying about house prices, costs etc. Also looking around at what might be suitable for us, new build - help to buy? 5% deposit mortgage etc? Sticking to an older house?

So anyone else in our position of s(l)aving away or anyone further down the line and facing the joys and troubles of house buying who fancies sharing advice, comments, rants about estate agents that we can all sympathise with?

That's some saving is that mate, and if you can do that over 12 months it will not only leave you with a nice little deposit, but will proove to a potential lender that you are responsible with money, and have a good aptitude for repaying any debt.

I've been out of using mortgages for a while now, but there's a new development near by me that's offering 5% deposit terms.

If you go down the new build route there's some deals to be had, and also offer trouble, and maintainance free housing, should you be in a position to buy one.

On the whole though, I think the borrowing issue is easing slightly as far as housing is concerened.

Good luck.
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Offline Giz a Gobble

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #2 on: June 25, 2013, 03:19:03 pm »
Thanks - can only plough as much cash as possible I guess and still live some sort of life!

Guess we feel the pressure more though as me and my fiancee are both 31, marriage is nowhere near the cards but kids are and my thinking is have a nice house set-up first before doing that. We currently rent an apartment above a shop in North Liverpool, but is all a bit cramped and isn't ours to decorate etc. So because of all of that, I kind of feel it has to be done slightly quickly. So ideally, would like a house in South Liverpool as it's got a lot more of what we are after.

Only thing with new builds in Liverpool is that they're not really located in any of the places I'd particularly want to live but can see the potential in buying them.

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #3 on: June 25, 2013, 03:30:07 pm »
You are doing the right thing, get off that renting situation as soon as you can.

There isn't anything specific at the moment, just keep saving and get as big of a deposit as you can get a hold of.

There are some good schemes and 10% deposit mortgages around. If you can wait a bit longer, try to get yourself a bigger deposit percentage.

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #4 on: June 25, 2013, 03:43:08 pm »
Im in your boat to pal, i pretty much have a deposit ready to go having saved a decent amount over the last 3 years. Just need to find out what the next step is!! The only other problem is i like a trip away now and then, and this is surely going to impact on that! :(

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #5 on: June 25, 2013, 03:49:28 pm »
Go and see a mortgage advisor, preferably an independent one, and discuss with them exactly what your plans are, where you're ideally looking, and you'll get an idea of what you can afford mortgage-wise and how much you'll need to save. They take a lot of the pressure off you and are there to hold your hand through the process.

Offline trenchtownrasta

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #6 on: June 25, 2013, 04:04:20 pm »
Sounds great mate, just keep everything in perspective and make sure you can enjoy your life whilst stashing away the dosh. I went through a mad stint last year of six to eight months where I worked up to 80hours a week whilst working on an msc, needless to say I hit a very big wall.

On the subject of property I'm actually currently tossing up whether or not I should buy some property outright or use the money to bag off work and focus on entrepreneurial activity fulltime. I'm pretty sure the answer is a little bit of both.
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Offline El Phes

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #7 on: June 25, 2013, 04:39:29 pm »
There's a great mortgage thread on here somewhere mate. Have a search for that, some good advice in there...

Offline El Phes

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #8 on: June 25, 2013, 04:48:23 pm »
1 piece of advice from me is to get yourself a 'repayment mortgage' which means you pay off your debt for sure at the end of the term, so if you borrow 100K over 25yrs, you know at the end of 25yrs, you would have paid off the whole debt including all the interest. It's easier on your stress levels to know you're paying the whole thing off.

2 other things to consider if you're both good with money (and it looks like you are), is to overpay your mortgage each month if you can afford to and the mortgage company allow it, even an extra £100 if you can (this is not essential by the way!) and look into a 'offset' mortgage, but you must have a sizeable amount as savings for this kind of mortgage as it offsets your savings against your mortgage, so as above, if you borrow 100K over 25yrs, but you have 10K of savings, you are only paying interest on the 90K difference. You need good financial discipline + a healthy savings balance for it to be worth it's while.

Good luck with everything.

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #9 on: June 25, 2013, 06:27:54 pm »
We remortgaged a couple of years ago, 19 yr mortgage, and are only allowed to overpay up to 10% of the balance until next year. Been overpaying £50 a month until we can afford more. Just got some spare cash so paid £7k off in May. Busy saving up to get another lump sum for next year, plus will be trying to overpay around £5k per year. Want to be mortgage free as soon as we can.
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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #10 on: June 25, 2013, 07:32:57 pm »
Go and see a mortgage advisor, preferably an independent one, and discuss with them exactly what your plans are, where you're ideally looking, and you'll get an idea of what you can afford mortgage-wise and how much you'll need to save. They take a lot of the pressure off you and are there to hold your hand through the process.

This. I used someone called Eleanor who was recommended to me, she's based in Wigan and is very good. Cost me £250 which was payable only if we took the mortgage she recommended. We had previously had another guy from a different firm who was shit and he ended up submitting loads of applications without our permission and with wrong details resulting in him not being able to get us a mortgage and risking our credit score. Eleanor got us accepted first time and with minimal effort needed from us.

If you're interested I can dig out her details?
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Offline jaybeezay

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #11 on: June 25, 2013, 09:49:01 pm »
Just buying my second as the one I have already was just for me and more than big enough but since then have gained a wife and kid so we are badly overcrowded. Good for you for getting on the ladder now as prices are (in the main) fair and i am getting a much better, bigger house for cheaper than i bought my first for. I'm lucky because my current mortgage company is letting me rent out the one I have, which I won't make anything on now but will eventually be the pension.

My advice would be to get as large a deposit as possible and then keep saving for another few months. We saved up the dosh for the deposit and that's great but legal fees, new carpets, furniture, boilers, even the moving van for example will quickly add to your total and put a massive strain on you. We will be going from pretty stable to pretty broke within a very short space of time. I can see the attraction of the new builds and we were considering that but you have to have an eye on the future, banks normally want a larger deposit (HSBC was 20% instead of standard 10) and this is because they have nothing to gauge the value on. You can lose value big time within months, you could buy one now off plan for say 150k and that seems fair, problem is if the other houses don't sell, they then discount them significantly so your value is down straight away.  My mate had a nightmare, bought one on a new build estate for dear. Next thing the local authority bought half the rest of the estate and the value of his halved overnight.
We are buying a big 60's semi, well built and in a nicer area than the new build for less than 2 thirds the price. I do understand the temptation though with 5% deposit and the nice way they decorate them but you have to envisage it as a shell as that's what you'll be getting. And be careful because they throw in little scams like the grass for the garden not being included in the price.

Offline Grobbelrevell

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #12 on: June 26, 2013, 10:36:49 am »
I'm pretty much in your position as well, mate.

I spent the last year in Australia so i've gone from having my own place there with a couple of mates, to being back at home with my parents, which as you can imagine is taking some adjusting to!

I've been looking into shared ownership properties, which cut down the amount that you'd need for a deposit (if you're looking to get in somewhere ASAP). From what i've read, the deposit required is 10% of the share you're looking to buy.

So, if the property you're looking at is valued at £120,000 and you're going for 50% ownership, the deposit you'd need to get started would be £6,000.

I know there's still a rental element with this option, but transversely, you're also investing at least a portion of your monthly expenditure into something. You also have the option to increase your share of the property as and when you can afford it.

All in all it looks like a decent option to get yourself on the ladder, so to speak.
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Offline El Phes

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #13 on: June 26, 2013, 11:01:12 am »
Why not just rent your whole life? Serious question.

We're led to believe that most of mainland Europe rent most of their lives? Why is it different in the UK?

Offline Grobbelrevell

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #14 on: June 26, 2013, 11:17:37 am »
Why not just rent your whole life? Serious question.

We're led to believe that most of mainland Europe rent most of their lives? Why is it different in the UK?

I don't think it is that different. Most people I know are renting, mainly because they don't have access to the deposit needed to buy outright.

From my point of view I just hate the thought of my main expenditure every month effectively counting for nothing in the medium-long term. I'd much rather it be invested in what will eventually become an asset and an element of financial security of my own, rather than landing in someone else's back pocket and leaving me with nothing to show for it at the end of the lease, however long that may be.
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Offline GBF

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #15 on: June 26, 2013, 11:28:36 am »
Why not just rent your whole life? Serious question.

We're led to believe that most of mainland Europe rent most of their lives? Why is it different in the UK?

Probably it is more of a culture thing and also the associated cost with either renting or owning in different countries or cities. 

a relevant article http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/mar/19/brits-buy-germans-rent
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Offline El Phes

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #16 on: June 26, 2013, 11:39:46 am »

That's probably your age / circumstantial mate?

Also, that's your opinion, 1 I share by the way, but why do SO MANY Europeans rent instead of buying?


Thanks for the link mate, I'll have a look at that later.

Offline Giz a Gobble

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #17 on: June 26, 2013, 11:41:05 am »
If you're interested I can dig out her details?

That'd be great thanks.

We are considering transferring our money to Nationwide for their save-to-buy scheme (the money is currently in an ISA) which aims to get you a preferrential 95% mortgage but if it keeps our options open...

As to why housebuying, can only echo Grobbelrevell here. I've rented for ten years, lived in some nice places but moved into our latest place two years ago and whilst it's a nice flat, it's been riddled with problems and our letting agents are utterly useless, incompetant at repairs and communication and I think that's sprung me to thinking that they (and the landlord, who lives in France) are benefitting from our money. Considering our rent is £700 per month, I think you can see where we are coming from here....

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #18 on: June 26, 2013, 12:14:25 pm »
Why not just rent your whole life? Serious question.

We're led to believe that most of mainland Europe rent most of their lives? Why is it different in the UK?

Not sure why its different, but if you can get the deposit then to me it makes more sense to buy. The rents and mortgages are pretty much comparable and at least the money is going towards your house (which you could hopefully get most of it back when/if you sell) rather than some landlords pocket.

Offline Grobbelrevell

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #19 on: June 26, 2013, 01:05:39 pm »
That's probably your age / circumstantial mate?

Also, that's your opinion, 1 I share by the way, but why do SO MANY Europeans rent instead of buying?

Hmm, not really. I'm at an age now (29) where i'd like to have my own place but at the same time, i've always held a similar viewpoint towards renting. For me, it's a means to an end until such time that you have the financial capacity to buy. I know others view things differently, particularly - as you say - in Europe. As to why there is that demographical split, I honestly don't know.
« Last Edit: June 26, 2013, 02:10:37 pm by Grobbelrevell »
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Offline El Phes

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #20 on: June 26, 2013, 02:35:47 pm »
I think there's probably a lot of 29/30 year olds renting though mate. That was my point. The property / mortgage market has been depressed since the American sub prime crisis and subsequently, Lehman Brothers going bust, both of which happened in 2008. How many 22/23 year olds had a mortgage before the crisis struck?

The link that GBF posted is a good insight as to why. It's not 100% but it gives good reasons why.

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #21 on: June 26, 2013, 07:15:53 pm »

If you've got spare cash at the end of the month , go with an offset mortgage . The surplus capital reduces the outstanding mortgage balance and consequently the interset payable . If you're in a decent situation money wise you can knock off a fairly big chunk of the mortgage term.

Depends on financial circumstances on the whole , but plenty of offset mortgage calculators out there to see how it works.
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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #22 on: June 26, 2013, 09:03:59 pm »
As mentioned above if you can get a mortgage that allows you to overpay then go for it. 
These days alot of these mortgages limit how much you can overpay each month/year without incurring additional charges.  Regardless of this it will reduce the amount of interest you pay over the lifetime of the mortgage and save you 000's and/or reduce the term of the loan.

Example : Bought my house just before the boom (June 2000) & put down a £10k deposit on a £90k property.  At the time I took a 'Freestyle' mortgage over 25 years with Standard Life (now owned by Barclays) which allowed me to overpay as much as I liked (this was not my first mortgage).  My payments were something like £450 - £500 per month which my Mrs could cover along with most of the household bills.  I would pay a few of the bills/groceries so I could bump up the mortgage payments by an extra £300 (overpayment) so we were already knocking off an extra £3500 per year - capital on which we would not pay any interest.

At the time I had a job which also paid decent bonuses every 3 months so I was in the fortunate position of being able to overpay an extra £1500-£2000 every 3 months.  So another £8000 per annum on which we wouldn't pay interest.

The thing is every time you overpay - the outstanding capital reduces so the interest you pay reduces too.   Therefore the amount you pay each month/term of your mortgage reduces too.

In my example, our minimum mortgage payments (amount we were actually required to pay) steadily reduced with each overpayment but we continued to make payments at the same level we were used to. 
So the more we overpayed, the less our required minimum payments were and the greater the overpayment each month.  We also called up the bank when our initial 2 year fixed period lapsed and arranged for the term of the mortgage to be reduced to 17 years,  then 15 the following year then something like 10 in the third year.  This snowball effect meant we pretty much cleared the mortgage just in time for me to enjoy a trip to Turkey in May '05.   ;D

Now I appreciate that you may not be able to get a mortgage that allows unlimited overpayments and you may not have a job that pays bonuses but hopefully you can see how much you'll benefit in the long term with any sort of overpayment.

My key tips:
Shop around and look at all mortgage deals on the market - this is easily done over that there interweb.
You don't need a financial advisor - in my experience there's no such thing as independent financial advice as they will often try to sell you overpriced products in addition to the mortgage such as home insurance, life / mortgage cover etc.
Take the time to do your own research & you'll save hundreds every year. 

Make sure you take some sort of cover - e.g. mortgage payment protection (shop around !!!).  Personally, I prefer guaranteed income protection (in the event of redundancy, illness etc) - I took my cover a couple of years ago with my bank for about £35 a month which would give me enough to pay all my bills/living costs  each month (rather than just paying my mortgage). 
Saving money elsewhere (e.g. competitive priced home insurance etc) & free up cash up for this !

Read the smallprint - how much can you overpay each month ? 
How long are you tied in to that particular mortgage and are there any charges if you wanted to shift your loan elsewhere ?  (some banks will now pay your transfer charges). 
How much can you realistically afford to pay each month as a minimum and could you afford to overpay by say 10% ? 
If after a few years you have overpayed by 10% - would you want to reduce the term of the mortgage or live with lower mortgage payments ?  (important if you're planning on having kids in the next few years).

Type of mortgage - do you prefer to have a fixed mortgage & know how much you'll pay each month for the next 'x' years or would you prefer a discount/tracker mortgage, for example, which may mean lower initial payments but higher payments after your initial period or if interest rates go up.

Type of property you're going to purchase - if an older property there'll be hidden costs for sure.   E.g. you may find walls need replastering, electrics need redoing, roof/walls may need repointing, boiler may need servicing/replacing, redecorating etc.  In short, make sure you leave yourself enough cash each month to pay for this stuff in the first year or two.

Learn to shop around - most of the time we can't be bothered so review your spending every 12 months.
You'll be surprised how much you can save by changing broadband/tel providers every 12-18 months.  Same with mobile phone contracts, car insurance (I never renew with the same company as i always find cheaper discounted quotes elsewhere).  All companies look after new customers much more than existing customers so don't give them your loyalty unless they offer you the best deal on the market.

Leave you self surplus cash to enjoy yourself - life is for living so although you're building for your future don't forget to enjoy life in your new property !!

Good luck !!!



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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #23 on: June 27, 2013, 07:39:35 am »
We own a few houses and after all these (relative short!) years I've learned one important thing: the only house that will ever be your own, your fortress of solitude, your bunker of tranquility, is the one that is situated slap bang in the middle of 20 acres of land.

You buy in a housing 'neighbourhood', your home is merely as peaceful as your neighbours allow it to be. A lack of control for me. Due to the nature of my job, there's not much point investing in that dream home just yet, but when I do, the issue to look at will be land, rather than the house itself.

I like the flexiility of renting, but when it's more than just you, I suppose there are other things to consider. Do some checks on the neighbourhood and neighbours as well, if you can. Unfortunately it's subject to change.

Offline bobbyjames

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #24 on: June 27, 2013, 12:33:40 pm »
Me and the missus have just moved back to our parents after renting together for the last 2 years, with the idea of saving to buy a house (and pay off credit cards, I had no idea how much debt the missus had until recently!). As much as it sucks going back to the parents and losing that freedom, it's the best option for us and the only option if we want to buy. It would take us about 10 years to save up a decent amount for a deposit whilst renting, and we have no family who could stump up that kind of cash for us.

I'm planning on getting rid of the debt as soon as possible then chuck as much in savings as possible each month, and if I need to to pay out for anything major just take it out of the savings. I'm hoping it will take no longer than 2 years. I would like to save up enough to have some spare cash after buying a house too, just for any decorating/repairs/furniture so I'm not adding debt again as soon as we buy.

I haven't really looked into mortgages too much yet (I know next to nothing about them!) but I like the sound of the overpaying each month, I usually get a bonus at Christmas which could be thrown at the mortgage.

Offline Giz a Gobble

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #25 on: July 2, 2013, 10:36:26 am »
Disappointed myself a little yesterday as I was looking into the help-to-buy scheme just to establish what it was about. I'm not massively keen on new builds (locations aren't the best around here and worried as to the values depreciating) but heard about the new scheme coming out next year to cover existing builds.

However, didn't realise that the new scheme isn't quite the same where you provide a 5% deposit and then obtain an equity loan to be able to access mortgages of only 75%+ - this one remains the same with providing a 5% deposit but then the government only acts as a gaurantor for the other 20%, so you still have to shop around for a 95% mortgage which isn't looking cheap for a roughly 140-150k home.

Ah well!

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #26 on: July 9, 2013, 12:13:43 pm »
They are when the interest rate is at a historic low. As little as 6 years ago it was at 5.75%, and in the late 90s it was as high as 7.5% (not to mention percentages in the teens in most of our lifetimes like we saw in the mid-to-late 80s). There's a political pressure to keep rates down, of course, and it looks attractive now with 3-5% mortgages widely available, but they can, or will, soon spiral and become a good deal more expensive.

Indeed. You wonder though, what with people desperately trying to get on the ladder and more and more people getting there, how or when the interest rates will go up to those levels. Many people will have bought houses because of the low rates so when they do go up, you question how many people are at risk.

Offline Richiemc

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #27 on: July 9, 2013, 10:40:02 pm »
Quite far along in he process of buying my first house with my wife. We were told by the estate agents twice that the property was definitly freehold. Got a call from he solicitors the other day (update of things) and he mentioned about the property being leasehold. Said no it isn't etc but he assured me it was.

We specifically stated we only wanted freehold properties when speaking to the estate agents and they have lied through their back teeth. Wife is now unsure about carrying on with the purchase now as feel a bit let down, dissapointed. This obviously raised loads of questions about the lease which we are waiting on answers from the solicitors. Absolute ball ache this, especially as we were all excited only a few days ago.
« Last Edit: July 9, 2013, 10:42:35 pm by Richiemc »

Offline El Phes

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #28 on: July 10, 2013, 09:50:17 am »
Steer clear of leasehold mate, it's not worth the bother and it won't really be 'yours'. They'll be caveats in there somewhere..."you can't do this, you must do that" etc etc. You might also be stung for a share of a maintenance bill if others are included in the lease? I know it will hurt to walk away, but the agents have royally F***ed up and I'd be speaking with the branch manager / owner about.

Offline Trump's tiny tiny hands

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #29 on: July 10, 2013, 10:02:49 am »
Does this make sense to others:

Me and the wife are putting our deposit together. We will have over 10% when it is time but we figure we will get an extra loan from the government when the Help to Buy scheme goes to the next stage from January.

We did the maths, we can pay back the government in the 5 year period before they start charging interest and still be left with easier mortgage payments afterwards. Meaning, to us, we have paid off a larger part of the house cost with no interest on top.

Offline Giz a Gobble

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #30 on: July 10, 2013, 10:33:27 am »
Afraid not mate. From what I've read, the scheme where you can pick up a 20% extra loan is for new builds only. That is running now.

There is a new scheme coming in in January which will be for existing builds. However, no loan is offered. You'll still have to find the 5% deposit but the government will act as a gaurantee for up to another 15-20% to the mortgage companies which apparently will let you access cheaper mortgages (whether you can then, in theory, is to be seen).

Offline Trump's tiny tiny hands

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #31 on: July 10, 2013, 10:57:58 am »
Yeah we want a new build, should have said that. We are waiting for January because we are hoping it frees up the new home market. At the moment, options are limited. We hope other first-time buyers will move to existing builds.

Offline The G in Gerrard

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #32 on: July 10, 2013, 11:24:10 am »
Are you automatically eligible for that govt scheme when it comes to new builds when you have the relevant deposit and mortgage sorted?

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #33 on: July 10, 2013, 12:31:17 pm »
As someone who's rented in all 'my own' places (as much for its being a pretty straightforward option as for the affordability issue), the whole property-buying process has always seemed dead daunting and complex to me, something to think about at "sometime in the future", i.e. always putting it off. I can never really be arsed doing any in-depth reading on the subject, it kind of just gets me down, and I simply gravitate back onto SongMeanings or some mad Wiki page about voodoo.



Hypothetically, say you found a small place and started paying a mortgage, you've been with your current lassy for a fair bit, but nothing's rock-solid as such. It's a cosy little one-bedroom number, not designed for kids (if it came to that, the plan'd be to upgrade significantly!), and not too much to manage either if you were single and comfortably working full-time. You've mainly taken the plunge for the independence, the 'place to really call our own' factor (painted the walls bright red, big fuckoff solar panels on the roof, setup a proper longterm 'mancave', whatever), and to cease pissing away most of your wages into landlords' bank accounts all for nought a few years down the line, thinking this is the one true love of your life and wishing to plan together for a beautiful future.

So, shit happens, you then break up with the nagging psycho bitch, she goes back to live with her customarily fucking annoying eternal-student mates or whatever, and you yourself have paid say £30k into it including your deposit, it's all in your name basically. Perhaps redundancy is looming too and a indeterminately-long stint on the dole is ahead, you simply can't afford to keep up repayments or you can but it's a ridiculous struggle; you never get to go out anymore and you live on bread & tapwater. If you decide to go back to your folks, or else get a rented bedsit or the like, do you get much of anything of what you've already paid into this place back? How does that work? Are you just fucked??
"under-promise and over-deliver"

Offline El Phes

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #34 on: July 10, 2013, 12:45:01 pm »
You've been thinking about this for quite a while haven't you mate?!

Basically, it's all down to the sale price. (You would need to be aware of the money side, 50/50 split between you on break up unless you had something in writing maybe?)

If you had a 30K deposit and bought a 1 bed house for 100K, you would need a mortgage for 70K (I would suggest you get a mortgage that's 'portable' too so you can transfer if should you wish to move within the term of the mortgage). That would mean you would also have a debt of 70K.

So if the house market crashed and your house was now worth 60K, you'd still need to find 70K to pay the bank back. (so another 10K on top of your already used 30K deposit)

If your house increased in value to 120K and you sold it tomorrow, you would pay the bank back their bit (70K) and you would pocket the rest (50K minus fees etc). So no, you wouldn't miss out in the future, unless it dropped in value. But you might plan to stay there for a few more years in the hope that the value would rise?

If it was worth 100K when you sold it, you'd still pay the bank back their 70K and you'd walk away with your original 30K (minus fees etc).

Don't forget that you'd be reducing that 70K each month by paying the mortgage, so after a few years, it might be a 65K debt and so on.

hope that helps?

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #35 on: July 10, 2013, 01:03:00 pm »
You've been thinking about this for quite a while haven't you mate?!
What gives you that idea? ;D

hope that helps?
It does, ta... a lot!

It's one of those scary areas for me; you do want to look to find your answers, but you just can't. It's all too grown up, it blights my young poet soul. :'(
"under-promise and over-deliver"

Offline El Phes

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #36 on: July 10, 2013, 02:15:06 pm »
Indians scattered on dawns highway bleeding, ghosts crowd the young childs fragile eggshell mind  ;)

It is a scary prospect, probably your biggest in your life....having a child may surpass that actually....and also, the single biggest debt in your life too, but if you want something at the end of it, you need to think about getting on the ladder and stop paying into other peoples pockets (current landlord)

Offline killer-heels

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #37 on: July 11, 2013, 08:36:48 am »
There is a new scheme coming in in January which will be for existing builds. However, no loan is offered. You'll still have to find the 5% deposit but the government will act as a gaurantee for up to another 15-20% to the mortgage companies which apparently will let you access cheaper mortgages (whether you can then, in theory, is to be seen).

I will definitely take advantage of that.

Offline Marty 85

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #38 on: July 11, 2013, 03:13:41 pm »
Was looking at a house to rent but the one we were looking it requires you to complete a 7 page application form plus there's a £40 admin fee. Is this standard? I haven't seen the application. What sort of checks are they doing? The £40 is non-refundable and there's 4 of us so I don't want to go ahead with it if we'll be under proper scrutiny. I can understand it though as it's a nice place.

Offline Claire.

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Re: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread
« Reply #39 on: July 12, 2013, 12:16:28 pm »
The admin fee will probably be for the time it takes to check the completed forms and possibly perform credit checks. Last place I rented I did have to fill in a few forms, and they did do a credit/affordability check on me, I didn't mind because everything was done properly and when I moved out I got my deposit back in full from the DPS.

Question for people who've bought houses. I'm a noob, excuse my idiocy. Got a load of letters today off the solicitor, I think once I've done these forms and sent them back it'll be exchanging contracts, so we're nearing the end... but, it says we need to have buildings insurance. As we haven't bought this property yet, how are we meant to insure it? I honestly haven't got a clue what I'm supposed to do here, cos if I go and get some buildings insurance and something happens and we don't buy it, erm, I'll have insured someone else's house? Is there something particular I need to look for?