Potential gazunder

kunekune

" We take home 3.5k each month, mortgage repayment is less than half of that"

Actually, that's not that much (joint income of around £60-65K?) and if that's your joint income, and you lose one income (unexpected pregnancy?), the figures are a bit scary. Jobs are NOT secure, health issues can arise ... and they can both happen in one week. I know! Mortgage payments of a bit under half your income are too high.

andys15

When I bought in Jun time, I gazundered just before exchange. The Estate agent said it would not work and I was taking the mick. I wrote a nice letter to the owners explaining that since we made the offer house prises had dropped by 1.9% and we agreed to meet 50/50. I never made threats, and it was all done nicely. I know since then house prices have fell further, but what can you do.
I am not a believer in rent money is dead money, as you are paying to have a roof over your head. I do feel like my life was on hold whilst I was renting, we never had holidays etc because we were saving etc etc.
I can afford the interest rates to go as high as about 18% before I wouldd start worrying about being able to meet the repayments. Yes as high as that would be a pain, but affordable.
I am happier now, even though i am in negative equity than i was renting, and I dont care what anyone says, what price can you put on happiness.

HouseBuyer_2

poppysarah wrote: »

" it's making OH miserable that we're renting"

That's very telling and sad. You claim to be loaded but OH's happiness rests on owning a house.

The ratio of mortgage payments to income is massive. And yes you do have a huge income there - you don't think you're overstretching there?

By the fact you're asking, you already know you're paying well over the odds for a house.

Probate sales can drag on for months. Someone died at Christmas near me and his house has still not been sold.

No, not overstretching and yes, people have different levels of expectations of what makes them happy. I'm sure you do as well.

We were happy with the price agreed in August for a completion by the end of October. You are choosing to be disruptive on this thread, but of course this is all to be expected on this board.

HouseBuyer_2

kunekune wrote: »

" We take home 3.5k each month, mortgage repayment is less than half of that"

Actually, that's not that much (joint income of around £60-65K?) and if that's your joint income, and you lose one income (unexpected pregnancy?), the figures are a bit scary. Jobs are NOT secure, health issues can arise ... and they can both happen in one week. I know! Mortgage payments of a bit under half your income are too high.

joint income 79.8k, we have savings to cover mortgage payments for a year if necessary. We can cut back and know what is needed to be done if necessary.

HouseBuyer_2

andys15 wrote: »

When I bought in Jun time, I gazundered just before exchange. The Estate agent said it would not work and I was taking the mick. I wrote a nice letter to the owners explaining that since we made the offer house prises had dropped by 1.9% and we agreed to meet 50/50. I never made threats, and it was all done nicely. I know since then house prices have fell further, but what can you do.
I am not a believer in rent money is dead money, as you are paying to have a roof over your head. I do feel like my life was on hold whilst I was renting, we never had holidays etc because we were saving etc etc.
I can afford the interest rates to go as high as about 18% before I wouldd start worrying about being able to meet the repayments. Yes as high as that would be a pain, but affordable.
I am happier now, even though i am in negative equity than i was renting, and I dont care what anyone says, what price can you put on happiness.

Did you state in your letter that you agreed 50/50? Or was it negotiated around the table?

andys15

I think the key word is happiness, and people are made happy by different things. I was not happy being inspected every three months by some spotty teenager, with a notebook making sure I was looking after the house. It felt like I was back in the Navy.
I was not happy when I saw minor stains on the carpet, or the kids breaking the curtain pole and towel rack pulling of the plaster on the wall and then having to hide it from the said inspector, because I hadn't had time to fix it.
I have been a frequent member on here for sometime now, and the same people are saying the same old things. They are all wise and tell you to wait and wait, they tell you that you are comitting financial suicide by buying now. Bottom line is that if you can get a mortgage and you can afford it, why wait. If I didn't buy in Jun, it would have been years before I could have bought, no matter how much house prices dropped by. No doubt people listened to bad advice on here and will now never ever be homeowners, as banks have changed there whole system on lending. Some people will never be able to save 30% LTV etc etc, no mater what house prices fall to.

pinkshoes

HouseBuyer wrote: »

joint income 79.8k, we have savings to cover mortgage payments for a year if necessary. We can cut back and know what is needed to be done if necessary.

Even with student loan payments and pensions, shouldn't your take home salary be around £4500 and not £3500???

People who are lucky enough to have nice rented accomodation with a good landlord don't understand what it's like for the rest of us who feel very unsettled in rented accomodation. After buying a home 18 months ago, I've had the BEST 18 months of my life so completely understand where your OH is coming from.

By best mate was in the same position as you (buyer being slow), so her and her OH were thinking about dropping their offer, but she LOVED the property, so didn't want to miss out. Low and behold, the owner gazumped them and accepted a higher offer! Not something you hear happening very often nowadays!

andys15

HouseBuyer wrote: »

Did you state in your letter that you agreed 50/50? Or was it negotiated around the table?

i just wrote them an email, saying how fast we had been acting with the solicitors etc, I told them how fortunate they were getting a first time buyer, and in this climate I feel it is unfair for me to take on the whole loss since we had made the offer. I told them that if they paid my stamp duty 1% then I would rush to exchange within the week. I never threatened them with pulling out. It was I suppose a "good will gesture". The Estate agent was taken a back that I had negotiated it, but sometimes a nicely worded letter will get you a long way, as long as they dont feel you are taking the mick. They obviously made the right decision as they would have lost more if it was still on the market so there happy. I got £2400 to pay towards family holiday so I am happy. Regardless of all the doom mongers on here, I am not worried to much about being "on paper" in negative equity, yes I am resigned to the fact I will be only able to get a SVR mortgage in 3 years.
I swear some in here think people who just have recently bought houses, dont read newspaper or have a brain. I haven't just bought on a wing and a prayer, everything I have done has been thought through. I knew what I was getting into.

Troubled_Joe

ad9898 wrote: »

This thread just shows up what a complete and utter joke EA's and solicitors are,

Would you care to provide any further substance to your dismissal of all solicitors as "utter jokes?"

andys15

What I would say though in this day and age is make sure you are on a repayment mortgage. At least then you are making up for what the house is losing. In 3 years I would have repaid £10000. which isn't a lot as its the start of the mortgage, but if I have lost £50000 at least I have covered a 5th of that. And then over the years I will be paying more of the capital off. I know to you "dont buy yet brigade" iit wll sound madness talking so easily of a loss in 3 years, but again I didn't go in blind. God willing in 15-20 this mortage will be paid off, so therefore I will own the house outright. If it had cost me £450000 plus to own a house worth £180000 in 20 years then so be it. If I hadn't bought I know I wouldn't have £180000 in the bank in 20 years time, and I will still be renting.