My Journey as a First Time Buyer!

Mini_Bear

I too believe interest rates will increase but im not sure if they will get to the heady 12-15% my father had on his mortgage back in the day!
If interest rates were to increase (im thinkin 12 - 18 months time) surely this will extend the property bottom as people on trackers/variable rates (50% i believe) may then struggle with their mortgage repayments and FTBs will also be forced out. So there may be more properties being sold and people moving back to rented?
Im just pondering.......

Saver-Rob

Thanks for the posts.

Think its about time I went along to get some mortgage advice and start getting some offers so we are in a position to buy if we find something right.

Different places are offering hugely different amounts - you cannot rely on these online mortgage calculators as some take no account of deposit etc etc.

Saver-Rob

Edit - Entered In Error.

[Deleted User]

Saver-Rob wrote: »

How do any of us know if my area has hit bottom? How do we know if it has overall hit bottom? Does it matter too much if it does drop by a few thousand more on my house if I'm going to live there for 10 years?

I think people waiting for this apparent "bottom" seems like grasping at thin air. When will anybody know?! It wont come on the 6 o'clock news saying that today is officially rock bottom and tomorrow prices will start to rise again.

Youre absolutely right Rob, no one knows for certain.

Though i am certain it isnt now, my personal opinion of the bottom is when the average house price is within 4 times my income. So about £100k or so.

To have saved the amount you have done is very impressive and i would have to assume you are wise to the state of the economy, regardless of how you look at it, prices will still be dropping until things improve which is a long way off. With this is mind, 20%+ off a house price is 20%+ saved.

Anyway Good Luck

Flower08

Hi Rob,
you just wanted to say huge congratulations and well done on how much you have saved so far!! You should be very proud of yourself!
I think to many people on here are looking too much into the relationship side of things - i understand why - but if i was in your position i would be doing the same thing!
As soon as my OH and i have some money saved for our deposit we will be buying - hopefully within the two years or so (and i am only 20 at the moment). Alot of people on here think its madness - but only you wil truely know whats right for you and your girlfriend.
I wish you every success and i hope you find your dream house soon - you deserve it!

Saver-Rob

Flower08 wrote: »

Hi Rob,
you just wanted to say huge congratulations and well done on how much you have saved so far!! You should be very proud of yourself!
I think to many people on here are looking too much into the relationship side of things - i understand why - but if i was in your position i would be doing the same thing!
As soon as my OH and i have some money saved for our deposit we will be buying - hopefully within the two years or so (and i am only 20 at the moment). Alot of people on here think its madness - but only you wil truely know whats right for you and your girlfriend.
I wish you every success and i hope you find your dream house soon - you deserve it!

Thanks alot for your post.

We will have more of an idea of a share split once we have spoken to a mortgage advisor.

bobbadog

Hey Rob! Just wanted to nosey in and say all the best of luck! My OH and I didn't contribute equally to the mortgage deposit though we're owning our first house 50/50. Different things suit different people don't they! xx

Saver-Rob

bobbadog wrote: »

Hey Rob! Just wanted to nosey in and say all the best of luck! My OH and I didn't contribute equally to the mortgage deposit though we're owning our first house 50/50. Different things suit different people don't they! xx

Thanks for the post. I suspect that most people are not in the position to both be earning the same money and having saved the same amount.

Saver-Rob

Another payday and another bit of money saved. Considering next payday and money that is due to pay out from fixed term bonds we shouldnt have anything less than £60,000 (some of which shall be used as a deposit) by the time we move. If we dont go anywhere for another 6 months though we should hopefully have a fair bit more.

Saver-Rob

We today viewed for a second time the first house we looked at. We are very interested and believe it is affordable for us. There is alot of work to do on it but we welcome a project like this.

We still havent got a mortgage offer in place though we are in a good position to get one with the deposit we would be able to put forward.

My next step is to make some phone calls this week and make some appointments with building societies to get some offers. We are hoping we wouldnt be too late to put an offer in on this house. Currently the bank has accepted an offer on it by another party who wish to cut the garden in half and build a new house on it. Obviously we are hoping they dont get prior permission for this as they are asking the planners along to check it out this week.

I wish we had got things sorted a bit earlier now. How long would it take for example if we were to go into Halifax tomorrow - could they give us an offer there and then and we would then be in a position to actually make a formal offer on the property?