FTB expectations too high?

IveSeenTheLight

Anna72 wrote: »

When OH and I bought our first house 11 years ago it was completely run down. Had had tennents in it for 10 years, no central heating, broken windows and had to be literally emptied from top to toe of everything bar a couple of kitchen cupboards, the loo and the bath and sink. We paid under asking price obviously but it was still a lot to us back then as we didn't have the bigest income. We moved in in the winter and lived in one room with one elelctric heater and saved for the first winter whilst keeping warm by stripping all the rooms. In the spring we had saved enough to pay for central heating - we didn't go out drinking, eating out etc - we wanted to spend money on our HOME. We had bubble wrap still at the broken windows. Two years later we had decorated the front room, the dining room had a whitewash and stripped floors and we could afford to replace the two windows that had broken panes. We were still living with a kitchen with a cement floor and cupboard that I would not put any utensils into as they were so disgusting. A year later we could afford to do the bathroom. I learnt to tile. After 5 years we could afford a kitchen made from an mdf kitchen top, which I tiled, with a sink dropped into it, free standing shelves for a larder and basic appliances. We have worked our way through the house room by room and had it just about done by the time we had our first child -the nursery was carpetted when I was ready to pop. We then had the loft converted as child number 2 arrived, extending our mortgage. We now have a beautiful 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom house that it has taken us 11 years to make. We both had full time jobs in the beginning, whilst more recently I work part time and am a mother. ALL the work on the house was done in the evenings or weekends. At the moment we are redecorating our daughter's bedroom - after work, once the kids are in bed.

We mortgaged ourselves orginally not on what the bank would lend but on what we could afford to pay each month and still have money left over to pay for holidays, renovation etc. We went house hunting with that value in mind and didn't look at anything above it. We have learnt to tile, wallpaper, put up shelves, etc etc. We have made our home and poured ourselves into it.

Life is about choices. There are lovely terraces around us going for under £100K. 2 or 3 bedrooms with lots of potential. However if you want the dream house straight away that doesn't need any input then yes you will have to pay for it - all on the mortgage. We chose to invest our time and energy into it and not have everything straight away.

Why does everyone think they have to borrow every penny a bank will offer them rather than deciding how much they CAN and WANT to pay and only asking for that much!?

:T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T

Very much like how we started.
I remember not having a sofa and the bed was in the livingroom, while we fixed a damp problem in the bedroom.

pandamonia

What you dont understand is that it wasnt house prices that were a problem back in the early ninetys it was the expensive cost of lending money. now lending is cheap but prices are high, biggest problem is that prices dont fluxtuate like interest rates do. if the IMF bails us out then our interest rates will be 15-20% and there will be MAJOR problems then

chucky

penguine wrote: »

True, but regardless of location, when flats cost 5-6x the average salary in a particular area, then something's seriously wrong.

not being difficult here but being realistic and trying to make the point that your post may seem too general from my point of view.

many flats are small some are larger, i've seen one bed flats with roof terraces and living space that is over 1,200 sq feet. how would you price these?

surely they have to be more expensive and probably 4x or 6x income?

IveSeenTheLight

mower5 wrote: »

Found this article in the Torygraph dated 11 Apr 2002.
Paragraph taken from Facts on FTBs section
"The average age of FTBs was at an all-time high of 34 in 2001. The number of homebuyers in the under 25-age group has fallen from 32 per cent in 1988 to 11 per cent in 2001"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/propertyadvice/propertymarket/3300862/Neither-up-nor-down-the-naked-truth-that-means-staying-put-on-the-property-ladder.html

It a fun read mid-big boom and pre-HPC, very smug reporter!

I wish the CML had not closed their statistics.
They had various spreadsheets one of which showed the average FTB age.
It did not peak at 34.
IIRC it peaked at 32 and has recently recovered down to 28

mower5

IveSeenTheLight wrote: »

I wish the CML had not closed their statistics.
They had various spreadsheets one of which showed the average FTB age.
It did not peak at 34.
IIRC it peaked at 32 and has recently recovered down to 28

Link? or source?

daveb975

chucky wrote: »

not being difficult here but being realistic and trying to make the point that your post may seem too general from my point of view.

many flats are small some are larger, i've seen one bed flats with roof terraces and living space that is over 1,200 sq feet. how would you price these?

surely they have to be more expensive and probably 4x or 6x income?

I think he is talking about an average flat. These extra large flats that are converted from country mansions etc will normally have a price in well excess of the average of all property types in the area.

The main generalisation that is being made on this thread (not by Penguine) is that flats are cheaper than houses full stop. I am sure that I could find a river view one bed flat in Chelsea for the same price as 6 4-bed detached houses in Hull, for example.

chucky

daveb975 wrote: »

I think he is talking about an average flat. These extra large flats that are converted from country mansions etc will normally have a price in well excess of the average of all property types in the area.

The main generalisation that is being made on this thread (not by Penguine) is that flats are cheaper than houses full stop. I am sure that I could find a river view one bed flat in Chelsea for the same price as 6 4-bed detached houses in Hull, for example.

ok - i was thinking along similar lines as you but with a river view one bed flat in Chelsea comparing it to terraced house in Vauxhall.

there are are price ranges with types of properties and these ranges are furthur complicated by local/regional factors too.

mower5

IveSeenTheLight wrote: »

I wish the CML had not closed their statistics.
They had various spreadsheets one of which showed the average FTB age.
It did not peak at 34.
IIRC it peaked at 32 and has recently recovered down to 28

I have found a document via the CML site called, Understading FTB's.
Published by CML/research July 2005

In the Executive summary it says "average age of FTB moved from around 30 in the mid 80's to 34 in 2004".

penguine

daveb975 wrote: »

I think he is talking about an average flat. These extra large flats that are converted from country mansions etc will normally have a price in well excess of the average of all property types in the area.

The main generalisation that is being made on this thread (not by Penguine) is that flats are cheaper than houses full stop. I am sure that I could find a river view one bed flat in Chelsea for the same price as 6 4-bed detached houses in Hull, for example.

Yes I'm talking about average flats (I'm a she BTW). I've used our own flat as an example on this forum before, it's a 2-bed in a London suburb where average salaries are no more than £30k per year (and probably less). It was valued at approx £200k last January (we were told to price it realistically at £180k if we wanted to sell). It's a typical starter property, decent size but in need of some improvements and in a not very well maintained building. That someone just getting onto the ladder should have to borrow more than 6x their salary to buy it seems absurd.

IveSeenTheLight

mower5 wrote: »

Link? or source?

IveSeenTheLight wrote:

I wish the CML had not closed their statistics.
They had various spreadsheets one of which showed the average FTB age.

I will dig out the various posts I previously made referring to the FTBer age :rolleyes: