whats your current housing situation?

adrian_bond

hi,

thought id create a new thread as everyone else is all doom and gloom and noone is actually talking about the actual situations that we are all in. here is mine;-

me and the missus bought our 1 bedroom flat in norwich in april 2007 for 103k. now worth approx 95k (online estimate so probably about £90k ish). bah!

however, we have a fixed rate mortgage that will see us through for another 3 years which has a fairly lowish rate (5.5%) which we can easily afford (borrowed 97500k so our payments are £606 a month. Our combined earnings at the time were 35k approx, with a 5k deposit, plus extra for solicitors fees and the like. We now earn more, but can save and enjoy our money as we see fit on a monthly basis.

We are very comfortable. we can go on holidays. shop. eat well. both own and drive practical but nice cars, and are doing well. If something needs doing, breaks or needs replacing it is never a stuggle to find what we want or how to pay for it (we still dont even have a credit card!), provided its nothing major (I.e. wall falling over etc) which hasnt happened yet. fingers crossed.

we had the opportunity to borrow 6 x our comibined salary (210k!!!) at the time, but politely turned it down as after talking to various people about houses before looking to buy, that 3.5 x is really the highest you should ever go unless your a major risk taker (or bloody stupid!). I heeded this warning and didnt want the existance whereby it was cold beans and arguments every night becuase of overspending and ridiculous mortgages.

We knew the crash was coming, although like all people, didnt know when as everyone has been saying it was coming for the last five years. we were absolutely against renting as we wanted to live together where our money was being put (even if only slightly) to our long term benefit, not to a landlord. rental experience at uni put me off for life!

i know some people that have had to secure a mortgage by working six days per week, on a 100% mortgage, for the next 35 years. that sucks. that wasnt for us. so we made our decision to buy somewhere we can mangae should the worst happen and have stuck by them.

some people will ultimately disagree with my lifestyle, but we are happy and will move up the ladder when were good and ready (or when the missus gets so broody that its time to expand!). we have set ourselves the timeframe of two years before our next move, so hopefully the market will be a little more stable than it is now!

please post your situations and any comments you might have. happy posting.

best regards

Adrian.

beecher

The only comment I have is that you'd be wise to shift some of your spending from holidays etc into overpaying your mortgage or saving for a deposit on your new house. You're likely to still be in negative equity in two years' time and will need to be sure you have a deposit for your next house. You are in a better position than a lot of people who've bought recently, but I wouldn't be feeling too comfortable about it.

adrian_bond

thanks beecher.

i have begun to save slowly for a deposit, although it will be a slow process unfortunatley but that is always the case with saving! got approx 2k disposable which im keeping for emergencies, so will start both overpaying and saving at the same time as well as starting a pension (im 27 with nothing in place yet!). may amend my decisions later or depending on what people or my IFA says. thanks.

neverdespairgirl

WE (OH, 3 year old son, me) live in London. Rented.

Pegs109

Sold our house in the summer just as prices started to dip, have been in rented house since. Would like to buy again as soon as right house comes along for right price. Have large deposit in savings from previous house sale but worry about safety of banks and hyperinflation de-valuing it.

Have found sellers very reluctant to drop asking prices and take cheeky offers, usually because they are mortgaged up to the hilt and can't afford to. Many end up renting out their properties. Would consider buying at auction but very few properties end up at auction round here.

penguine

Our family of 3 live in a 2-bed flat in greater London. Bought at the end of the last property crash so we have a very small mortgage (monthly payments now £250).

mitchaa

We (Wife and son) live in a 4 bedroom detached countryside home. Enough space for 6 cars on our driveway. I've just turned 26 on saturday , Wife is 27 and little 1 is 13mths.

I bought early 2007 at 97% LTV and according to 1 particular lender, no-where near negative equity (yet) I am in a position to overpay my mortgage and am hammering away at that with a 25% overpayment every month to protect me further.

If the sh*t hits the fan and prices fall massively then it's our home and we have no real need to move so drops and gains are only ever on paper.

Hopefully be mortgage free on the house by the time i am 40, if i keep the level of overpayments up, then it's a real possibility.

mark5

4 bedroom detached property
bought in early 2006 for £216,000 (new build)
same houses selling in 2007 for £235,000 probably worth £185,000 now.
Outstanding mortgage £130,000 (23 years left)£826.96 per month
I'm 28, wife 29 joint income £55,000
No other debt

Not loaded but always able to save some pay each month!

affordmylife

6 bed detached with double garage. bought 4 years ago for £204,500. now selling at £209,500.

at least we are still in credit as such. we are not currently planning on moving so we are quite happy with the situation.

Squish_21

Have a 1 bed flat which is defo in negative equity, not sure by how much.

We have lived here 2 years in March and the original plan was to move somewhere bigger when the fixed rate ends...no chance of that tho, so kids are on hold.

Currently saving for a BIG deposit and enough money to cover the negative equity we will no doubt be in.

Oh and remaining on SVR as in negative equity and therefore unable to get another fixed rate even if we wanted to.

bootman

3 Bed detached house

bought 2003 for £350K. Valued last spring at £495K as was thinking of moving, thank god we stayed put.
Value online today £380K :eek:

1 year left on the mortgage, did plan to pay it off in December 08 but kept the money in the saving account just in case.