STRs..did you ever doubt?

JayScottGreenspan

StevieJ wrote: »

Yes one of them is a minor thing called interest rates.

Would you care to refine the argument further then?

StevieJ

JayScottGreenspan wrote: »

Would you care to refine the argument further then?

Not really, but if interest rates shoot up say, in the next couple of years todays rates on offer may look pretty generous and gains made by falling house prices may be at least partially mitigated by then rates on offer.

Davesnave

We sold two, but the second took too long, so we 'lost' up to £50k on what we might have had at peak. It was still worth it as, thanks to fixed rates, we've made money on renting and left all the stress of immediately needing to buy again behind. Pressure buying is not a sensible option when you're after something pretty specific.

We fully expected to be renting for some time yet, but something has come up that we can live with, so we're going for it. As long as we arrive back approximately where we'd have been before the crash, and with a property that meets our needs, anything else is irrelevant.

Oh, and being still a little bit bearish, if things continue to slide, who knows? Maybe we'll go buy another, later on....;)

mr.broderick

JanCee wrote: »

I actually did this in 2007. We had been in the house for 20 years and decided to bank the equity and rent for a while. We only rented for 6 months before buying again(didn't really like being a tenant) but it was easier to negotiate a chunk off the price of the house we were buying in a falling market and because we didn't have a property to sell.

It is hard to say how much money we may have saved because the house we have bought will almost certainly have fallen in value, even taking into consideration the drop in price, but we did sell at the peak of the market, so in the region of £30k after fees - but that is just a guesstimate.

Same scenario here although we managed to rent for a full 12 months, renting isn't for me as i have 3 children and need a touch more security but having said that i did enjoy my ownership break.

JayScottGreenspan

StevieJ wrote: »

Not really, but if interest rates shoot up say, in the next couple of years todays rates on offer may look pretty generous and gains made by falling house prices may be at least partially mitigated by then rates on offer.

Fair point. It all calls for big spreadsheet, really.

PasturesNew

lostinrates wrote: »

Not much purpose other than wondering to this but I have been awed at times by the conviction the STRs demonstrate. I have often wondered if you every doubted the wisdom of your decision to STR before HP falls started. I often think its easier for FTBs to wait than to be a STR ...giving up your ''own home''.

I didn't doubt, but I also didn't put my cash into tied-up accounts
I kept it "in cash", in case.

I did the right thing, for me... it was just fortuitous that the market changing made me take the step of selling; I 'saw' the downturn and thought it would be an ideal time to sell up - and 'knowing' it was coming, the confidence to be able to walk away from home ownership for up to 5 years.

PasturesNew

Ah, people seem to have put figures to it. I can only guess, but it's been 2 years, so here are some figures:

Selling today I'd bank certainly £60-70k less
Cost of mortgage/insurance/etc > rent over the same time, so renting cheaper (sold huge house, renting rabbit hutch)
I'd have moved anyway at some point so moving costs are irrelevant

StevieJ

PasturesNew wrote: »

Ah, people seem to have put figures to it. I can only guess, but it's been 2 years, so here are some figures:

Selling today I'd bank certainly £60-70k less
Cost of mortgage/insurance/etc > rent over the same time, so renting cheaper (sold huge house, renting rabbit hutch)
I'd have moved anyway at some point so moving costs are irrelevant

Pastures, you seem to say that you have never had well paid jobs, how did you afford a huge house

wigglebeena

'pends what you call well-paid, dunnit? i have relatives who claim to be skint and (mumble mumble mumble)...

lostinrates

Depends where you earned then bought.

ten years ago in my area, property was cheap for incomers, its became not cheap for anyone.