House Buying - Moneysaving Tips

bargainquest

I am hopefully going to put an offer on a house after viewing our shortlist at the weekend,now that we have sold our house. The favourites are 70s builds and have been extended. I always err on the over cautious side but is it recommended that you have a full survey or is a homebuyer's report generally adequate. We had a homebuyers done on our first purchase as it was a 30s semi but as we are investing more this time round and the properties have been altered, I feel that maybe a full structural survey is wiser - any advice out there?

GarethMcLaughlin

Hi i was looking some help. Im from N.Ireland and the prices of houses are madness. I earn 20k a year and have 1year of payments left for my car £160mnth. Im interested in buying a house but was wandering what is a safe price of house to go for (if i can even afford any) and what setup, morgage type to go for i.e first time, fixed rate etc etc..

All help is greatly appreciated

Thanks

Jill_Roberts

I am just about to appoint a solicitor for the house I am buying. When we sold our last house I was really dissappointed with the service provided, it took too long and they made the searches on the wrong address. Has anyone tried the online conveyancing companies, and if so how do you know they are reputable. Are they any better or should we stick with getting a local recommendation?

Doozergirl

Jill, conveyancing warehouse has had some good press on this board, I'm not sure of the correct address.

It's lot better for people with questions to post a new thread rather than tack onto the end of this one as you're virtually guaranteed several answers with your own post! By the number of questions on this thread that have gone unanswered, I don't think that many of the regulars check on the stickies like this to often. I'm certainly guilty of that!

So come on Jill, start your own thread and see what others come up with for you

linzi268

Hi there,

I'm looking for advice on behalf of my daughter. She wants to buy a flat in Edinburgh but unless she buys with someone else, can't afford it. She's seen 50% ownership schemes. I told her this was probably in collaboration with a Housing Association but was not 100% sure. Can anyone advise on this and whether it's a good way to get her foot on the property ladder? We, of course, have the disadvantage of working on the "Offers over" basis, which means you just never know how much a house will go for!

Thanks,

Linzi

Doozergirl

Hi Linzi,

Welcome to MSE!

Can I invite you to post a new thread on the main thread? You'll find a much better response if you start a new thread as not too many of the regulars look at the old sticky threads which are read mainly by newbies like yourself

I don't know too much about shared ownersip, except that you need to properly research the figures you pay each month as it can sometimes end up not much less than just paying out on a mortgage for the whole lot.

beqasopi

Hi its my first time on so forgive me if im doing this incorrectly, however im trying to get help on being exploited with service charges on my flat . please can anyone give me advice on how to challeng whoever it is who has set the charges in the first place

Norroy

beqasopi wrote:

Hi its my first time on so forgive me if im doing this incorrectly, however im trying to get help on being exploited with service charges on my flat . please can anyone give me advice on how to challeng whoever it is who has set the charges in the first place

Firstly I would speak to your neighbours and get their views on the charges levied.

This is a hugely complex area. Try and visit lease-advice.org.uk, they have a help-line service.

If the charge really is excessive, you and your fellow leaseholders will need to take the freeholder to a leasehold valuation tribunal.

brainiac44

best house buying money saving tip available is get rid of credit card debt and WAIT for 2-3 years before stepping in.

want to save 30% of 200k ?
wait.

want to see a stabilisation of interest rates to pay back ?
wait.

want to be able to move again and not be locked into with negative equity ?
wait.

wait wait wait wait.

granted its hard. life is moving on and people do need to settle. but for once in your life think sensible and wait. this is simply a lending bubble which has caused speculation in uk housing stocks. once the lending cost rises (as it keeps doing) the payments will be unsustainable at current levels of inflation. there is now clear evidence of rising debt problems in the uk and falling prices.

only if you quote some minute city of london prices you may argue prices are rising, but in the north and south of that - its at best stagnant, mostly falling.

not everyone who lives here is a city bonus eater....

moyville

Hi - this is my first post. Great forum this.

We made an offer for a house on 5th Feb. It was accepted. Today we got a phone call from the estate agent saying they had accepted a higher bid. I'm absolutely outraged as we've sold our house and arranged a mortgage for this new one.

I want to get my solicitor involved, but is it a hopeless situation?