Affordable housing - what is it?

oba1

I joined MSE to gain and contribute to different issues affecting life and housing is a hard one for me to crack. I have read all the interesting discussion but I still find myself helpless.

I am a new keyworker, but not qualified for a housing scheme, live in woolwich Greenwich and drive 5 days a week to work at Essex. Once spoken to a finance adviser but the market pricing of property is still staggering. I could use a few tips on property mortgage. Cheers.

lessonlearned

Not sure if I've posted on the right page but please feel free to move it to somewhere more appropriate if need be. Here goes.

I have been selling houses for 16 years, both as an estate agent (WE ARE NOT ALL USELESS HONEST!!!) and also working for various uk builders.

I prefer working for builders because they pay more!!! Without wishing to sound too cocky I AM good at my job and over the years have learned a lot about how the market works.

Here's a few of my best tips:

1. GETTING THE BEST FROM YOUR AGENT - A good estate agent IS worth their weight in gold and will earn every penny of their fee. To get the best from your agent, make friends with them & work with them, be canny with the fees and do not lock yourself into a long contract. (You need the flexibility of being able to change agents if necessary).

Firstly - Don't be greedy or too optimistic about your selling price. Ask for a realistic valuation on your property (known as a 6 week selling price). This means you should, in a reasonable market, get some good interest in your property within six weeks. If there is no interest, viewings or offers - something is very wrong. Usually the price is too high and/or your house is very badly presented.

Secondly - Negotiate a good fee deal with your agent. Try to get them to agree to a fee of 1% (or 1.5% if you have to) for the valuation price and then offer them 5% of everything they get for you over that price.

eg say Valuation price is £100,000 (we wish) then you would pay them 1% (£1000) for a selling price up to £100,000 and then 5% for anything extra over that price.

A great incentive for your agent to work hard. In all a win-win situation - they earn a bonus and you get a better price for your property.

(Be canny DO NOT OFFER THIS DEAL UNTIL YOU HAVE FIRST ASCERTAINED THE MARKET VALUE OF YOUR PROPERTY - for obvious reasons - you don't want them to give you a low valuation just to make it easier for them to get their bonus).

2. SPEEDING UP THE SALE

You have not sold your house until contracts are exchanged and a lot can go wrong between the offer and exchange. The trick here is to keep things moving along and minimise delays. Delays risk cancelled or lost sales.

Have all your paperwork ready. Start a "house" file. It should contain: building permissions for any work done to your property such as alterations, extensions/conservatories etc; certificates & guarantees for work done eg boilers and gas fires serviced etc; details of utitilities and a complete inventory of everything that is included (and specifically anything excluded) from the sale.

(Note) Do not confuse this with a H.I.P. (Home Buyers' Information Pack which are due to be introduced in July 2007). Your solicitor will need the "house" file information asap for your buyer because this forms part of the contract. You will save a lot of time and not risk unnecessary delays if you get it all ready before you even receive an offer.

Make sure your agent clarifies you buyer's position - you need to know if they can get a mortgage and whether or not they have a house to sell. If they have SSTC - Sold Subject to Contract - (ie have an offer on their property but not yet exchanged contracts). Is there a long chain? If there is beware, chains have a habit of breaking!!

Do everything you can to keep things moving along - continually phone your agent and solicitor for updates. YOU are paying their wages - make them earn their money.

3. PREPARING YOUR HOME

If the golden rule of buying is location, location, location then the golden rule of selling is PRESENTATION, PRESENTATION, PRESENTATION.

NO, SPENDING TIME AND MONEY ON YOUR PROPERTY IN ORDER TO SELL IT IS NOT TIME AND MONEY WASTED!!!! THIS IS SO IMPORTANT I WILL REPEAT IT - IT IS NOT TIME AND MONEY WASTED.

Buyers are a choosey lot and it's a VERY competitive market. Only the best houses sell. If you want to sell your property and get a decent price for it you have to be competitive too - your home must be as close to show-house perfection as you can get it.

It must be CLEAN, tidy and nicely decorated - neutral colours, no mess or clutter, no animal or pet smells. All DIY projects must be finished properly and to a good standard - no bodge jobs (the survey will only pick them up).

The last thing you want is for your house to survey badly or to give your buyer the excuse to haggle and drop their offer price because of the state it's in.

Spend the time and yes, a bit of cash, to bring your property up to scratch or YOU WILL NOT SELL.

There are some very dodgy designer make over projects on TV. There are however, two very good property experts. I recommend Anne Marie of the "House Doctor" and Andrew Winter of "Selling Houses" - they know what they are doing. They are both are very shrewd and down to earth with a no nonsense and common sense approach.

I hope these tips are helpful to any would be sellers.

I just love this site and all you lovely people who share your knowledge and experience. Thanks to Martin and you guys I have finally taken control of my finances and my life.

I'm sorry if my post is a bit of an essay but at least it gives me the chance to repay all your help by sharing my knowledge and experience about property with you.

Good luck to all.

lynzpower

dander wrote:

I just can't decide if it's a good thing or a bad thing :huh:

Half of me thinks - good if it means people can get on the housing ladder in the areas they are needed. But the other half of me thinks, but surely they're being ripped off ?!

My thoughts exactly.

fannyadams

If anyone in 'affordable housing' is looking for psychotic alsatians then I know where there are loads.
I also have an assortment of rusting cars/vans etc available to enhance the 'beauty' of your property.
and (for a reasonable fee) I can arrange for the local chapeter of a motorcycle club to party on your front lawn.
take yer pick.
g'wan YKIMS

sportbeth

chugalug wrote:

These places will never become 'council' for 2 reasons. 1) they are run by Housing Associations who are funded through loans on their current assets. Council housing is Local Authority and cannot borrow the way HA can. 2)the govt wants to abolish council housing to get rid of the investment problem. They have to invest millions they don't have to bring the properties up to an acceptable standard. /QUOTE]

Sorry, still being a div here. So are the councils completely reneging their position to look after council housing? So where will the council housing people go? If the HA's take them on then surely that's just giving it another name? Why is the government "rebranding" the council housing?

I just don't get it. If you can't afford a £200k mortgage, you certainly can't afford £100k mortgage and £100k equivalent rent, it's still the same number coming out of your bank account.

I get the private tenant link in the middle.

What I don't get is the man who can't/wont afford to pay his rent each month and instead claims benefits. Where does he live? He's not the housing association's problem. And his "miller family" attitude and style of living isn't the problem of his Ambulance driver/policewoman neighbours who worked their nuts off to pay for the picket fence in their front garden (that's now next to his dumped matress and washing machine).

We went to see a lovely house 6 months ago. Next door was a family with what looked like about 6 kids. The houses were 3 bedroomed. In the alleyway behind the houses the family had left an old cooker, a pile of discarded toys, a washing machine and they used an old coal bunker to put their festering rubbish in.

We didn't even ask to go into the house at that point. Call me a snob, but if we walked away without going over the threshold, what chance would we have had of selling it again 5 years down the line?

lynzpower

No you have it wrong

I cannot get mortgaged for 200k as the lenders wont lend to me,. However, I can afford 800 a month, as Im paying that in the private sector anyway.

Thatcher abolished the right of local authorities to spend any money on thier housing stocks while in power, hence the sell off, and hence housing associations being everywhere now when theybarelty existed 15 years ago. "Council housing people" for want of a better phrase have gone 3 ways, one stayed in and right to buy, then sold and moved out 2) stayed in never had incomes to buy etc c) went into private rented instead as they are encouraged to do by local authority housing depts. Housing is much more fluid now than ever there is not the clear definition between class and housing there once was.

they fill the gap inbetween. Id never get a council flat, cos I earn too much and Im never going to be priority need, there would have never been need for any of this SO business if irt wasnt for right to buy is an interesting discussion I had once, whether you agree or not.

I think you have made an assumption about a whole sector ( ie shared ownership) based on something youvbe seen. It is not comparable to my flat at all.