Str

lostinrates

Afriend wrote: »

Are your parents still together? Or is 'Dad' seeing a lot of his first wife?
Sorry, just me being nosey (taking a break from study).

Actually, my poor phrasing was ...poignant.

Afriend_2

lostinrates wrote: »

Actually, my poor phrasing was ...poignant.

That's a shame. Going abroad for winter months sounds like a good idea to me. Especially in older age when the joints start to stiffen up. Does Mum have anyone to look after her or does that responsibility fall on you? Re-reading this I am beginning to sound a little metrosexual, so I'll stop it now and go back to my studying.

lostinrates

Afriend wrote: »

That's a shame. Going abroad for winter months sounds like a good idea to me. Especially in older age when the joints start to stiffen up. Does Mum have anyone to look after her or does that responsibility fall on you? Re-reading I am starting to sound a little metrosexual, so I'll stop it now and go back to my studying.

Its not really a shame. It seems it might be a possibility that works well for people who are still good friends and finanically linked. They don't want to separate properly, noone else is involved, but they don't want to live together full time: I think its as much to do with changes in society and expectations over lifetime as well as their marriage. Its likely they will continue much as now, but travelling more, dad wants to get involved if I start a business. the ''responsibility' , for both -which I do not expect to change during th UK months-falls to DH and I (full time with one, part time with the other, one has another child), but I'm more than willing to catch it. They are both pretty interesting people, from whom I continue to learn, and its a repsonsibilty unlikely to come to us from DH's surviving parent. who knows, plans may change again..:)

Gorgeous_George

I almost STR'd early 2008. My plan was to bank the cash and use the interest to pay the rent. It wouldn't have worked because interest rates plummetted. So, I would have been paying £850 per month in rent with only about half coming from interest earned meaning I'd have paid £5,100 towards rent or £7,650 over 18 months.

My house has devalued of course, probably by as much as £30K. So, buying back would make my savings around £25K. Then I'd have Stamp Duty, selling and buying costs etc., which would reduce it to nearer £20K or about a year's take home pay. But I would have had decorating costs for two homes, other fees associated with renting and although I would have a slightly smaller mortgage, it would not be at the 1.24% that I currently pay.

Right now, I would be concerned that I might have missed the bottom. I would have had the stress of selling, moving and renting. I would be looking forward to the stress of buying, moving from rental to my own home again.

All in all, I think I'd have been just as happy whatever I'd done in early 2008. I expected the market to fall much more than it did. I could yet be right.

GG

silvercar

Right now, I would be concerned that I might have missed the bottom.

I wonder what serious STRs and delaying FTBs do. There is the real risk in some areas that the bottom may have passed. Can they rely on a W shaped curve? Or do they feel pressurised to jump in now, fearful that prices may increase soon?
Even for those convinced that prices remain too high, at what point does the realisation kick in that even if they are too high by some peeps definitions they aren't going to get much lower?

The above may not be true in all areas now, but it is true in some. It will happen in other areas. There will always be people hoping to buy at the bottom who miss the boat. What do they do? Aside from posting on here that prices are too high, when do they decide that, too high or not, if thy don't buy soon they won't be able to afford to till the bottom of the next cycle?

the_ash_and_the_oak

as stated by many others (bull and bear) don't really agree that there are (or ever were) that many people 'sitting around waiting for the bottom'. most people simply want a house and will pay whatever they can to get one (their ability to do so is not defined by sentiment but by access to finance)

Anyone that has missed the boat in feb (again) and cannot buy now isn't really somebody who can afford to sail on that boat imo

the_ash_and_the_oak

plus those who missed the boat in feb are more likely to have missed it because they were unable to arrange finance than because of waiting to time a bottom imo