Growing a Stagnant Deposit

house123

I have tried to buy a house a couple of times this year and both times the purchase has fallen through.
This has been obviously very frustrating and of course financially detrimental as the process as broken down, on both occasions very close to exchange. I have a deposit of about £25,000 but have lost about £2000 because of these two failures.
I have my deposit in a couple of savings accounts paying about 3% and as you can imagine this is not really giving me any real return. Equally I am not contributing anything to my deposit at the moment either. Therefore has anyone got any sensible advice on how to get a better return... i.e. shares, currency, gold etc?

gt94sss2

house123 wrote: »

I have my deposit in a couple of savings accounts paying about 3% and as you can imagine this is not really giving me any real return. Equally I am not contributing anything to my deposit at the moment either. Therefore has anyone got any sensible advice on how to get a better return... i.e. shares, currency, gold etc?

If you still intend to use the money as a deposit at some time in the future, you are already following the best strategy - keeping it in savings accounts (though do check that you in a competitive account)

Investing in things like shares, currency, gold etc mean your capital will be at risk..

Regards
Sunil

house123

gt94sss2 wrote: »

If you still intend to use the money as a deposit at some time in the future, you are already following the best strategy - keeping it in savings accounts (though do check that you in a competitive account)
Sunil

Thanks for your advice.
My problem is I am worried about house price increases, i don't want to just buy anything because of my fear, as it is a little tight between what I need and what I can afford.
I was thinking about investing some in to one of the big house builders to try and create a win win scenario. I.e. if prices go down then of course I will probably lose on the shares, but win on what I can afford as house prices come down. Also the share prices on the builders are still very low. But on the other side of the coin if house prices rise then builders shares will generally increase in value and will soften the blow of the HPI.

Sorry if that’s a really naive outlook.

gt94sss2

house123 wrote: »

I was thinking about investing some in to one of the big house builders to try and create a win win scenario. I.e. if prices go down then of course I will probably lose on the shares, but win on what I can afford as house prices come down. Also the share prices on the builders are still very low. But on the other side of the coin if house prices rise then builders shares will generally increase in value and will soften the blow of the HPI.

Not naive but there is no reason why the share prices of house builders has to be linked to the HPI.

The general advice is that if you want to invest in things like shares, you need to be prepared to invest your money for 5 years+ and at worst, be prepared to lose it all.

Not really the sort of place I would want to invest money designed to be used for a deposit in the short/medium term - and where I imagine the security of your capital is all important.

Regards
Sunil

house123

gt94sss2 wrote: »

Not naive but there is no reason why the share prices of house builders has to be linked to the HPI.
Sunil

Interestingly and historically is does. But you are right it probably makes sense to play it safe. If i lose then I will never be able to buy, which for me is a must. Thanks again.

opinions4u

house123 wrote: »

I was thinking about investing some in to one of the big house builders to try and create a win win scenario. I.e. if prices go down then of course I will probably lose on the shares, but win on what I can afford as house prices come down

Sounds like a bit like the HBOS business model.

Ah, except they forgot house prices could fall!

OP: Stick to savings accounts.

house123

opinions4u wrote: »

Sounds like a bit like the HBOS business model.

Ah, except they forgot house prices could fall!

le

Thanks for that.. very knowledgable