My Shared Ownership story (success story...)

Wickedkitten

gabyjane wrote: »

It was implied by another poster that unemployment is not an issue..it was also said that first time buyers would find it easy to get a full mortgage..we were first time buyers like most of the country and couldn't..as can't many others..why you think it is easy is beyond me!..obviously being unemployed also is a fact that yo cant buy a house.

Maxing ourselves out was the one reason we did buy S/O so we didnt end up in a mess..i just wonder why people have such downers on these houses unless they have bought one themselves and it's all gone worng?

Completely anecdotal evidence but I know 4 people who in the past 6 months have either bought a house, or are getting ready to complete on one and not a single one of them has had a problem getting a full mortgage because whilst they "had to buy a house" and "were tired of renting" they actually got houses that fit their budget.

Sure they aren't buying swanky done up new builds, but that's because they can't afford to.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

gabyjane wrote: »

i just wonder why people have such downers on these houses unless they have bought one themselves and it's all gone worng?

A fair number of people have experienced poor quality and bad after sale care in new builds, which are not renowned for being spacious. There will obviously be exceptions to this.

There are many permutations to the shared ownership/equity deal, some of which may suit some people at a certain point in their lives. The problems of the specific deals generally only come to light when people want to sell up and move on, and find there are financial and contractual obstacles to this, as well as the fact that their property is not actually that special or desirable to potential buyers or tenants, and indeed may not even be up to council housing standard.

There are always ads for them in the free london commuting rags; showing delighted young professionals celebrating their new 15% share of a £345k East End "urban living" studio flat.

gabyjane

Wickedkitten wrote: »

Completely anecdotal evidence but I know 4 people who in the past 6 months have either bought a house, or are getting ready to complete on one and not a single one of them has had a problem getting a full mortgage because whilst they "had to buy a house" and "were tired of renting" they actually got houses that fit their budget.

Sure they aren't buying swanky done up new builds, but that's because they can't afford to.

We live on the coast in a seaside resort and houses are like gold dust that dont look like either rabbit hutches or need so much work doing with an over exaggerated price tag!..the others are all quaint cottages or holiday lets and the ones that arent are some rich persons second home.

We bought this as we have been looking for years..never been in a posititon to save up enough for a deposit and this was perfect for us..affordable, new so no outlays, in a good area for us, parking which is unheard of where we live, garden, garage, driveway etc etc..as you can see lots of factors we could never find for half the price buying a 'full' house..

Point is we were tired of renting..buying our friends house for them so decided this was better than nothing as nothing else would fit our budget..it just happens to be a new build and is not 'swanky' but we love it!

gabyjane

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

A fair number of people have experienced poor quality and bad after sale care in new builds, which are not renowned for being spacious. There will obviously be exceptions to this.

There are many permutations to the shared ownership/equity deal, some of which may suit some people at a certain point in their lives. The problems of the specific deals generally only come to light when people want to sell up and move on, and find there are financial and contractual obstacles to this, as well as the fact that their property is not actually that special or desirable to potential buyers or tenants, and indeed may not even be up to council housing standard.

There are always ads for them in the free london commuting rags; showing delighted young professionals celebrating their new 15% share of a £345k East End "urban living" studio flat.

I agree with the issues of new builds BUT only the ones i have seen on these horor shows on tv!! we know quite a few people on this development with new houses and as yet no probs..(been here almost 3 years) I think people forget about all the issues with older houses too..the fact that these are new builds doesnt always mean they are all rubbish..just should be better as new i guess! I would still rather have this than some of our friends houses which are like money pits.

The problems of selling S/O arise all the time when it comes to selling..the H/A getting a % etc is something you decide on when you buy and if you dont agre with it..simple dont buy!..we are in this for the long term and unless the worst comes to the worst and me and dh split up and the house HAS to be sold then i am not thinking about it at all. It is a bit trickier and we will poss lose money but lots of house sales dont go to plan so just feel it is a different way of looking at it/selling the house.
If we weren't staying in the house for long we wouldn't have bought it.
I hope this is desirable to people being where it is and the price..like i said houses are very scarse and ours were snapped up before they were even built (we put a deposit on before we saw it)..again one of the reasons we have waited so long is there is such a huge list im hoping they are in demand..in years to come who knows!

Lol at the London comment..15% ..really people dont do they?

sturgeon

So you're saying there was a block of 80 flats built, the majority of which were sold just like any other flat (not S/O) and the developers decided to let them go for sizably below the market rate? I can understand why people are more than a little sceptical about that premise.

No, they did not let them go for sizably below the market rate. The flats were bought exceptionally quickly and people were paying above what they were probably worth (i.e. ridiculously my flat was marketed at £230k at one point...not that any sold for that amount as it's clearly stupid). So most one beds sold for around £170-185k. The desire for new build flats next to the tube station here is incredible, the rental market is mad and people pay stupid money for them-a block across the road I rented in myself for 6 months. The flats are VERY small and horribly done inside, very cheaply done yet people are desperate for them and will pay £800 a month for a one bed. So when a genuinely very impressive new block was built here, it was obvious why they sold so quickly.

The only reason I got mine even cheaper was because the valuation came in at £10k less than the asking price (far better than other new build valuations on s/o properties being £30-50k under) and I absolutely relented to get it at that price. They did need to sell this flat to a shared ownership buyer and as discussed the process to be approved by the s/o company is very, very longwinded. So as I was there, passed that process and had a mortgage ready to go....after phoning them daily and hounding them they eventually sold below the agreed price. Days after moving in I received a revised valuation which did agree with the developers it was indeed worth £10k more than I paid. So I was lucky.

Eric1

gabyjane wrote: »

I can imagine if we had bought a £150k house (which was/is the norm for where we live) on a full mortgage at around £800-£1000 per month we wouldnt be as happy as we are now and struggling and worrying each month like many of my friends do..not a life really imo.

Everything has a price. Your worrying friends will be rewarded when they sell, quicker and in a bigger market.

gabyjane wrote: »

Like i said bitterness..jealousy..i don't know quite what it is that rallies people up so much over S/O threads

whatever you call it, it's a natural reaction to something fishy (in general, excluding your success stories ) which apparently distorts the market.

N1AK

N1AK wrote:

Unemployment is an issue

gabyjane wrote: »

It was implied by another poster that unemployment is not an issue..

So we've moved from hyperbole to blatant falsehood.

gabyjane wrote: »

but IF you are one with a house..or 5 it really is of no worry why we have bought the type of house we have.

I'm 25, was made redundant when my employer closed in April last year before starting with my new employer in July, I rent and think houses are massively overpriced; but don't let any of that ruin the stereotype of only the rich btlers disliking S/O.

As I have already said unemployment is an issue; it just isn't the gigantic issue you are making it out to be.

I dislike S/O because it encourages even more outrageous property pricing. The idea that buying 50% of a hugely overpriced property somehow replaces the 'novel' old idea of buying the whole damn thing doesn't sit well with me, especially as S/O tends to be on unfavourable terms and encourage people to pay more for the share than it is worth.

dopester

sturgeon wrote: »

My Shared Ownership success story

Hey sturgeon. The provider you used to buy via FTBI (Metropolitan Homes).. on their website they have a whole load of 'success' case examples of people who've bought via FTBI or other SO scheme.

You should get your own self and your own story up on their site in my opinion, proudly telling it alongside your fellow winners.

http://www.mho.co.uk/success-stories

gabyjane

Eric1 wrote: »

Everything has a price. Your worrying friends will be rewarded when they sell, quicker and in a bigger market.

Lol well good luck to them..i wasn't aware it was a competiton though?!..IF we need to sell our house fast then tough luck but seeing as houses at the mo sit for up to months on end im not going to lose any sleep over it!

whatever you call it, it's a natural reaction to something fishy (in general, excluding your success stories ) which apparently distorts the market.

I dont see anything fishy about it tbh..if it distorts the market then maybe thats why we looked into buying one..all things happen for a reason and at the end of the day we are happy.

gabyjane

N1AK wrote: »

So we've moved from hyperbole to blatant falsehood.

Well not really as you already stated below that unemployment is an issue..i dont recall making it a huge issue though?

I'm 25, was made redundant when my employer closed in April last year before starting with my new employer in July, I rent and think houses are massively overpriced; but don't let any of that ruin the stereotype of only the rich btlers disliking S/O.

As I have already said unemployment is an issue; it just isn't the gigantic issue you are making it out to be.

I dislike S/O because it encourages even more outrageous property pricing. The idea that buying 50% of a hugely overpriced property somehow replaces the 'novel' old idea of buying the whole damn thing doesn't sit well with me, especially as S/O tends to be on unfavourable terms and encourage people to pay more for the share than it is worth.

Hmm see for us thats the whole prob why we couldn't buy a 'whole' house..we can easily afford the 50% it's the rest we have to worry about..isnt that the same with all houses though?..will we all ever pay ours off the way things go? at the end of the day when we have paid off our % we will just rent if the worst comes to the worst. Our house as well wasn't overpriced looking at ones of the same size in the area etc.