Mis advised- FURIOUS

Thrugelmir

Lance wrote: »

It's a pity you didn't buy 3 years ago...... Northern Rock had some great deals called 'Together' which helped people with no deposit and on a very tight budget to get a house, unfortunately they seem to have stopped it now.....

And now?

These same people are trapped with negative equity on 5% plus interest only mortgages.

NR will be remembered in the years to come for its poor lending practices which created problems for a whole generation.

Courtmill

Sorry... but where did kids come into this?

I said ONE day I want a family. Right now it's just me, my boyfriend and our cat. I'm 21... and will not be having children anytime soon.

We are just looking to get on the market, what's so wrong with that? We could not, and we could live in a flat, chucking money down the toilet in rent... and attempt to save up however many tens of thousands of pounds we need as a deposit... by which time, I'd probably be nearly 30, and have wasted the last few years saving for something, and having no money for something, which will then leave me with no money anyway.

I think there are so many reasons to be wary, and believe me, I've spent many a sleepless night figuring it out- but my boyfriend and I are happy with this decision. We've talked it through with a million and one people, and we understand that it might not all be roses- but I'm chosing to the the roses amongst the thorns.

Oh and with regards to the value of the property- I think the valuation carried out by Halifax is midly incorrect at the moment anyway- bearing in mind the house is still mid build- and they haven't accounted for it being a coach house with a very large garden. (Of which there are no others in the area, therefore giving no real room for comparison)

But anyway- apparently everyone on here who brought a house now seems to regret it- and maybe I will... but I live to make mistakes, and then fix them. Life would be really boring without risks.

And yes, I was FURIOUS- because some smart !!!!! mortgage advisor thought he could get away with tricking us into handing over an extra £1500... but hey, I sorted that one out didn't I?

arby

anyone who thinks renting is throwing money down the toilet has no grasp of finances and how different situations require different approaches. Sometimes it is 'dead money' (when house prices are rising rapidly), but at other times it's the best decision you could ever make. By the fact you won't even look at that shows that you've made your mind up without (seriously) considering the alternatives. You have effectively no deposit, buying an over-priced new-build (although you state you know the value of it better than a professional surveyor) in a market where all the current risks are accepted to be on the downside. I wish you well in your future, and with hard work you should be happy and fine; my point is that another approach could lead you to be happy and fine with less work

edit: you say that it'd take you ten years to save a deposit, yet you're quite happy to take on the challenge of saving 30k in 5 years just to pay off the builder?

Courtmill

Arby, I've been paying rent for the last 6 years... and all of that money has disappeared. I have not benefited from that money... I have lost it, never to see it again.

I have seriously considered the options, and it is a logical step for my boyfriend and I to take. We would rather be paying a mortgage off, and saving to pay off the builders proportion, than be throwing money at someone else's mortgage and saving to put a deposit on a house for a long time.

We don't have to pay off the builders amount in cash, we can always remortgage, or sell the house- but that obviously depends on the situation at the time. We have 10 years to pay back the builders, but the first 5 years is interest free. So, we're going to make as much good out of the situation as possible.

House prices are lowish at the moment, and so are interest rates. It is a good time to be a first time buyer. The situation is going to get more financially challenging, but that's going to affect everyone, one way or another.

I appreciate your point Arby, but I really don't see how there is another approach for us right now. We've been thrown a rare chance to get on the ladder, have a home to call ours and to be paying towards something that will be ours to pass on one day- even if it's not that house. Yes, interest rates are going to go up, and yes house prices may fall again... but I am not a wait and see kind of person, and don't really want to wait another 5 years to see if things are better then. They might not... I might not even be here.

If we can afford to save £500 a month once we're in the house, which we can, then that money is going to cover us for all eventualities. We are hoping to overpay the mortgage slightly, save up as much as possible and see where we go. We'll have a fund to either save our butts if we're in negative equity and paying over the odds, or if we're okay, to chuck at Persimmon. In the 6th year, we start paying minimal interest on Persimmons part, and we've got until the 10th year to pay it off...

A little added pressure maybe, but something that will surely encourage utter sensibilty with regards to money one way or another right?

Over and out

arby

ok. good luck.

Thrugelmir

arby wrote: »

ok. good luck.

As hard as you try. Sometimes people have to learn for themselves.

There's a new generation of homebuyer that know nothing else .

House prices are lowish at the moment, and so are interest rates. It is a good time to be a first time buyer

Some of us, know we are heading.

ILW

Why does the term "property ladder" get on my nerves?

Wutang_2

ILW wrote: »

Why does the term "property ladder" get on my nerves?

Likewise when people rent (in a house, warm, sheltered, whilst house prices have plummetted) and state its money down the drain!

Hugbubble

Courtmill wrote: »

We are just looking to get on the market, what's so wrong with that? We could not, and we could live in a flat, chucking money down the toilet in rent... and attempt to save up however many tens of thousands of pounds we need as a deposit... by which time, I'd probably be nearly 30, and have wasted the last few years saving for something, and having no money for something, which will then leave me with no money anyway.

Oh heck. That's where I went wrong- I didn't buy at 21 years old, but rather waited, threw money away on rent, saved a deposit and became financially secure before buying at nearly 30. How I wish I had rushed into buying an overpriced cardboard coach house.

Courtmill wrote: »

But anyway- apparently everyone on here who brought a house now seems to regret it- and maybe I will... but I live to make mistakes, and then fix them. Life would be really boring without risks.

Yep, negative equity and repossession are such a blast, hey!

Courtmill

Please someone explain to me how renting is not money that is ultimately wasted.

I can either pay £x amount each month to pay someone else's mortgage, which is of no benefit to me, and leaves me with very few rights- but no commitment, or I can pay £x amount a month on a house which is designed to be an asset one day in the future. If its the same money, then why not put it towards your own property, instead of towards someone else's? And so what if it costs more a few months- if you're renting and things go bad, what's to say you wont end up homeless when your landlord goes bankrupt and sells the house you call home, leaving you with nowhere to live. Or worse, has no choice put to up your rent to cover their rising prices.
It's going to turn out the same one way or another...

Maybe I really am that fresh and foolish but from a the view of someone who rent's... I'd rather be putting my money into something worthwhile!

I do wonder what you all think will come of your advice? Do you really think that your jaded and less than positive encouragement is going to stop anyone- not just me- from buying a house. Are you expecting people to turn around and say "okay virtual people.. you're right, I'm not buying that house, I'm going to jack it in, lose over £1000 in fees and just keep renting- and see what happens?"

I sincerely appreciate your advice and your views, it's good to hear what other people think and give a new perspective... but you should know that in the same way you probably never listened to what anyone else told you, neither is anyone going to listen to you.

Don't think me argumentative, just pointing out the way it seems to me. The way I see it, all this scaremongering is what's stopping the economy improving. It's what means people aren't buying houses, which wont give the market chance to recover. People need to stop being so afraid, and start investing money again, start spending money again. It's the only way things will get better. There are tough times ahead for everyone, and even at my ripe old age, I have enough sense to know that sh** happens and we've got to get on with it. Come on people, get back in touch with the good old British Grit...

This is what its going to be like for a while, and if we all sit back and refuse to move forward, things will stay like this. Yeah so shoot me if you think the deal I'm offered is doomed to failure, but I'm happy.

The "property ladder"--- okay I won't call it that. I want a house. I want to know that in 30 years, I'll own a house. I will then be mortgage, and rent free for the rest of my life- leaving me to enjoy the money I earn in my old age. It will also leave me with something to pass on- as Conrad posted previously.