£38k savings - should I buy a flat or keep saving?

<sebb>

Well if you are that worried about your future income then I would say better to keep your investments in a more liquid form. If you tie it all up in a property, which you might not be able to sell or rent out, then you'll be in trouble.

andrewmp

Guitar wrote: »

I grew up in Washington! My ex-girlfriend lived in that complex. I thought she was joking about the used needles in the starwells until I saw them myself.

A childhood friend of mine ended up living there for a while, became addicted to heroin when living there!

millym

the_3rd_dynasty wrote: »

Well I think I've more or less concluded my thoughts on this for the moment anyway.

Fristly, if it were definitely a rising market then I'd be more inclined to go with it but there still seems to be a lot of uncertainty about which direction house prices are going which is making it sound risky. Not to mention whether there is a strong buyers market at the moment or in the near future too.

Secondly, I'd be better off finding work first as I don't know where I could end up geographically in the new role and should it be a long distance away, managing the property could become tricky.

The idea for this was mainly born out of the desire to own a property outright with no mortgage and interest payments. I think this is so attractive to me because the industry I work in can be quite volatile i.e. one minute things are going fine, then next minute they aren't and before you know it you're out of work. So I'll give it a few weeks/months and see what happens but it's certainly been worth inverstigating and getting a few opinions/thoughts on the matter.

OP, I'm glad to hear that! In a rising market it might have been worth a gamble, but in today's climate, if I had the money you've got, I would be keeping it and using it as a substantial deposit on somewhere nice once I was back in employment.

Paisley is funny, as there are some nice little pockets, so you need to either know the area, or know someone who does. If you're intending buying in Renfrewshire, why not look a little further afield, to the likes of Kilbarchan, Howwood, Houston. Much easier to rent/resell in the surrounding villages.

Also, there is something funny going on with 5 Espedair St, but I'm not sure what. I would avoid it though.

As an aside, I would buy a flat in a block that has been renovated externally (ie stone cleaned) but needing internal renovation. Much more kerb appeal, regardless of area.

As I said, feel free to pm me if you need advice about particular properties in the area and I'll give you an opinion fwiw, lol. All the best!

mynameisdave

The 22K guide price flat mentioned earlier in the thread went for £47,000

Running_Horse

If you think Washington is bad you should see these:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-25831459.html

The cheapest houses in London.

millym

mynameisdave wrote: »

The 22K guide price flat mentioned earlier in the thread went for £47,000

Wow, that is surprising! Something odd going on with that building. So many sales in a very short time.

I do remember years ago, a flat that was infested with some sort of little beetles. Very difficult to treat, as when these flats were built, the space under the floorboards were filled with rubble, for insulation. Whole block was infested, but it would have taken everyone in the building to get together and do something about it. Since most were privately let, LLs were not interested. Cost too much.

the_3rd_dynasty

mynameisdave wrote: »

The 22K guide price flat mentioned earlier in the thread went for £47,000

Well that's a lot to pay considering how many times the flat has changed hands at less than half that value.

How did you find out this information?

Also, can anybody come up with any theories as to why that flat would have sold for so much over the guide price?

mynameisdave

Its in the key features on the link you posted - it was actually due up for auction the day after you posted so I thought I would check back on it.

the_3rd_dynasty

mynameisdave wrote: »

Its in the key features on the link you posted - it was actually due up for auction the day after you posted so I thought I would check back on it.

Ok, well that would have been outwith my budget anyway

roses

Running_Horse wrote: »

You can get a flat in Washington for around £10,000 in a "gated community".

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-30538379.html

Does gated mean a prison?

Flat costs £10,000 to buy but monthly service charge is £100!