£17,000 lost in 3 years. Advice please

DarkFallout

jop8383 wrote: »

hi,
Just wanted some advice from peeps on here. 3 years ago I had saved up £10,000 and excitedly bought my own flat. Now 3 years down the line I was looking to move next year to somewhere bigger. Can afford a bigger mortgage and want to buy a bigger house to start a family in the next few years (got engaged in August). The lease is currently 76 years which a few friends have panicked me adn said was very short and would affect the price of the property considerably. I did enquire when I bought the flat 3 years ago the cost of extending the lease adn was informed by the freeholder about £18,000. (Since looking into this a bit more this seems quite high?).
Anyway I recently phoned an estate agent to ask some advice and was told in the current property climate the value of my flat is now about £92,000 (they had just sold one in same area as us). I am now completely stuck! They didnt give the impression that the lease made that much difference at 76 years but that the value had just dropped that much. I have put another 6000 into the property in the last 3 years so outstanding mortgage is about £93,000. So instead of having bout £16,000 for deposit on next house I'm down to nothing and after speaking to mortgage advisor I will need at least 15% deposit to get somewhere bigger which is going to be about £15,000-£20,000. Not possible!!
What would people do in this instance!?
At the mo I'm gutted I bought at all. Feel I have thrown £16,000 down the drain and have been paying interest so should really just have rented seeing as I'll now have to pay stamp duty when i do move (if ever now!!)

Thanks for your advice

Jo

sorry if this is badly written.

renting for 3 years you would probably may something similar to 16K ...

the property game is not always a win game ... and it will get even worse in the future in my opinion ...

no one forced you to buy the flat 3 years ago ... renting gives you more flexibility ... I can buy whatever house I want even in the most expensive villages in my area, but istead of that I am renting a flat in a relatively cheap area as I see no point in throwing money for the next 25-30 years in this economic enviroment ...

as a homeowner you will be always prone to tax hikes and interest rate hikes ...

seven-day-weekend

jop8383 wrote: »

Thanks. It isn't a 2 bedroom. Just 1 so not possible to start family but that might have to go on hold until we are in more stable position.

Oh right. Have I got confused? I'm sure the one I looked at on rightmove had two bedrooms!

EDITED TO ADD: It's me. I have looked at a link to rightmove from another thread and posted on this one. That's what's called a Senior Moment. Sorry!

amcluesent

Did you buy a new build? Back in the peak of 2007 apartments and new builds were silly overvalued, sold to BTLs etc. who banked on capital gains to compensate for the poor
yields.

They've only been saved from repo by rock-bottom tracker rates, but these can't last. At best prices will go sideways, with a real loss if inflation remains high, but could be prices will fall back another 15%-20% once the Winter of Discontent kicks in and there's 500,000 more on the dole.

There's not much to be done except overpay and repent at leisure.

Nothing to stop you starting a family and having the wain sleep in a pull-out drawer from your divan bed. The CB will come in handy.

Emmzi

plenty people have kids in a one bedroom flat. don't need to really worry until they are a bit older, and then there's always sofa bed for grown ups.

It depends if you are keen to have a kid or only have a kid if they can have loads of stuff...

pararct

I was born in the late 1950's and had to sleep in a drawer for the first year or so
Outside toilets were still very prominent in the 60's bit chilly in the middle of winter which is why we kept potties under the bed.

These times were not hard simply different. Never did us any harm. If there is a will there is a way..

Rainmaker_uk

You could always rent it out and then rent a 2 bed place whilst waiting for prices to come back at some point.

MadnessOfHPI

MadnessOfHPC wrote: »

But he's not getting out at break even as he's lost his deposit. Best to stay put for the house price rises from this coming winter. If you are on the ladder it's insane to get off it.

And why will prices rise this winter? Prices have fallen throughout the summer when people should have been buying. The winter will see some big falls. This will last several years.

He Should sell up now cut his losses, rent and save save save. Buy again in a few years time. You won't miss the boat.

Youre on a propery snake not a ladder, get our now while you still can