Do you get fed up with the spin?

jellyang

I have been lucky that the increase in house prices have trebled my house value. I am about to sell & will be able to pay my debts & hopefully either be mortgage free or have at least an 70-80% deposit for smaller property.

The downside my daughter earns 12k per year with the average price of a flat in Norwich £100k how is she ever going to get on the property ladder? Told her to go find a very rich man !!

Prices will crash , its a very scary thought with people taking out such huge mortgages.



jellyang

Broken_hearted

I think house prices are crazy. I hope they come down soon as many can't afford to buy and those who can often end up in a mess, as the repayments are too high.

Mrs_Sparkle

jellyang wrote:

I have been lucky that the increase in house prices have trebled my house value. I am about to sell & will be able to pay my debts & hopefully either be mortgage free or have at least an 70-80% deposit for smaller property.

See, that's what I mean. I don't think it's unrealistic for the average price to go up from £180K (?) to £300K in 10 years based on previous rises. Some of us are in a catch 22 situation: i.e. I have plenty of equity in my house to clear all debt if I sold it BUT I'd have to then get back onto the property ladder and at these prices I just wouldn't be able to. So I'd rent for a few years hoping that prices go down but actually they might not and I might waste a few years waiting. And if they did crash that would leave people in the misery of negative equity which wouldn't be good either. But these constant price rises are also bad for me because I'll find it very hard to move to a bigger family house as the gap is just too big.

Well done jellyang though- what a lovely situation to be in. I hope to be in that situation one day :T

Verbatim

Over the last 50 years and probably much longer prices have increased in the long term. There have been crashes, 1990 and I think 1976 ish most recently. However they always recover in the medium term, within 5 years or so. The 9/11 effect was much shorter term.

Although there are always some forecasters who predict meltdown most see the trend continuing as long as the economy is buoyant. Among other reasons more Eastern Europeans and others coming here for work mean more flats and houses are required for them to live in.

Altho' house prices are daft some of these forecasters maintain they're affordable due to the amount of salary required to maintain the mortgages being do-able in comparison to the high sums paid to those in employment. As long as houses are selling at or near the sums asked they'll remain high. When they're really not affordable they'll stabilize or come down, but imho only temporarily.

Also I think a very high proportion of first time buyers get a helping hand from parents with the deposit. This no doubt means that there are many wannabe ftb's who can't get that help. I suppose that's why shared ownership and buying with friends schemes have become so popular with websites and speed "dating" clubs to put wld be shared buyers in touch with each other.

I'm just really glad that I'm not looking to buy my first property now and sympathize with everyone trying to get on the ladder these days.

do_it_today!

Im not sure how or when this crash is coming - things will have to correct themselves somehow but how long one might need to wait nobody knows... this time last year I was looking at houses in a specific area in South East London now this time last year 1930's 3bed semi detached with garage starting at £230k we were buying one for £250k (and then got gazzumped!!) now they are on the market for £320-345k !!!! which is crazy!!! and well out of our price range :mad:
but where demand is outstripping supply it will continue (for now) because people will find a way to borrow the money whether they can really afford it or not. But this house of cards will have to tumble at some point...!?!?
All we can do at this point is to prepare really:
1) clear your debts :j
2) live debt free - ie resolve to change your mindset to avoid future debt :j
3) start building a deposit :j
and eventually a house will come! at the right time the right house will be available for you when you are in the right position to have it.
someone will always need to sell a house for various reasons at the moment its a sellers market but the tables will turn - just try and be ready for when they do.
Commitment is the key really I remember watching a property show about this student who worked weekends and holidays and saved £25,000!! over eight years because she wanted to buy a house; fortunately for her, her parents matched her savings - she was able to buy a three bedroom house and then she took in a lodger who in turned helped pay most of her mortgage cost. Now not everyone is able to do that or lucky to have parents to back them with cash. But we all have choice (to varing degrees depending on circumstances) and priorities; by focusing on whats really important to each of us and acting on it will bring us closer to what we want. And at times we have to do things we dont want to do to reach that point. ie budget not go out so much maybe weekend away instead of two week exotic hols, have a lodger sell luxury car.

I really admire that girl for her commitment and determination I bet if she told her colleagues of her plan at her part time job some of them would have laughed at her but she managed to do what she set out to do even though it took eight years.

its awful having debt but also an opportunity to grow, become stronger learn about ourselves and make different/better choices.

I was gutted about losing the house - it was right at the top of our budget but who knows... maybe a year or two years we might have got into trouble and lost it.... :eek: right now we are focusing on being in a stronger position financially ie clearing debt building a more stable footing bigger deposit!

one thing I do know for sure that we will either be able to have one of those houses if not something MUCH better in the future cause we are sorting ourselves out now. who knows - we may even just stay right where we are now but we are working today to clear our debts and building a future where we are in control of our money and not being controlled by it!
we can do it!
this website is brilliant it shows we are not alone and together sharing our knowledge, experience and support we can overcome :T

immoral_angeluk

Christ I hope not or we'll be renting for the rest of our lives!

do_it_today!

No way Immoral_angeluk not with the gusto your tackling your debt! reading your posts you guys are focused and committed - when the debts are finished just apply yourself to building that deposit the way you are obliterating that debt and you'll get there! :T

immoral_angeluk

Can't wait to get on the property ladder but the way house prices are going we'll only be able to afford a shed! lol! Just out of interest what % is the normal deposit required nowadays?

Mrs_Sparkle

immoral_angeluk wrote:

Can't wait to get on the property ladder but the way house prices are going we'll only be able to afford a shed! lol! Just out of interest what % is the normal deposit required nowadays?

5-10% although there are 100% (and more) mortgages available. Generally the more deposit you have the better rates you'll be able to get.

Sassers

Hello everyone - this thread really got me thinking.....
Having bought my first house just over two years ago, I went everywhere I could think of, estate agents, auctions, even word of mouth through friends etc... to find somewhere to live.
It took me 18 months to find my house - the upside was the price and the subsquent price rise which means my property is now worth almost £70k, the downside there was no heating, no kitchen, dry rot and no damp proof course. It cost 29,500. And having gone through DIY hell (and still going through it, I have no intention to sell or move).....
Anyway, having a browse through the auction websites again the other day, I felt really sad to see the amount of properties that are up for sale through reposession. Sorry to ramble but having felt rootless for so many years, moving around from job to job, I had to settle somewhere `to hang my hat'.
What's heartbreaking for me is the repo's are slowly creeping back again - having a house of my own was the dream, I dread to think how many of these people have had that shattered....
And where I live was given a two page feature in the Guardian and mentioned in loads of other newspapers recently being the cheapest place to live in the UK. Cue all the speculative Buy-to-Letters swamping the area.....
I'm dreading the onset of any housing recession as it means the communities in my area will die like they did in the 80's.There's already loads of houses with `To Let' signs on them that've been empty for yonks.
Sorry 'bout the doom and gloom, I just wanted to add me two bobs-worth
love Sas xx