Tales from the city

crazy_cat_lady

Huge congratulations on getting the rent reduced! I hope the viewing went well

ani*fan

Thanks everyone. I'm very pleased.

The owner asked the leasing agent to warn me that when the housing situation recovers then the rent will go up again. Well, duh! Sounds like he is in a small panic about it all. No wonder. I would be too. He definitely paid way over the odds for this flat and won't ever get that money back. Oh well, not my problem.

In the meantime, our flat viewing went really well and we want to buy the flat. It's much more affordable than the house we looked at last year (which has dropped it's price by £10k and still no-one will buy it, it's wildly overpriced now just 6 months later.) We are both too shattered to be brimming over with excitement but it's definitely the flat for us. It will need loads of work though which is fine 'cos I can use my mse superpowers to keep all the costs down as we go. :money: Fingers crossed it works out for us. I'm going to get quotes from solicitors and then note our interest today.

The only downside is that we will be adding to the debt. By how much, I'm not entirely sure but I've had a look at this month's budget and trimmed everything back to the bone. If we're going to go for this, we need to be serious. I also need to look at a budget for living there, potential mortgage costs and how long it would take to pay things back while making the flat liveable in the meantime.

Phew. So much to do, so many lists to make, so many prices of things to guess at and confirm, and the wedding approaching, and an assignment due soon-ish, and so many more things I can't even think of right now. Overwhemed? Maybe a little. But it's all fun too.

Happy mse- ing everyone.

ani*fan

We went for some mortgage advice yesterday. The best choice was with the Clydesdale who apparently are very slow to offer mortgages and take a long time making a decision. The second choice was Lloyds and they offered us a DIP for the full amount we require. We came away quite pleased with ourselves that someone was pprepared to offer us a mortgage. So we had to have a think about how much to offer for the flat on Monday. We wanted to pay the full fixed price amount, just to get it over with.

As we mulled it over all day long we started to get a bit of perspective. I got annoyed about the debt so we had a think about how to minimise the amount of debt we take on while doing this. Obviously we are not quite in a comfortable enough position to buy yet, but we are working towards that and in the meantime, OH's parents are happy to help.

On paper we look loaded. haha!

So, the faster-to-arrange Lloyds mortgage has a £995 set up fee (with £250 cashback). The slow mortgage doesn't have any fee. We should go with the slow one, no brainer, it's a £745 saving if we can manage to wait.

If we offer the fixed asking price then our offer will be accepted and we will get the flat. If we offer low, we can realistically get £5k knocked off the buying price. However, there is someone else who has viewed the flat many times but not formally noted her interest. She might get suddenly more interested if we offer low, and then steal it from under our noses by offering the asking price. We just don't know what she's going to do.

It's exciting, all this.

So our strategy is to take a risk, offer low and hope that the other buyer is not that interested. We'll also try for the slow, cheaper mortgage. And if by some good luck it all gets delayed by a month or two, then that's more lots of £200 in the 'help to buy' isa, more £50 bonuses and less outlay for us overall.

Does this sound like a good plan? Anyone see any holes in it?

Apart from the fact that the credit card debt will now not be paid off in a year due to all the work that needs doing on the flat. It's literally loads. But the flat is so perfect. It's the whole ground floor, huge, with front and back garden, near OH's work, room for a dining table, high ceilings, period features, an open fireplace (just like my country cottage!), and importantly we can continue to enjoy car- free living well into the next 10 years. :money:

If we manage to pull this off then I will add the mortgage including the debt to OH's parents into my signature and focus on overpaying that once the credit cards are away.

Another consideration is that the market here has pretty much bottomed out. Lots of people are starting to buy and there are still loads of properties available but it won't be long 'til there are much less. Prices have stabilised. If we wait even a year it will be a very different situation.

Fingers crossed this works out.

ani*fan

Other mse news...

I got my login in details for my new TSB account. I transferred my spends over there and have started using my debit card. I need to get 2 DDs moved over and put a bit more cash in to meet the monthly requirement then just wait for the tenners to start arriving. Chuffed.

And back to the flat...

I have also been trying to work out what repairs to the potential new flat would cost. Because it's 100 years old, we will need to get a full structural survey done. It's very hard to tell how secure it is or not and we could really use that peace of mind. The survey will also provide us with a comprehensive list to start working from. I'm really trying not to want this too much. The best negotiating happens when you're fully prepared to walk away.

We can only wait and see.

It's been pay day weekend and for a treat, we went to McDonald's yesterday. :rotfl: I guess this is how it will be once we're property owners.

crazy_cat_lady

Fingers crossed for you ani. I haven't got any useful advice as we bought our house 13 years ago when you could get mortgages for 125% in the ridiculous days. But your plan sounds good to me. And I would definitely go for the full survey so you know exactly what you have to deal with.

in_need_of_direction

Living in a house built in 1906 with open fire, high ceilings,etc. I'd def go for the full survey as these properties can be money pits. That said, I bought this place in the days when we were pleased to have a 12.9% interest rate. On the plus side, when you buy an old property that needs work, there's greater potential for an increase in value.

ani*fan

crazy_cat_lady wrote: »

Fingers crossed for you ani. I haven't got any useful advice as we bought our house 13 years ago when you could get mortgages for 125% in the ridiculous days.

Omg, I had one of those mortgages too, was it a Northern Rock Together mortgage? Where part of it was a personal loan? Oh happy days when they just threw money at you.

in_need_of_direction wrote: »

I bought this place in the days when we were pleased to have a 12.9% interest rate.

12.9%?? :eek: Did that not cost a fortune every month? We were offered 3.59% which I thought was ok given we're first time buyers with neither of us owning already.

crazy_cat_lady

Yes, that's the one Ani. Was never so happy as when I managed to remortgage last year and knock 5 years off for the same monthly payment.

ani*fan

crazy_cat_lady wrote: »

Yes, that's the one Ani. Was never so happy as when I managed to remortgage last year and knock 5 years off for the same monthly payment.

Wow, that's brilliant, well done you!

We made an offer today, £10k under the asking price, on tenterhooks now waiting to hear although the offices are closed now so it will be tomorrow at the earliest.

How am I supposed to stand the waiting???

crazy_cat_lady

Everything crossed for you...