House Price Crash Discussion Thread

harryhound

The whole point about negative equity is that you are likely to be "insolvent", with debts exceeding assets.
You are "stuck" - the Government has been making noises about taking homes into public ownership, while allowing their former owners to pay rent; but where is our bankrupt government going to get the cash?

Have you considered "rent-a-room" as you have spare accommodation?

gillez

andy65 wrote: »

What is the trend of housing price,up or down. i dont really have no idea about that.

Is this a joke posting? Yes, yes, I think it must be. Silly me - almost fell for that!

Mary_Hartnell

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/mortgage-arrears-help

van_persie

Katkin wrote: »

My first post on this thread so please go easy on me.

Our house has been on the market for almost 12 months, and we have been reducing it steadily ever since. We bought in 2003 and although it has gone up in value we arent interested in making loads of money off it. We bought it to live in not to profit from. We dont care if we just got an extra 3% on top of what we bought it for (currently on for around 53% more than we bought it for and was valued at 83% more) BUT other sellers seem to be in a different world. We cant do this if we cant buy another house in that price range. I understand that people may be in negative equity when selling their house and am sorry for their position. Maybe if everyone stopped trying to make loads then the market would sort itself out. It is soooo exasperating as we've missed the deadline for moving now as it is schooling thats the problem for us and applications have now closed for this year. We may be stuck here for years.:sad:

This is the crucial part, for me. You say other sellers are in a 'different world' - presumably because you feel they're asking too much for their properties yet you are marketing yours for 53% above its 2003 purchase price. What does this tell you?

'If everyone stopped trying to make loads...' - precisely what you're doing, is it not?

The fact that your property has been on the market for over a year means it is over-priced. Simple as that.

Vendors must now accept that their properties are not 'worth' what they were in Summer 2007 and I'm afraid you're one of them.

The answer? Get ahead of the (downward) curve. Reduce heavily and pray for a buyer whilst making comparable offers elsewhere. Sadly, there are always distressed sellers (job losses, reposessions, etc.) as well as the usual probate sales (divorces, deaths) not to mention investors bailing out.

Alternatively, rent. But I have the feeling you're not prepared to do that...

Good luck,
VP

Reasons_to_be_cheerful

This is my first post so apologies if I am in the wrong thread or if it has been asked before.

If house prices are falling by as much as is reported can we ask for our council tax to be re-assessed? My understanding is that council tax is calculated on price bands so surely many of us may will have gone down a band.

I hope this makes sense!

MrDT

Reasons_to_be_cheerful wrote: »

This is my first post so apologies if I am in the wrong thread or if it has been asked before.

If house prices are falling by as much as is reported can we ask for our council tax to be re-assessed? My understanding is that council tax is calculated on price bands so surely many of us may will have gone down a band.

I hope this makes sense!

Based on a valuation of your house back in the nineties. Sorry, no dice.

fiscticious

me and the missus bought our 1 bedroom flat in norwich in april 2007 for 103k. now worth approx 95k (online estimate). bah.

Unfortunately people buy a house and look at it as a 2 year proposition. People also think their own house is some sort of business earning asset. Your own home doesn't pay you wages.
Each time you sell your house and buy a new one you have costs, taxes, loan costs, agent commission, removalist etc etc. The costs can be up around 10% of the house value.
People sell their house on a high and purchase the house that was 50000 extra 3 years ago which in the boom when they thought made their cash is 150000 extra.
Then once they have moved to the new house they start painting and decorating to suit themselves once again.

If they took the time and effort to establish the total hours even dealing with agents and tradesmen they'd shudder.

The truth of the matter is that the majority of people truly don't apply proper accounting practices when they buy and sell their house.

Buy a house now while no one else is. If you cant afford it now you never will.

Buy a house live in it as a home. If you want to make money start a business that you know and work the hours.

BB2008

Opinions welcome

I own a 1 bed flat bought from council 08/06 for 48% reduction @ a cost of £35k, mortgage for 35k, cannot sell till 08/11 unless i lose the reduction. Was single when i bougtht it im now living with and a 6 month old son.

We are thinking of renting the flat £350 (mortgage £160) and buying a house, we have 32k in savings and no adverse credit income 40k so realistically £125k max on a house purchase. Mortgage shopping good rates 3.55/3.99 if you have 75% LTV. or 5%+ of 15% LTV.

Dilemma, house we have seen is a new build repo from the builder by the bank was originally 179k dropped to 129k for quick sale, i put an offer in this morning at 99k raised to 110k they wont accept less than 124k.

75% of 124k is 31k, + 1k legal, 2k moving decoration/carpets etc, total cost of everything we put at 35.5k - which means we eat into an overdraft or CC for 3.5k; will sell the flat in 2011 and put the equity back into the saving accounts.

Realism: Were buying a home not an investment, BUT were gambling on the flat being rented longterm and borrowing 3.5k+

Advice greatly appreciated...

harryhound

Ex council property often has restrictive covenants on it, in addition to the "you cannot sell until 2011" restriction - so check your paperwork if you were sensible enough to photocopy everything (Or pay your mortgage provider for copies (if they have bothered to keep them) or follow the thread of what the Land Registry has recorded about your property - perhaps held on a neighbouring title and cross referenced).

Do you have other sources of income that mop up your personal allowance?
Remember 10% of the rent is tax free (to pay for maintenance) and the rest can be offset against the mortgage.

A flat is always letable if well connected with places where people work.
Universities, hospitals, etc.

Personally, I would keep the flat until both of you feel secure in your new home, relationship and jobs, while renting something bigger.
I would not be in a rush to buy unless you get a really good price - there are a lot more repo's in the pipeline for at least the next 12 months.

Longer term I'm seriously worried about the value of the GBP ("Sterling")

Harry.

coopstar23

I wouldn't bother buying for another year or so, you'll get a better deal, and you can save up a bigger deposit in the meantime ie so you'll get a cheaper mortgage. House prices are going nowhere for atleast 2-3 years if not more, so you won't be missing out. Good luck with whatever you decide. I hope you make the right decision for you!