Just a general moan about housing and a missed opportunity

buglawton

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Most people get on the property ladder by buying what they can afford. May not be a dream property. However when the front door shuts it's somewhere you can call home. Personalise the property as you wish etc. Moving up the ladder then becomes a matter of choice. Saving \ paying down the mortgage rather than enjoying life. Life is a series of choices. Meanwhile time goes against you.

I read an article a while back about the unintended consequences of the current stamp duty holiday below £300k for FTBers. They are realising that if they sell up again any time soon to progress to more of a family home, they'll have lost that FTB bonus. The journalist said there's evidence that people are putting off buying a minimum property and continuing to save towards a longer lasting move. They'll still qualify for the first £300k stamp duty free.

missg2210

Stevenage is fine.... look at Bragbury end & great ashby areas. Also Letchworth Hitchin Henlow Stotfold WGC Knebworth all decent areas for commuting. I have 300k plus extra if needed to spend in these areas and there is a lot around and being reduced

thickasabrick

You have my sympathy.

Have to say that I feel quite wary about the financialisation of housing, especially after reading Michael Hudson's book "Killing the Host: How Financial Parasites and Debt Destroy the Global Economy".

Console myself by reading articles like this one
"Renting is Throwing Money Away … Right?"
https://affordanything.com/is-renting-better-than-buying-should-i-rent-or-buy/

and this one

http://lifeandmyfinances.com/2017/11/how-much-house-can-i-afford/

Although you might find it even more of a shock as the suggestion is to only purchase a home valued at double your salary and pay it off within 15 years.

House price calculator: Where can I afford to rent or buy?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23234033

Full day of work and 3 hours commute won't leave much time or energy to enjoy your home. It's one of the reasons I no longer work in London.

Definitely consider the option of working from home. You may find a more suitable home that you can afford on one salary.

dgerrard wrote: »

Sorry, there is nothing useful in this thread. Just using this as the proverbial "write a spiteful letter and throw it in the fire".

I moved to the UK in 2010, with a mindset of buying an apartment or even a starter home. It's 2018 now, and I'm no closer. In the interim, my salary has doubled, my now-wife's salary has doubled, but a decent home in a decent area still seems totally out of reach.

Or, we go mad, my wife quits her job and we buy somewhere cheaper on just my salary (work from home), and hope my wife can find something pronto. I’ve posted other threads on this so won’t go into it here.

Money_maker

SalsaDanca wrote: »

Here's a 2 bedroom semi just under £300k that's for sale near me. A quiet village location, and about an hour from Liverpool Street (a ten minute drive from to Witham station, then 50 minutes by train). A village instead of a town, but it meets your main criteria.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-54119988.html

Love this house, feels so right.

hazyjo

Money_maker wrote: »

Love this house, feels so right.

Been done really well hasn't it. I'd rule it out cos of the downstairs bathroom and no garden to speak of, plus access to that terrace is through the second bed window. Would also worry about whether it was done properly or if I'd fall through the roof below! Plus it's several miles to the nearest station... but they have done it up well to sell and someone will fall in love with it who isn't fussed about those things or would be prepared to compromise.

tiernsee

Springfield, in Chelmsford, is a good area (or it used to be when I lived there!) with very good schools (if this is something to think about for the future). I found these which seem to match your budget/expectations


https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-74366159.html


https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-54036291.html


https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-66295948.html

hazyjo

tiernsee wrote: »

Springfield, in Chelmsford, is a good area (or it used to be when I lived there!) with very good schools (if this is something to think about for the future). I found these which seem to match your budget/expectations

I have a work friend who lives there and really likes it. Seems nice enough, although a bit further to station. She used to get the bus but now walks.

DeeDee87

We have literally (last week) got the keys to our first property in Stevenage. I know some say its grubby but I've lived here all my life and there are far better and far worse places to live. there are nicer areas and slightly worse areas .
We bought a three bed staggered terraced house. ex council where the vendor died and was being sold as a probate property. Garage and parking for one car at end of the garden, the front gardens nothing to wright home about but will house a decent porch one day and the back gardens abou65/ 70 foot long, so a decent size.
It needs a lot of modernisation, new kitchen and bathroom at some point but totally liveable in the mean time and basic redecorating new carpets as they are a bit retro but we only paid 260 for it. which we thought was a good price. less than an hour on the train to kings cross too!


From what we noticed when looking, you have to be fast for the ones with a bit extra space and parking! they go fast. we were the first to view ours and that was the day after it went on the market. we offered after that viewing.


Good luck in your search

cashbackproblems

Ok some advice from someone who was in a similar position to you but dithered for 4 years while prices rocketed, luckily managed to get a nice 2 bed flat a few years back in Bromley (300k gets you a 1 bed flat there). Some of the suggested properties are over 1mile from the station, with no/paid parking this will add costs and time to your commute so ideally you need to be walking distance. If you commute from outside the zones i.e. non oyster card, you will have massive rail costs, for example Coventry/rugby are 1hour from Euston, but will cost £600 pm plus the underground cost. I used to do this commute from Coventry and you have a drive to the station, 1hr+ train and 20min to wherever in london so it becomes almost 2hrs. If you live in the midlands you might as well work in Birmingham which Is booming and have a much better quality of life.

£300k for a 2/3 bed house just isn’t enough. You can look for ground floor flats with a private garden and in east london, essex area you might get something for 300-350. The market in london is totally flat/falling at the moment, so don’t be scared to offer 10-20% below asking as sellers are unrealistically pricing and things remain unsold.

Poor_Leno

Been on a major downer for about 4 days now. Need to get over myself tbh. Had an offer accepted on a shared ownership place in my local area, right next to a park aswell so was the ideal thing for my running. Jumped through all the necessary hoops, financial advisors, mortgage in principal all ready to go, affordability assessment passed, eligibility passed. Turns out the property got offered to a couple. It was zero consolation to be told I was 'second on the list'. I feel sick. It's bad enough being single and a single income person trying to live without being singled out for it...

anyway, just saying. I guess I'll have to wait another half year for something else to come up.