I need to stop looking at house prices...

BrandNewDay

I knew we were buying at the peak of the market. I told myself that it was OK - the house was cheap, we can easily afford the mortgage, and it was by far the cheapest house listed (yet still quite nice.) £62,000 got us a mid-terrace two-bedroom in the town we wanted. We're happy.

But... in the six weeks since we've moved, I've already seen houses dropping in price. There are now three houses listed for the same amount ours was, and two of them have a third bedroom. There may be something horribly wrong with them, but maybe not.

I have a feeling that a year from now, there will be quite a few three-bedrooms for even less than we paid. Ah, well... better not to think about it.

Magentasue

Yes, stop looking! The value of your house is only important when you're buying it, selling it or borrowing against it. At other times, it means nothing.

pollyanna24

Yep, there is no point tormenting yourself like that. Just remember that £62K is cheap for a house these days and be happy you're not someone who's bought a house at the peak of the market for £250K.

Phirefly

We're the same. I knew it was a peak. At that time our options were limited so we took the lowest risk choice available. Sounds like you did too. Ride it out, things will be fine

Poppycat

First and foremost a house should be a home, you bought it at a price you can afford, its suitable hopefully for your needs. In the short time it may or may not devalue a bit if you were to sell it, however in the long term it will increase in value if you ride it out

TBH if you paid £62k for the house that is rock bottom price, I haven't seen a house for sale for that for at least 3-4 years

In my area houses that are rock bottom price 2 bedroom terraced at around £110-120k are still selling. I would be more worried if I bought a house in my area for around £300k as I suspect they are more difficult to shift.

dannyboycey

BrandNewDay wrote: »

I knew we were buying at the peak of the market.

Then I assume you bought because you had no other options available to you. Otherwise you wouldn't have knowingly bought at the top... right?

On the bright side, if you are comfortable with your mortgage repayment amount and happy with the house itself, it's not the end of the world unless you are relying on an increase equity in the short term.

On a side note... why is Martin dressed like a backstreet boy in the top left of the page?

BrandNewDay

The thing that gets me is that I would really love a third bedroom. We've got two boys and I told myself, "Look, be realistic. People have raised five children in tiny Victorian terraces. You've got two boys close in age and the bedroom is large..." But, we've also got grandparents who want to visit for every holiday and birthday. If we had a third bedroom, I'd still have the boys share a room and then use the smallest as a spare/study/room full of junk that ought to be properly sorted.

If I look on Rightmove and find a house near here with a dining kitchen and a third bedroom for what we paid, I will want to curl up and DIE.

We could have stayed in our rented house. But, I didn't want another winter stuck in the boonies (Mid Argyll). I had to drive 14 miles (each way) to take my son to preschool and then either made the round trip twice or sat in Lochgilphead with a baby and nothing to do. Then, it was at least an hour's drive to any supermarket bigger than a modest Co-op. I do like living in a town. Saturday, my husband and I had a "date night" - got a baby sitter and walked into town. We ate at a great Indian buffet and had a drink in every single pub on the High Street. Felt a bit rough on Sunday morning, but wow that was fun! I also love being able to nip in to Glasgow. And, not being out on the penninsula means that we just plain have greater access to all of Britain. So, yeah, I'm glad we moved. But, if we had waited just a couple more months...

Oh, yeah... I forgot. We had to get a subprime mortgage. My husband's business failed and so he went bankrupt a year ago and I'm new in the country so our choice of lenders was pretty limited. As it is, we barely squeaked through - lenders were changing their minds and withdrawing their offers in principle. Our lender was the very last option and, two days after they released our funds, they changed their criteria.

So... I guess we're lucky, after all. Thanks for letting me type this out and remind myself of all that!

Phirefly

My sister gets cross with me for maintaining my daily Rightmove Vigil. I know it doesn't serve any purpose but its like I'm some sort of junkie. We must wean ourselves off!

Doozergirl

BND I went to see five houses last week that were on for a little more than yours. Two were two, two bed terraces, no extensions, both a bit dated but entirely sound.

One was a two bed terrace with a kitchen extension which was riddled with damp. From the flat roof, from the lack of DPC, from a loose connection from a washing machine and best of all - The soil stack still ran down the original outside wall ie. inside the kitchen and it was evidently leaking and had been for some time. Absolutely Gross.

Two were three beds. One had the structural wall removed between the reception areas and it was fairly evident downstairs that no RSJ had been put in. Upstairs, I put my foot in the ridge/valley that ran directly above where that wall used to be. :eek: I immediately made my escape.

The other one, bizarrely had huge damp patches all over the downstairs walls in random places. They too had knocked out the wall and had a rather precarious wooden staircase right in the middle of the room.

There is a lot of difference between houses. You will always find something cheaper.

Also, you would never see three beds suddenly drop to where two beds were without resistance from the vendors. People don't suddenly drop the price of their houses. They do it because they have to.

Chill

Poppycat

I raised two daughters in a 2 bedroom terraced house they are now 16 and almost 14. They both shared the same bedroom and slept on bunk beds. I bought the house for 37k in 89, when interest rates where high.

I move in Feb 2007 to a 3 bedroom semi I paid £150k.

You buy what you can afford at the time I personnel don't borrow well above what can afford

Ride it out you never know this time next year things might be different there will always be a market for cheap homes, they hold there value in most cases.

skyblue1987

i got my 1st house for £37K in September 1989, and it took me 10 years to get out of negative equity, finally selling it for £42K in December 1999

It was sold 6 months later for £60K and I would imagine it is now worth £100k

Don't get stressed by it all, as someone else said - the 1st thing to remember is that it is your home. I have so many happy memories of my little 2 up 2 down, and none of them are tainted by the fact that it wasn't the investment goldmine that we later came to anticipate.

:beer: