We really can't afford the house we want/need will things get better for us or just forget it?

lookstraightahead

mrsmortgage said:

Can the buyer's solicitor really ask why I'm selling my house? Isn't that a VERY personal question? 

Nope it's a perfectly legitimate question. You're not actually really selling so far, the 'buyers' probably sense that they will be waiting around for ever.

Did you put an offer in on the other house? 

mrsmortgage

@lookstraightahead I'm waiting for the EA to get back to me about certain things i.e. how do they want me to prove I have a buyer when it's a private sale. 

getmore4less

mrsmortgage said:

@lookstraightahead I'm waiting for the EA to get back to me about certain things i.e. how do they want me to prove I have a buyer when it's a private sale. 

Where has this buyer come from thought the previous ones were through the EA?

also you still have it up with the EA so that will raise questions there is a real buyer.


The why are you selling  issue you have is the history with just a year in the place.

3 bed, terraced

£212,500	24 Mar 2020	Freehold
£188,950	3 May 2013	Freehold
£175,500	3 Sep 2010	Freehold
£65,950	30 Jun 1999	Freehold
£44,500	25 Mar 1996	Freehold
£37,750	20 Apr 1995	Freehold

Just be honest, got a new job and can now afford(nearly) the extra space we needed.

with this one
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/109415729#/

That,s quite a small place only 110sq of real living space

the 139sqm include the garage and the conservatory and store.


You mentioned  not having WFH space with this one(and will be similar issue with others

Might have to consider a double up with the toddler, when they can't use the boys room.

bed 5 makes the best WFH room but you might not want the toddler on a different floor with this one..

lisyloo

Crashy_Time said:

lisyloo said:

Crashy_Time said:

lisyloo said:o

jazzyja said:

Crashy_Time said:

GeordieGeorge said:

Crashy_Time said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/dd1d3768-0450-4b07-99e4-fee8e9fd9895

A LOT of people will celebrate if it crashes, they want things to get better.

How many years is it now since you started renting and waiting for the crash, and how much would your house now be worth if you’d bought back then?

Are you ever going to accept how wrong you’ve been and buy, or have you given up now and accept you’ll rent forever?

The BBC ran the story not me, a LOT of people want it to crash, not just me.

I see you get quite abit of stick on ere, I'm intrigued...are you a "mortgages are for mugs" kinda person? Or are you wanting to buy a house for 50p and a bag of quavers? 

Crashy is a “50% off by Christmas” type, but he’s been waiting a couple of decades.
I (and others of my type) don’t deny there will be fall at some point  - in fact like most people my investments dropped a lot during the pandemic (only to recover). but a lot of us dispute the ability of the ordinary person to time an capitalise on a housing Crash given that it would inevitably be accompanied by mass job losses. The timing is called “trying to catch a falling knife” which refers to the question of how do you know where the bottom is? We recognise that as virtually impossible. If anyone here has that ability they would already be a stock market millionaire and wouldn't be reading.

in the time he’s been saying that I’ve got on with it and bought a lovely home and don’t have to pay any mortgage or rent for the next 40 years. And yes for me prices did go down and at one point to negative equity - but big deal, I carried on working and carried on paying like most people would.

he takes everything I say out of context, but has never given an answer as to why 25 years mortgage vs 70 years rent isn’t a no brainier for most people who can afford it. And yes of course there are issues with properties, crashes and transactional costs. Those of us who think a mortgage is better than renting most of the time are realistic about the risks and issues of property ownership but it’s still a no brainier for most people.

I did rent myself recently but that was for an economically mobile situation and not for a home so I am aware there are exceptions. 

Of course the pandemic has changed things and some people don’t have secure employment, but for those that do (police, healthcare, civil servants) then buying remains a no brainier for reason of taxation, gearing but mainly being able to live in your own asset.

i would welcome things being more equal in our society but hoping for a crash is wishing misery on millions of people who would lose their jobs.

regarding the pandemic, I told crashy a long time ago the government would support our economy which is exactly what they have done. He rubbished what I said at the time. He consistently underestimates the power of the government to prop up the economy in general and the housing market in particular. We faced a unprecedented problem with the pandemic but house prices and the stock market are still doing fine because they’ve had support and Yes Of course it all needs to be paid back, but we’ve done it before for slavery reparations and for 2 world wars.

I rubbished your claim that Covid was a "blip", it is a massively deflationary event. It`s too soon I`m afraid to declare that you were right all along, we need to see what happens when governments start withdrawing support (or do you think they will do furlough/stamp duty holidays forever?) and mortgage rates possibly rise. Your idea that the housing market is "fine" is what puts your viewpoint at the opposite end of the spectrum from that of sensible hard working money savers I`m afraid.

It has indeed been a blip in stock markets, the proof is in the charts.

there has been a paradigm shift in people’s housing needs and desires.
it’s not entirely clear yet how many companies will go office/remote or hybrid but I don’t think we’re returning to pre-pandemic days and it’s therefore been an accelerated paradigm shift in how people live their lives. That has resulted in people placing a higher priority on their homes.

of course support will be withdrawn and I fully expect some businesses and jobs to go and for there to be problems with vacancies as we are seeing now. But in general pubs,  restaurants, cafes, airports will return to suit the new post pandemic demand.
it won’t be the same aa pre-pandemic in all sectors but there will be a bounce back - just look at what happened when the green list came out, there was tons of demand.

my view puts me at odds with people who desperately want things to be different.
that’s partly because I no longer have any vested invested and they have a very deeply seated desire and in some cases bitterness.
I do wish things were different but we have to face the reality.

perhaps if we stopped people having multiple homes then more people would be able to have their first one?

What do you think is driving stock markets?

I don’t try to time stock markets or avidly follow them (I’m investing long term), but as you’ve asked I’d say confidence stemming from the success of vaccines meaning we can return to “normal”  by that  I mean offices, airports, hospitality, etc. returning to something akin to normal economically.
The big drop in March 2020 was the outlier as can be seen clearly from the charts.

mrsmortgage

getmore4less said:

mrsmortgage said:

@lookstraightahead I'm waiting for the EA to get back to me about certain things i.e. how do they want me to prove I have a buyer when it's a private sale. 

Where has this buyer come from thought the previous ones were through the EA?

also you still have it up with the EA so that will raise questions there is a real buyer.


The why are you selling  issue you have is the history with just a year in the place.

3 bed, terraced

£212,500	24 Mar 2020	Freehold
£188,950	3 May 2013	Freehold
£175,500	3 Sep 2010	Freehold
£65,950	30 Jun 1999	Freehold
£44,500	25 Mar 1996	Freehold
£37,750	20 Apr 1995	Freehold

Just be honest, got a new job and can now afford(nearly) the extra space we needed.

with this one
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/109415729#/

That,s quite a small place only 110sq of real living space

the 139sqm include the garage and the conservatory and store.


You mentioned  not having WFH space with this one(and will be similar issue with others

Might have to consider a double up with the toddler, when they can't use the boys room.

bed 5 makes the best WFH room but you might not want the toddler on a different floor with this one..

Where has this buyer come from thought the previous ones were through the EA? - Facebook Marketplace of all places. The termination of contract has already been sent to the EA. 

Thanks for analysing that 5 bedroom one... it's really an eye opener as it isn't any bigger than our current house. 

If you take away the garage and the conservatory our current house is bigger  by 5qm. They key thing would be to see how usable is the conservatory for WFH as none for the bedrooms are big enough to be a bedroom and a WFH space for me. 

getmore4less

Bit of a highjack but anyway

The reality given the circumstances is business is booming again   the drop in the economy was just a temporary shutdown
  .
There are a few sector moaning and shouting the loudest but behind that there are those that gone on with life and business.

eg. some pubs round us closed and failed some used the time to reinvent themselves one has created the outside bar and shop they never had time to do before, many have expanded their outside spaces making them more attractive and useable for more of the year.......  

its tough for a few but people are going out and spending they are going on holidays there is a massive shortage of workers in hospitality so anyone that does lose a job can get one if they are flexible.

bit like the housing, 
A few people can't afford places they shout the loudest in the meantime the rest of people are getting with their lives,  mortgage free home ownership just keeps going up since the 1990s,  in 2014 it went over 50% being mortgage free and continues to climb but as a % is steady as more people are buying as the trend for the last 5  years is more are moving out of the rented sector in to ownership.

lisyloo

getmore4less said:

Bit of a highjack but anyway

The reality given the circumstances is business is booming again   the drop in the economy was just a temporary shutdown
 

Ah.......you could call that a "blip" :-)

It's extremely tough for some and I'd like to acknowledge that. I have elderly family members who have lost medical treatments, fitness, the ability to drive and possibly won't ever go out much again. This is devastating for some.
However even though some of us are grieving and suffering loss the fact is that we can't afford to stay home as a society so the majority of us simply have no choice but to go back to "normal" (in quotes as it will be different in some ways to the pre-pandemic normal). we can move the dates but ultimately there isn't a choice, we have to live with it.

mrsmortgage

So we were going to book another viewing for a different house (came on the market on Saturday) and is already under offer  

mrsmortgage

RatInACage said:

mrsmortgage said:

Can the buyer's solicitor really ask why I'm selling my house? Isn't that a VERY personal question? 

It's a completely standard question and especially common if there's something "weird" about the property (in your case, selling after a year and being sold often, both of which are red flags). I'm mostly looking at fixer-uppers, so I always ask because it's helpful to know if it's probate, repo or rental.

I don't know why the house was sold so often, it's a perfectly good band serviceable house, and it's way bigger than many 4 bedrooms out there. 

purplebutterfly

mrsmortgage said:

Can the buyer's solicitor really ask why I'm selling my house? Isn't that a VERY personal question? 

Not personal at all, I would be very wary of buying a house from someone who had only lived there a year - unless they had an incredibly good reason to move. 

 My first thought would be that they were selling due to bad neighbours, followed by there being problems with the house and, finally, a lingering suspicion of it possibly being haunted.