Postive thread about buying now!

panichousebuyer

danksybaby wrote: »

yeah she knows we are interested and the 1st offer we put in was asking her if she would join the deposit scheme that the estate agents have.she said no to this so we are goin to have a 2nd viewing today and see how it goes...if push comes to shove, ill ask my mam to lend me £5000 which i will then out on top of the mortgage i need and pay her of as soon as the house is sold. fingers crossed that is.

can anyone tell me what questions i should ask while im there??its at half 10so any help much appreciated.

Hope all went ok today. All I was going to say was don't seem too enthusiastic because when we bought this house, I made the mistake of doing that and then they would only go 1k under the asking price because they knew how much we wanted it. In saying that it was 6 years ago and things were a lot different then!

Edit: What is a deposit scheme?

danksybaby

panichousebuyer wrote: »

Hope all went ok today. All I was going to say was don't seem too enthusiastic because when we bought this house, I made the mistake of doing that and then they would only go 1k under the asking price because they knew how much we wanted it. In saying that it was 6 years ago and things were a lot different then!

Edit: What is a deposit scheme?

where the seller pays 5% of the deposit...so if we did that and put our 5% in then we could get it but she was having none of it

it did go well thanks but cant get that 5 grand any faster...we thought we could get a mortgage for 5 grand more than the price of the house and get my parents to get a loan for it of which we could pay back straight away but apparently you cant do that anymore so we are back to square one.

boinging_2

danksybaby wrote: »

where the seller pays 5% of the deposit...so if we did that and put our 5% in then we could get it but she was having none of it

it did go well thanks but cant get that 5 grand any faster...we thought we could get a mortgage for 5 grand more than the price of the house and get my parents to get a loan for it of which we could pay back straight away but apparently you cant do that anymore so we are back to square one.

If the house you are looking to buy has been on the market for 1 year with no offers, I think you should be negotiating a lot harder. Especially with Halifax results due soon (another batch of front page price drops in the press).

I'd offer what you can afford and say the offer is only valid for two weeks.

Seriously though it is not press scaremongering prices are falling but as long as you understand that and can afford it - best of luck.

halia

Good luck to all others who have joined this thread wanting to buy. I think some people miss the point I was trying to make. I agree that in certain areas its likely that you could see a house on the market today for £200,000 and for it to be reduced to £160,000 in 6 months time.
So in a very straightforward situation of only buying you would have to pay out less money to get the same house.

But very few people are in a straightforward situation, and no-one can with absolute certianty predict the effect of any changes in the national housing market on one town/street/house.

So my point was, like others I am looking to buy for a home. I want to move for reasons which have little to do with how much my house is worth and money is not my primary motivation.
Here are a list of reasons that might be behind someones decision to buy now - I think they are all valid ones about wanting to get on with your life!
Change of job
Getting Married
Getting out of rental
Expanding family
School catchments
Better quality of life
Away from drug dealers
closer to family
downsizing
setting up a business/work from home

None of those are moronic reasons to buy!

and the other factor I keep coming up against is that the areas we are looking in are nothing like the same as the southern housing market! I mean round here £250k gets you a detached 5-7 bed house with large gardens not a 2bd starter home!

I reckon that if prices drop by 20% and I held on until that happened to move I would 'save' a maximum of £6k and thats assuming that both the house I am selling and the house I am buying drop by exactly the same percentage at exactly the same time.

If anyone on here is convinced of the housing markets crash, and that it will be nationwide - would they like to underwrite that?
ie I hold on 2 years, if I dont' save £6k on the overall transaction of selling and buying in 2yrs time compared to prices now then will you supply those nice pound notes?

The_Prince_3

danksybaby wrote: »

sorry but your wrong.there is a house we have our heart set on but we want 10% deposit, which will take till aug to save.we have 5% but the mortgage repayments are extortionate and then theres the higher lending charge. however if we wait till aug when we have 10% we will be much better off in the long run.we have a 2nd viewing tomorrow where we will be able to talk to the seller and see how long she is keeping the house on the market as seen as she has had it on for a year and had no offers??!!!!this i dont understand as the house is gorgeous and very modern.but we have our fingers crossed.

So this house you're buying is £115,000.

Have a think about that figure, One Hundred and Fifteen Thousand pounds.

You are willing to spend that money (plus interest, fees, moving costs etc) and make the biggest financial decision of your life because your HEART is set on it? Use your HEAD.

It has been on the market for a year and had no offers and you don't understand that? Use your HEAD.

Sorry if I'm being blunt - I just want you to really think about it.

halia

The_Prince wrote: »

So this house you're buying is £115,000.

Have a think about that figure, One Hundred and Fifteen Thousand pounds.

You are willing to spend that money (plus interest, fees, moving costs etc) and make the biggest financial decision of your life because your HEART is set on it? Use your HEAD.

It has been on the market for a year and had no offers and you don't understand that? Use your HEAD.

Sorry if I'm being blunt - I just want you to really think about it.

I think thats the real difference, for some people buying a house will always be a head decision, its about property ownership, property values, cashing in, making money etc etc.

I'm sure most of the poeple here who want to buy now have used their heads in the intial stages, they've saved up a deposit, they've thought about what they can afford, they've talked to banks etc about mortgages and they've thought about WHY they want to buy/move. But at the end of the day its going ot be about non monetry things for them, a heart decision if you like.

For others it will be a heart decision, its about the life you'd like to lead, waking up to coffee and sunshine in your garden, being able to walk the kids to school along countrylanes, Having space for your dogs/woodworkign shop, being closer to family.
For some of us you simply can't put a price on these things, we don't CARE what the house will be worth in 2 or 5 or 10 years time, we'll still be living in it and so we're not interested in making a quick buck on it (or even medium term).

If we can afford it now, and we are confident we aren't over stretching ourselves (ie not borrowing more than 3.5 times income, and being able to meet increased interest rates) then it seems foolish to us NOT to buy and live part of our dream simply because of money.

Mind you I'm not sure why buying for non monetry reasons is seen as a heart decision. Isn't a well thought out plan to move for a better quality of life and more time with the grandparents while they are still alive a sensible 'head' plan?

I do know people who make all their decisions in their head not with their heart, they tend not to get married (financially you're often worse off) not to have kids, (they cost a fortune) not to have a hobby, i(t doesn't generate an inome and eats up money), and to always be focused on how much money they have, how much money they've saved by not doing things, and how foolish the happy family down the road are because they make decisions based on how it will improve their lives rather than how much dosh it gets them.

Save4ArainyDay

Why I am buying now

Nice 2 bed - was £99k and I was considering it....
Reduced to £90k - I was trying to make time to view it...
Reduced to 85k - so I viewed it same day
Accepted my offer of £77.5k
Mortgage borrowing £65k
Now if the price falls another 10% from £85k - £76.5K I will be "down" £1k

The owners are inheritors and all they want is the cash and are not prepared to wait for the market price - so I am fortunate.

One bed flats don't go for much less than £75k in this area so I am pleased.

So my belief is - if you can buy at a good price and can afford it - go for it. Get a 3yr or 5 yr fix and then you know where you are with your outgoings.

neverdespairgirl

halia wrote: »

For some of us you simply can't put a price on these things, we don't CARE what the house will be worth in 2 or 5 or 10 years time, we'll still be living in it and so we're not interested in making a quick buck on it (or even medium term). .

Of course you put a price on it. If the house cost £10 million, it would be out of your pocket's reach. You look at your salary, and if you can afford the mortgage.

halia wrote: »

I do know people who make all their decisions in their head not with their heart, they tend not to get married (financially you're often worse off) not to have kids, (they cost a fortune) not to have a hobby, i(t doesn't generate an inome and eats up money), and to always be focused on how much money they have, how much money they've saved by not doing things, .

I make financial decisions with my head, but still have a child, hobbies etc. I just don't believe in chucking money away.