Excited! But what will happen tomorrow?

dopester

It's pretty gentle stuff really from those here warning it may not be a good time to buy. There are significant risks and strong opinions.

Such strong opinions inspired a property bull to create these cartoons about the HPC-ers I]which I've linked to before but the cartoons always make me laugh[/I

(warning - some very strong language used in strip - do not click if easily offended)

Cartoon strip 1 - Cartoon strip 2

baby_boomer

Bizarre logic here

andys15 wrote: »

please tell me how you will afford a house that has fallen 50% in value? Will you get a mortgage? Most people waiting 2-3 years for a 50% savings, will get their fingers burnt.

I don't imagine house prices will fall 50% but I know they'd be more affordable if they did!

Good luck to the OP in their new home . It's a great feeling moving into the place you know is right for you!

Snooze

dopester wrote: »

It's pretty gentle stuff really from those here warning it may not be a good time to buy. There are significant risks and strong opinions.

Such strong opinions inspired a property bull to create these cartoons about the HPC-ers I]which I've linked to before but the cartoons always make me laugh[/I

(warning - some very strong language used in strip - do not click if easily offended)

Cartoon strip 1 - Cartoon strip 2

Those are hilarious. Are those a couple more of your MS Paint Specials, dopey?

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Rob

Snooze

baby_boomer wrote: »

Bizarre logic here



I don't imagine house prices will fall 50% but I know they'd be more affordable if they did!

:rotfl:
I missed that one earlier! Well spotted! :beer: Sums up his intelligence perfectly! :rotfl:

Rob

barnaby-bear

andys15 wrote: »

I am not getting into an argument with you. You should stop calling people stupid for doing something that has been long thought out. I cannot understand why you are so upset about people buying now.
What do you suggest, we all rent out houses, that will cause such a demand that we will be overpriced in that market too. Should we live in a caravan and wait until the day when it is safe to buy. Live with our parents, who happen to live 300 miles from where I work. The house we are buying, is the house we are currently renting, they wanted an extra £250 pcm to continue renting, and they had a tennant lined up if we weren't interested(not a phantom tennant, a real one and there would have been 20 more in the q). They weren't being cheeky, but there mortgage had gone up, and we hadn't had a rent increase for 2 years. Can you not realise that some people need to get on the market right now, not in 3 months or 3 years but now. Don't you think we have reasoned in our own mind and with our loved ones, and even in places like here to make sure we have made the right choice. The last thing we need is being called idiots and the only advice is to not buy. Great advice but like I said what is the alternative.

I find the people who argue where you live is a financial investment only total freakcases too, the stuborn refusal that some people can and CHOOSE to 'waste' money on TENURE an utter enigma, no we aren't thick we just have a different values system and sorry if we are better off and buffered from having to make a purely financial decision... never again to move at two months notice or put up with LL dictates... if you have a council tenure in an okish area fine but the privae rental market is hell for quality of life, fail to pay mortgage several months grace... pay rent, maintain property, try to make it home, two months notice for no reason

carolt

kunekune wrote: »

The major disadvantage of renting privately, especially so if you have kids, is that you rarely have more than 6 months security at any one time. At certain times in their school career (eg, when about to apply for secondary school and zones matter) that is really a big problem.

I'd also disagree about picking your area and not having terrible neighbours. On an AST, you can't move for the length of the tenancy (unless you lose rather more than the deposit). That's quite a while with terrible neighbours. Perhaps where carolt lives there is a fantastic supply of family-sized, unfurnished houses with some outdoor space ... around here, there are only 1 or 2 such houses available at any given time within a reasonable commute to the children's schools. We have friends who had no choice but to take a complete dump when their AST was not renewed and there was nothing else around. That could happen to any tenant.

And finally, so long as you can afford it, the important comparison isn't between rent and mortgage, it's between rent and the interest portion of the mortgage. Both are the famed 'dead money', in the short term. The differential varies between different regions, but we are looking at a mortgage of around £160K and the interest on that (admittedly with a staff rate) will not be much more than the rent we currently pay.

I think the posters who understand we have different lives and different things to worry about have it right. The perspective of a single person is often going to be different from that of a family, for instance. Age, ours and that of our offspring, matters too.

I don't disagree with the overall point that circumstances differ and sometimes what makes financial sense may not make sense in a personal context; see my post above.

But re your specific points above: I've rented with kids for 8 years and only ever 'had' to move once in that period. We've lived in our current rented house for over 4 years; just signed up to a fifth. I don't think many people get moved on frequently, unless they are poor tenants and don't pay their rent; but they're not going to be any more secure if they don't pay their mortgage - in fact it takes longer to get chucked out of a rented place by due course of law than it does if you own and are repossessed.

An AST only ties you in for 6 months; are you seriously suggesting that if you buy a house with awful neighbours you'd be in position to sell and move n any quicker than that? No, you're a hell of a lot more 'stuck' if you hit problems in a house you own than in a house you rent.

I WAS comparing interest part of the mortgage with rent - maybe I should have made that clearer. I agree one is as much 'dead money' as the other, but round here, an average house of 300K+ would cost £1462 per month (assuming an interest only mortgage on 90% of LTV, at a fairly good rate of 6.5%). And not including extra homeowning costs eg maintenance, insurance etc. That's versus £1100-1200 per month to rent. I think my area is fairly typical.

Also massively disagree with you re kids and schools - we only got my kids into their current school because we rent and were able to move into the catchment area in the nick of time. Suitable houses only come up for sale once here in a blue moon, so we would never have managed it otherwise. We plan to move again once my eldest is thinking about secondary schools; again, huge choice of family homes, great locations, available at far, far less than the cost of buying. Your friend must have been unlucky in her choice of school/area,

puddy

a friend of mine and her partner are expecting their first child together, he has 2 children from a previous relationship.
they were renting a very expensive flat in crystal place. they needed a bigger place anyway for wen the baby comes, but out of the blue, the landlady said that they had to move because she was selling the property.

to cut a very long story short, the landlady didnt give them a proper eviction notice, she seemed a bit dim, my friend had to put up with people coming to view the property (she wanted to keep the landlady sweet), she cant afford any other flats in the area due to the rents, she cant afford 'affordable' housing, she cant afford a mortgage, she is way dow the list for council or housing association properties and isnt considered homeless because she hasnt got a proper eviction notice.

her experience with the landlady and the letting agencts, who charged an arm and a leg for contracts, credit checks and other sundries, has been horrendous. she has been terribly stressed. she treated the property very well. if she could afford a mortgage now, she would buy her own place now.

carolt

Of course she would - you've kind if missed the point of my post.

No-one - least of all me - is suggesting that renting is somehow preferable to buying per se.

But renting compared to buying AT THESE PRICES? No contest. You've pointed out that your friend couldn't afford to buy. So the only alternative AT THESE PRICES is to be homeless. Not much of an alternative, I'd have thought.

If (a) house prices fall so that is the same price/cheaper to buy rather than rent, on a month-by-month basis, then it will again make sense to buy. Or (b) if rental laws are changed so that tenants once again have security of tenure and regulated rents - as my grandparents did: rented same place for decades - absolutely secure. Then your friend will have security without needing to buy.

But at the moment, if she has a choice of renting somewhere or buying nowhere, renting has to be the better alternative, surely? Not secure, but better than nothing.

Your sad tale is just an illustration of why house prices need to fall - so that ordinary people do not face what your friend had to.

puddy

no, she would buy at 'these' prices if she could afford to, whether they were likely to go up or down. its a home she wants not a financial investment.

personally i couldnt bear the thought of renting, im very terratorial, i dont like the idea of living in something owned by someone else

puddy

sorry, i didnt read your post properly, no,, she cant afford rents either, the rent is about the same as a potential mortgage, hence why she cant afford the rent.