House Buying / Selling Thread

[DenisLawBackHeel74]

You're completely missing every point I'm attempting to make, not sure if that's my fault or yours...

How on earth do I ''have the choice to sell off my £180k asset and do something with the cash'' other than selling my house and buying a tent to live in????

I bought a property in 2001, nice 2 bed in a nice area, on a single, part time, unskilled wage with a 25% deposit (that was £15k NOT the £25k you've quoted) and I paid the mortgage off in 8 years... All of that would be completely impossible for any FTBer to do now thanks to the rampant HPI we've witnessed in the last 20 years

I don't want to trade up, but, if I did it would be impossible as HPI has massively outstripped wage inflation in that time.... Without HPI I'd now have a £60k asset and be looking to trade up to a £90k asset, requiring a £30k mortgage which would be doable on my wages... with HPI I've got a £180k asset but would need to trade up to a £270k asset, requiring a £90k mortgage completely impossible on my wages.

It's not even as though the crazy levels of HPI we've seen since around the year 2000 have been as a result of a free market economy or natural supply and demand etc... there have been 2 distinct periods of HPI in that time, both with very specific causes -

2001-2008 Was a result of reckless, irresponsible and often fraudulent lending by the banks.
Post 2008 to present day has been as a result of deliberate govt and BoE policy to initially prop up and then further inflate the property market with QE, ZIRP, FLS, HTB etc etc


As hard as you seem to find it to grasp I'm not complaining about my personal situation, anybody buying now is getting an abysmal deal compared to just about any other generation before them, paying huge proportions of their wages for just about the whole of their working lives and yet they still act like they've won the lottery, I'm guessing they're either too ill informed to realise just how much they're being shafted or just too proud to admit it.

You always have the choice to sell, why wouldn't you!? Because you would need to rent? That's still a choice and I don't see how it means you need to live in a tent. I understand your point about wage inflation and funding a larger mortgage but you would have a higher LTV and coupled with very low interest rates would make it feasible I would think. Ok so you don't want to trade up, that kind of makes some of your argument moot and the fact remains that you have benefitted from rampant HPI even though you are complaining about how unfair it is.

I agree that it's shit for FTB's and it will take a huge effort on several fronts to change things; building more affordable housing, tackling proliferation of BTL properties, assisted mortgages, longer term lower rate mortgages, partial equity release on parents property to allow lump sum assistance for children...etc.

There are several good points made by others below your post too.

I think my initial confusion with your post was that you appeared to say 'I'm ok and have done very well with my property but the system is broken and unfair'....it was contradictory imo

 

[peoffrey]

As buying a property is the biggest single financial commitment you'll ever make then it's surely vital to get it right.

I'd recommend visiting an area in the evening to get a feel for it. "Victoria Park" during the day seemed fine. In reality, Longsight in the evening was not.

I originally looked in to Middleton but now aim for Failsworth after I ended up there.

 

[denislawsbackheel]

Jesus, I wouldn't even drive through there if I could help it!

 

[mancityvstoke]

Jesus, I wouldn't even drive through there if I could help it!

why not?

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

I'm actually in the process of downsizing, - well, from a four bed to a three...

Staying in the immediate locality and my two small kids are in the absolute best school for miles around, thanks to catchment.

It's been a big decision for me and my wife, but we just don't want it anymore, that aspiration to always buy bigger and better, the pressure it brings on me to keep earning, as I get older and still working for myself.

I am only 42 but know we are lucky, in comparison to a huge swathe of the population. Last year I remortgaged for 25 years and it is completely portable.

Our house is up for £450,000 and we bought it for £200k back in 2004 - we got lucky.

We are buying around the corner for £300k and can put £150k in the bank, whilst servicing the long-term mortgage we have.

My little ones might want some money one day for Uni or a house deposit for themselves.

It's about creating memories now, as a family, and having that hard cash in the bank.

Liberating, but scary at the same time.

 

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

Excellent post that echoes how I view it too. This countries obsession with house prices is totally counter productive and very unhealthy. It is all built on sand, falsely inflated and propped up to remain so because if it goes tits up the ramifications are unthinkable.

I agree there is an unhealthy obsession with house prices however i would disagree that it is built on sand. There is a fundamental link between the costs of renting and the costs of ownership via a mortgage on a similar property. Looking at the market in another way many people who own there own home and are paying of a long term mortgage would find it very difficult to afford to rent an equivalent property.

 

[Ric]

Our dilemma at the moment is that we love our current house, but we're not guaranteed to get our kids into the secondary school we want (even though we're in the catchment area, as it's oversubscribed). Houses closer to the school are far more expensive, so we'd have to downsize but still at a considerable cost. Really difficult to decide what to do for the best, as the kids' education is obviously hugely important but at what cost?

 

[FantasyIreland]

Our dilemma at the moment is that we love our current house, but we're not guaranteed to get our kids into the secondary school we want (even though we're in the catchment area, as it's oversubscribed). Houses closer to the school are far more expensive, so we'd have to downsize but still at a considerable cost. Really difficult to decide what to do for the best, as the kids' education is obviously hugely important but at what cost?

Should you not be fortunate enough to get your kids into your chosen school,is the alternative so much worse that their education would suffer?

 

[Ric]

Should you not be fortunate enough to get your kids into your chosen school,is the alternative so much worse that their education would suffer?

Our preferred school got an outstanding OFSTED report, whereas the alternative was rated inadequate.

 

[FantasyIreland]

Our preferred school got an outstanding OFSTED report, whereas the alternative was rated inadequate.

Hmmmm......obviously you have to weigh up all the pro's and con's in regards your current lifetyle,but,given that information,i think you've found your answer.