Mortgage deal ending

[Corky]

Unfortunately this isn't always the case either, we both Work but when you factor in childcare costs for 2 Children, my Wife actually works for free... fantastic that she goes out every Morning working for the NHS but financially she doesn't benefit from it, at least with the childcare funding that is coming in the future People with young kids, or are pregnant at the moment won't have to deal with this issue but it's been bloody hard for the last 4 years, we made the decision it was better for her mental health and for the kids to start bonding with other kids, getting back to work part time (28 hours a week), maybe in the future we will look back and regret it but I guess everyone's situations differ.

Fully agree with everything else though!

Long term she will. It all goes on the pension.

 

[somapop]

I find the management fees on flats make them very poor value when you look at total cost.

Small cheap house in nice area is better bet. But that said a flat will always be cheapest.

Yes, it's a balance atm though.
I want to stay relatively close to where I am but likely I'll have to move a mile or two outside the area.
I use my gym A LOT so have to factor getting there and back. Local clubs (running etc) I'm part of and the fact I've lived in these parts for a long time.
Plus still be close to the kids.

With that in mind, a flat is perhaps the cheapest option atm but I fully intend to move on up as and when.
A two bed I could go to town on (and have spare room for the kids/friends staying over is the mid term objective).

And plans and goals keep one very focussed after several rocky years!

 

[denislawsbackheel]

Sorry to quote back an older post but I hear this argument a lot about rates of old however it just isn't relevant to the situation at the moment. Rates might of pushed 10,15,20% back in the day but growth and payrises were also pushing similar amounts. The consistent growth over the years is why many pensioners are now technically asset millionaires.

Rate rises are especially impactful when nowadays payrises and growth isn't even following inflation. I had a look and if we remortgaged today then our mortgage repayments would go from £820 to £1100, 33% more and that's having paid off 40% of our mortgage. Have we had a 33% payrise? Have we balls, my girlfriend was offered 2.5% this year! Luckily we're fixed in for another 2 years but some are not that lucky.

Families are lucky because they'll have two people working and paying but remember back in the day when the mother could stay at home to look after the kids? That's no longer a choice. Single people have no chance, absolutely no chance at all because they need to raise a deposit which on a completely average house will likely be £20k+. Many of them therefore have to rent and pay even more so they're stuffed and will never raise a deposit anyway.

There is no choice but to return to cheap rates otherwise it's inevitable that the economy will collapse and the housing market will go down with it. This is not the price of the iPhone generation or recent low rates, it's the price of decades worth of far too much growth in housing prices and also a reduction in supply vs population growth.

As someone who spent most of his house buying years paying 9% + I can assure you that your claim pay rises were at the same levels is utter bullshit.

 

[denislawsbackheel]

Yes, it's a balance atm though.
I want to stay relatively close to where I am but likely I'll have to move a mile or two outside the area.
I use my gym A LOT so have to factor getting there and back. Local clubs (running etc) I'm part of and the fact I've lived in these parts for a long time.
Plus still be close to the kids.

With that in mind, a flat is perhaps the cheapest option atm but I fully intend to move on up as and when.
A two bed I could go to town on (and have spare room for the kids/friends staying over is the mid term objective).

And plans and goals keep one very focussed after several rocky years!

Someone suggested a 2 bed in a nice area rather than a flat.
You won’t get a 2 bed in most nice areas for under £300K now.
I realise “nice” is relative.
If you want to get on the ladder get a flat.
My daughter bought a 1 bedroomed flat in central Didsbury. Owned by an old woman it needed gutting, new boiler, kitchen, bathroom and flooring.
Got the jobs done and she is now well sorted paying just under half what it would rent for in mortgage and management fees and has seen its value rise 30% in 4 years.

 

[SiMCFC]

Yes, it's a balance atm though.
I want to stay relatively close to where I am but likely I'll have to move a mile or two outside the area.
I use my gym A LOT so have to factor getting there and back. Local clubs (running etc) I'm part of and the fact I've lived in these parts for a long time.
Plus still be close to the kids.

With that in mind, a flat is perhaps the cheapest option atm but I fully intend to move on up as and when.
A two bed I could go to town on (and have spare room for the kids/friends staying over is the mid term objective).

And plans and goals keep one very focussed after several rocky years!

What I would do if I was in your shoes, speak to an all of market broker, they will take all your payslips, outgoings etc and then work out what you can borrow, you can then adjust the figures if you don't want to spend as much as they say could, when we were looking at buying our first house I was actually surprised how much more we were offered compared to when I was doing the calculators on bank websites etc, they know exactly what can and cannot be included in the calculations for different lenders and it can make a big difference, as an example 30% of my income is from overtime but it's overtime that is contractual via standby, a lot wouldn't accept it but NatWest just averaged it.

Good luck Blue!

 

[somapop]

Someone suggested a 2 bed in a nice area rather than a flat.
You won’t get a 2 bed in most nice areas for under £300K now.
I realise “nice” is relative.
If you want to get on the ladder get a flat.
My daughter bought a 1 bedroomed flat in central Didsbury. Owned by an old woman it needed gutting, new boiler, kitchen, bathroom and flooring.
Got the jobs done and she is now well sorted paying just under half what it would rent for in mortgage and management fees and has seen its value rise 30% in 4 years.

Yes - completely agree.

I don't look in estate agents windows anymore, lest I have a breakdown at the costs of houses!!
For me I have to be as happy with the area as possible, even if that means taking something much smaller than I'd liked.
I'm pretty handy with stuff like refurbs and would welcome a bit of project.
Thee caveat here though is I'm enjoying the space and time living alone offers. It's a kind of wealth in itself and not to be under estimated. Plus work is busy and sometimes work on 'after work' on development in my field.
I also use the gym a lot and this is incredibly important for me in managing life up and downs.

The flat I'm currently renting is tiny, expensive for what it is, utterly freezing in the winter, hot in the summer and has mould issues. The building itself isn't the most desirable (internally at least) but it's an energetic place with a bunch of diverse, friendly people.

What I would do if I was in your shoes, speak to an all of market broker, they will take all your payslips, outgoings etc and then work out what you can borrow, you can then adjust the figures if you don't want to spend as much as they say could, when we were looking at buying our first house I was actually surprised how much more we were offered compared to when I was doing the calculators on bank websites etc, they know exactly what can and cannot be included in the calculations for different lenders and it can make a big difference, as an example 30% of my income is from overtime but it's overtime that is contractual via standby, a lot wouldn't accept it but NatWest just averaged it.

Good luck Blue!

I tentatively spoke with my bank a few months back, but since I had a next step promotion so gives me a little more to play with (and again, I hope this continues as there's direct process for promotion within my company).

I was considering speaking with them again and other banks or building societies?
Not even 100% sure what a market broker is? Any well known firms / companies I can start looking at?

I need to get a move on now I have a been in my bonnet and before winter kicks in here. I can't face another cold winter in this damp, cold flat.

Thanks for all this btw....really helpful.

 

[denislawsbackheel]

Mortgage brokers usually have access to deals not available to regular punters.

 

[inbetween]

As someone who spent most of his house buying years paying 9% + I can assure you that your claim pay rises were at the same levels is utter bullshit.

I'm not saying that payrises were exactly equal to interest rates. However between the 70's and early 90's wage growth barely ever dropped below 10% and housing grew at a fairly similar pace. What has changed from this period and since the 2008 crash really is that people aren't being paid enough and they haven't been paid enough for a long time.

Look at wages since 2008, they have stagnated and have barely grown at all until now. People in the public sector haven't had a payrise at all for years which is why they're right to strike for it. Meanwhile in that period house prices have continued to rise and they have never stopped rising.

I bought my first house with low rates and so did everyone else who has got onto the housing ladder over the last 10 years. Should we now be forced out into cheaper housing? Where is this cheaper housing and who is going to buy my house from me? You can see why the market is going to collapse as it stands.

The answer basically is that housing is too expensive and if we want to sustain these prices then low rates are needed to fund it. If not then it's fine to raise interest rates but you have to accept property market collapse, it's one or the other.

 

[Corky]

Lots of new deals available in he last few days, HSBC 2, 3, 5 and 10 year fixes all the cheapest.

Still over double 2019 and quadruple some 2021 rates but a lot better than anything since the Kwarteng era.

 

[SWP's back]

Lots of new deals available in he last few days, HSBC 2, 3, 5 and 10 year fixes all the cheapest.

Still over double 2019 and quadruple some 2021 rates but a lot better than anything since the Kwarteng era.

Likely to continue to fall with inflation expected to reduce for at least the next six months.