monkeyjaimz Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 Me and our lass are in the process of buying our 1st house together at the minute. Looking at a new 3 bed end terrace, we need 3 beds as one will be an office for her to work from home and we need a guest bedroom for her family and friends to visit etc. Anyway, we need to borrow £140,000 to do it, monthly repayments over 30 years are looking like £900 Jesus, anyone else in a similar boat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr W Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 £1500 per month for 25 years for our small 2 bed flat in London and that was fixed for 5 years god knows what will happen at the end of the year when it goes to variable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyb Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 £140,000 for a 3 bed, ouch change the 1 for a 2 and you have the price round here for similar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wookie Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 Harsh I know, but that sounds abut right. Ours is 140k for 30 years on a three bed detatched (about 830 a month) but I agree it's far, FAR too much to buy a house these days... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 Yep i've got twice that mortgage but mines on a renovation house so I won't keep it that long and as such we can go interest only which makes life easier but its still painfull. I have to say I'd hate to buy a house now and think about trying to pay it off before I retired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry d Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 I feel sorry for those who are trying to get a house of their own at the moment, I still remember baulking at £19K in the mid 80`s . I am now fortunate to be able to pay off my mortgage within 4 years ad you will, I hope, find that it gets easier as the years pass and wages increase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mungler Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 Interesting times in the property market. We see the most bizarre lending on self certified mortgages. If I were you: 1. if you are desperate to move then wait for the next interest rate drop - there will be a small short term one when it would be a good idea to dive in and get a fixed rate, but after that I reckon inflation will bite and they will rise again longer term (still too much mad spending and borrowing going on) 2. if you can wait, save up and give it a year - house prices have become so disproportionate to incomes it is beyond mad. There will be an "adjustment" round the corner - a few notches in interest rates and all the other stealth taxes will start to hit people in the pockets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaniel Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 I want to move myself, living in our 1st home together, as starting all over again after a divorce. But house prices in Bristol are silly, our end of terrace 3 bed house in Hanham are now going for around £190K...anything i remotely like is around £250K upwards.... Problem is i have not had much of a pay rise over the last few years which does not help and that Tax man takes a Third of my Monthly Salary also...Bless Him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pin Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 Me and our lass are in the process of buying our 1st house together at the minute.Looking at a new 3 bed end terrace, we need 3 beds as one will be an office for her to work from home and we need a guest bedroom for her family and friends to visit etc. Anyway, we need to borrow £140,000 to do it, monthly repayments over 30 years are looking like £900 Jesus, anyone else in a similar boat? Don't know your circumstances but judging by the term I'd guess you don't have much of a deposit? (30yr terms tend to be hoisted on people in this situation) Much more favorable terms are available if you are not borrowing 95/100% Echoing Munglemisters comments, there is a dip coming but as with all market activity the skill is knowing when to get into the market. Right at the moment if I were you I'd consider renting, when the adjustment comes and it might be uncontrolled (crash) you don't want to be paying repayments on a 140k mortgage whilst living in a house thats probably worth more like 100k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 Interesting times in the property market. We see the most bizarre lending on self certified mortgages. If I were you: 1. if you are desperate to move then wait for the next interest rate drop - there will be a small short term one when it would be a good idea to dive in and get a fixed rate, but after that I reckon inflation will bite and they will rise again longer term (still too much mad spending and borrowing going on) 2. if you can wait, save up and give it a year - house prices have become so disproportionate to incomes it is beyond mad. There will be an "adjustment" round the corner - a few notches in interest rates and all the other stealth taxes will start to hit people in the pockets. It is indeed interesting, anyone going self cert really is desperate, I considered it with mine as its a 10x multiple of my salary sounds a lot but I'm in it with my sister and her husband and we wanted it in my name so we could do smaller developments on their borrowing without getting done for capital gains tax Personally i think we're just in for a period of stagnation maybe a couple more quarter point interest rate drops but nothing much and on the other side I can't see them upping it too far either. Certainly the banks seem to be thinking along those lines as the long term fixed rates aren't that attractive and seem to be building up the fees attached to them, which put me off. My last fixed rate had just reached the rate it was at before it ended so the bank definitely won on that one. Everyone is convinced there will be a big fall but really there aren't that many signs of one. i've got school mates who have been renting for the last 10 years waiting for one and they're still waiting yet they would have made a killing had they bought. the best advice from what I've done is buy houses that need work doing as long as you're reasonably practical and if you can bear moving regularly keep on doing it, its the easiest way towards mortgage free living. My current house was a wreck when i bought it for £249K With the work done so far its worth 400K according to the mortgage valuation, by the end it'll be comfortably £650K and i'll have spent £150K on the improvements and buying it extra garden etc. I did get this one for a steal as its listed and its been a pain in the backside so far but there are houses out there if you look hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petethegeek Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 Everyone is convinced there will be a big fall but really there aren't that many signs of one. i've got school mates who have been renting for the last 10 years waiting for one and they're still waiting... "The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent." --John Maynard Keynes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mungler Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 (edited) It is a bubble. People will borrow as much as any bank will lend. The banks are tightening up their lending criteria but it's all too little too late. We see people who appear to be oblivious to simple mathematics:- if living costs (mortgage and all bills) exceeds income then you are in the poo. People don't seem to do this calculation any more. What now happens is if living costs exceeds income then borrow the shortfall on the never never. When the cost of borrowing and living notches up at a higher rate than income then there's trouble. Trouble however will not manifest itself whilst people are still in employment and banks are still lending - if you have a job you can pretty much get an almost never ending supply of credit and maintain it for a long time by only ever making minimum payments against interest only. I reckon unemployment and the strength of the overal economy is key and we are just seeing the signs that all is not well (unemployment figures released yesterday show a large jump). It's all very cyclical - if there is a "bad feeling" in the economy then usually this becomes self fulfilling - people get the jitters and cut back on spending therefore less money in the economy, no growth and hey presto recession and unemployment. The usual way to get out of a recession such as that is to reduce interest rates to promote spending (which is where we are now) but the knock on is inflation and people borrowing money they can't afford to repay. Edited February 19, 2008 by Mungler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 A lot depends where in the country you are, where are you getting the jump in unemployment from Mungler as its not the National Statistics office that shows the opposite. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=12 A lot of what is in the papers at the moment is scare mongering, The economy is in a slow down and there are jitters sent over from the US and the tightening in lending can only be a good thing. Though i must say i didn't find much tightening when I re-mortgaged last month. People seem to be trying to talk us into a crash and at the moment any drop is purely down to the papers causing jitters. The facts are that we're at a slow time of year traditionally in the housing market, HIPS have been brought in to ****** the stats up a bit more and hey presto loads of stories about prices falling yet when you read into them more most relate to the rate of increase falling. What is needed is for prices to remain static rather than go up at a silly rate last year was something like 9.7% All this being said my brother in laws an estate agent and he's sold 5 houses so far this month which is what he does on a usual month so though people are jittery they're still buying. But they are more likely to get money off the asking price so in a way it could still be a time to buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vole Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 Just increased our mortgage with a hope to extend.Would have moved but the 8k to estate agent and other issues made us want to stay put.I am crapping it because my Mrs is now looking at long term or permanent sick due to back injury.Despite fixing the rate ,to lose an income is going to be the end of this roof above our head.The payments are crippling enough without the hikes of fuel and heating bills. We are semi serious in looking at going to Ireland or Australia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tweedledee Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 Just increased our mortgage with a hope to extend.Would have moved but the 8k to estate agent and other issues made us want to stay put.I am crapping it because my Mrs is now looking at long term or permanent sick due to back injury.Despite fixing the rate ,to lose an income is going to be the end of this roof above our head.The payments are crippling enough without the hikes of fuel and heating bills. We are semi serious in looking at going to Ireland or Australia. ireland are you mad.the south is dear to live in,i was down there yesterday and its very expensive,the north is getting as bad. head for australia and dont look back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaniel Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 I keep trying to get my MRs to move to France with me...no luck God what i can buy over there for the same money as a 3 bed semi over here....Two Houses and a large fishing lake. What a life and sadly only a dream at present Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
me and my lad Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 I keep trying to get my MRs to move to France with me...no luckGod what i can buy over there for the same money as a 3 bed semi over here....Two Houses and a large fishing lake. What a life and sadly only a dream at present and dont forget you can haggle on the interest rate on a mortgage overe there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyjaimz Posted February 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 Don't know your circumstances but judging by the term I'd guess you don't have much of a deposit? We have actually, the purchase price is 159,000 less the joint deposits of 18,000 leaves a mortgage of 140,000. It's fixed for 3 years, after which we can hopefully get something with a better rate (in theory). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vole Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 Plan was to sell up and ditch the mortgage.Go fishing and shooting all the time!! Got Mum in laws house over there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axeman1984 Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 well ime only 24, but lucky for me i listened to my dad and bought a bungerlow when i was only 18, its only a 2 bed nothing huge but its detached and got a double garage and sits on about a quarter of an acre, and to be honest i wouldent be able to afford to buy my own house back now how the prices are in my village at the moment, all the fellas i worked with said what a bad idear it was, how i was too young to tie myself down to a mortgage and that house prices were gonna crash and i had just made a big mistake, and i must admit they did scare me a bit , well i thank my lucky stars i listened to my dad, and when i hit 43 ime all done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunk Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 I pay just under 700 quid for 110 but theres a lot of equity in the house. Luckily i`ve made money on all my houses through doing a lot of my own work and improving. Really, identifying houses to improve or do up and move on is the best way of getting rid if the millstone. I squeezed a divorce in about twelve years ago which set me back a tad, but our present gaff will shortly be up for sale to move on to a dooer upper, such as somewhere that old folk have been living in. Needing new kitchen, bathroom, garage maybe, or a conservatory. Decorate throughout, central heating rewire etc and it can realise some good money. You cant polish a ****, but there are sites that will give you an idea what other similar properties have fetched locally to give an idea what can be made. The only low point is getting a place up together and really liking it, just to flog it to someone else. We stay for about 3-4 years which gives time to enjoy the house, but then its move on. Folk have mentioned the costs of London and other cities but if you graft its a golden opportunity to buy and sell to make a shedload of money. The expenses are greater but the returns bigger, and in shorter time. When you`ve got the first foot on the ladder with the massive mortgage, its a case of how do i get rid of the S.O.B in the shortest time, not ,well thats me then for the next 30 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gav Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 125 grand over 30 yrs interest only £ 752 . per month house is on the market for 165.k as buying a family property in a rural location very cheap ! however its a dump no heating double glazing etc . but will be worth it < i hope > not 1 viewer has looked at the " hip " book thing what a waste of 500 quid . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamC Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 We currently pay just over £1500 on our 3 bed end terrace in sunny Maidenhead. The mortage is around £237k over 25 years. We are in the process of selling the house to my father in law and hopefully moving to a 2 bed detached bungalow with a mortgage of just over £300k. We are doing an interest only mortgage and the repaymets are roughly £100 less than we are paying at the moment. The justification for this is that will put the spare money into the house. If you are wonering why I am paying more for less, it is beause you really do have to pay for you small bit of countryside here in the Thames Valley. Buying your first place is always hard with a mortgage looming over your head, moving is also hard with a bigger mortgage looming, but you adjust and as others have said, it gets easier. I do not think things are much harder now than they were for my parents. The difference now is that there is more pressure on people to buy fancy things like cars and holidays, and if they cannot afford them, why not buy now and pay later. I made sacrifices when I bought my first place and when I moved a couple of years ago, sacrifices my peers have not been willing to make and are either stuck at home of still in flats. My sister is a case in point. She earns enought to get a mortgage and buy her own place, but admitts this would prevent her buying clothes, handbags and going on flash holidays. She just got a pay rise and what is she thinking of doing? Yep, buying a new car! Mini rant over. I am not saying it is easy, just that it has always been hard and the storys my parents tell me of when they were counting up the coppers at the end of the week to see if they could buy a bottle of wine for the weekend, makes you think was it so different? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul65 Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 When we took our first mortgage out, we took it over 30 years. This was the longest period we were able to take it out over and allowed us to buy a rundown house with affordable monthly repayments. My wife worked in lending for a bank for a long time and her strategy is to always get the longest term available - you can pay it off sooner but you can't extend a shorter term. My friends, on the other hand, bought flats on the shortest term they could and when the crunch came and rates went right up, they struggled seriously. My house lost a bit of it's value but my mates' flats dropped like a stone and they were stuck with unmanagable repayments and a property they couldn't afford to sell. We moved to a new house 4 years ago and again took a mortgage over the longest period we could - £100k over 26 years - which will be paid by the time I retire. It's managable, allows us to spend money on improving the house and to survive on one salary if necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LEFTY478 Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 If you have an 'interest only' mortage, you're not really buying it, you're just paying rent - except you get the repair bills too!. OK, if the house price raises you'll pocket the increase. But unless you then move to a cheaper house, your next property's higher purchase price will just swallow up any profit that you think you've made. And if they don't raise: you sell up (if you can) you're left in negative equity. Shortening the term of your repayments is the best way to save money. We took a £135k mortage on our last house (in Jan 2004) on a 15 year term. The over-payments we have/are going to make will mean we're mortage free in March/April 2014. Currently, the interest rate we earn on our ISA's etc is greater than we pay on our fixed rate mortage, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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