first time buyers

[desprateseagull]

council flats are king! less than 1/2 of what i would pay if renting privately, and any repairs, gas servicing etc are sorted.

i wouldnt have a chance of getting a mortgage, even on my old salary..

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Why does anyone have to be "blamed" for the house price rises? The economy is booming, the population is rising rapidly and people have more money than ever before. Is this a bad thing? House price increases are a sympton of this country doing very well. I appreciate it makes it harder to get on the ladder, but there are ways. Buy a place abroard (for as little as 15k), as a buy to let and live and rent here. This gets you on the ladder and you can trade up as and when you can afford, hopefully buying up to your own place one day. You think prices here have risen quickly but take a look at Croatia, Southern Spain and Portugal, Bulgaria and coastal Turkey. I think people have to accept that they don't have the god given right to own their own property in the area they want to live in. It is still possible but you may have to be creative in order to achieve your goal.

But isn't the real issue here that house prices in the south-east and London, where most of us live and work, are now completely out of kilter with what most people earn. This hasn't really happened before in such a sustained way and is a generational problem. 25, 30, 40 years ago, our parents could buy a decent terraced or semi-detached for well under 3 and a half times your salary. But those days are long gone. What do you have to earn today to borrow enough to get a place? Let's say you earn £35,000 a year, miles more than the national average wage, but what can you buy for that? The reality is you now need to be earning a lot of money before you can even get your foot on the ladder and historically much more than our parents ever did.

 

[Caveman]

My neighbours are teachers

They probably get the Key works mortage.

I managed to get on the ladder a couple of years back, doing the place up slowly and hope to move on in a few years, I had a 11k deposit which helped. If you've got nothing saved and are earning under 20k I really can't see how it would be possible?

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Re Mortgage

95% loan to value
2 year fixed rate
No extended penalties
No arrangement fee
Free survey
Free legals
Affordability based lending
No MIP

and I have just decided I want an offset option as well.

 

[Caveman]

Let's say you earn £35,000 a year, miles more than the national average wage, but what can you buy for that? The reality is you now need to be earning a lot of money before you can even get your foot on the ladder and historically much more than our parents ever did.

But if you have a partner, you'd be on around 40k, you can times that by 3 = 120k you'd get something to start out with around here. O.k. not a mansion but its a start.

But not many young couples are on anything near that. Madness really.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

possible to get 4 x joint = £ 160k

 

[Lokki 7]

The reality is you now need to be earning a lot of money before you can even get your foot on the ladder and historically much more than our parents ever did.

Correct. That is the reality. But many people are not accepting the new economic reality and have expectations to own their own family pads in Sussex by the time they are 30. Those days are gone and are unlikely to ever return, everyone needs to get used to it.

 

[Dave the OAP]

my mortgage finishes in 18 months


I have been paying into the thing for 24 odd years and must have paid over £200k for a £25k mortgage over the years.( I started paying in 1982)

The finance industry stinks

 

[chip]

Ok ,tell me the best re mortgage 2 year fixed rate at 95% loan to value with no mortgage indemnity premium and a free survey and free legals and no arrangement fee with no extended early redemption penalties with a lender who will consider it based on affordability and not income multiples and the clients want up to 4 x joint incomes

You have 45 seconds ( how long it will take me to tell you ?.

But why would I even want to do that? I know what my own requirements are and so should every consumer. I have no interest in a 95% LTV or 4 x joint incomes. If you are remortgaging, for example, your existing lender may well be able to match your best offer anyway.

Best, thats rather subjective though isn't it and would depend on too many factors? The answer is actualy to identify the Pareto-optimal solutions and evaluate the trade-offs between the different products as they would fit the indiviual's circumstances. There is no such thing as a free survey or conveyancing so one would have to evaluate the actual cost considering a set of scenarios and pick the best compromise. How portable is the mortgage, tie ins, overpayments etc.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

But your house is worth over £ 500 000 Dave you haven't done too bad.

 

[Dave the OAP]

But your house is worth over £ 500 000 Dave you haven't done too bad.

170k if I am lucky...but there is no point moving

 

[Simster]

And equally I couldn't give a flying f*** if you end up losing thousand of pounds in a housing market crash. If and when it happens please don't start bleating about how unfair the world is to you.

I wouldn't expect you to. But that's not the same as explicitly willing it to happen just so that all people who have taken the plunge lose a shit load of money is it? Which is what you said.

 

[aftershavedave]

If you say that often enough you'll believe it too. Seriously, mortgage advisors are only for the stupid who are incapable of locating a suitable product for themselves. If you have a decent credit rating you should have no need of them - just go to the building societies (e.g., YBS, Britannia, Nationwide, Portman, Coventry) and you will find as good a product as they can. Alternatively, get the broker to find the deal and arrange it yourself.

that's a fair comment imo despite the flak you've got for it.

problem with it is that most people DO need help cos this kind of stuff baffles the avaerage buyer.

 

[Bad Ash]

Re Mortgage
No arrangement fee
Free survey
Free legals

Sure its worth baring these in mind, but not at the expense of a very high interest rate.

As a first time buyer I admit I got some very handy advice. However, in the end I actually went with Giraffe (part of Bristol and West) who none of the brokers had on their system because they wouldn't pay them commission.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Compare the rates and the fees and work out the best options.

 

[Albion Rob]

The GF and I were very lucky.

Based on our joint salaries we were offered up to £180k although obviously the payments would have been quite restrictive so we plumped for £150k on a house in Eastbourne town centre (two bed Victorian terraced with small garden).

If the market crashed it would be sickening in terms of having to pay a lot of money for something which wasn't worth that but we're both at the start of our careers (both 25 years old) and so while it would be frustrating it wouldn't affect our ability to pay.

Bottom line, in my experience, is that if you want anywhere half decent you pay quite a bit and that can often only be financed as part of a couple - must be nigh on impossible for single people.

However, we love our house and are happy there, if things did go belly up then we would be able to ride it out until a recovery. It's those who buy somewhere for a quick profit or buy to let that are surely most at risk in such situations.

As I say, we're both lucky (although we have both also worked bloody hard!) to be on the salaries we're on, how a bloke who works in Currys while his girlfriend is a receptionist can hope to get on the ladder is beyond me.

 

[B.M.F]

Should be getting on the ladder soon and yes it is hard. The only thing to do is be prepared to maove away from Brighton & Hove. You can still pick up 2 bed flats for around £80-£90k within an hour drive from Hove but until I get mine I am not telling you all where.

 

[chez]

Should be getting on the ladder soon and yes it is hard. The only thing to do is be prepared to maove away from Brighton & Hove. You can still pick up 2 bed flats for around £80-£90k within an hour drive from Hove but until I get mine I am not telling you all where.

How much will you give me not to tell everyone where?

 

[B.M.F]

How much will you give me not to tell everyone where?

I'll give you a bunch of fives sunny jim if you don't button it like

 

[chez]

Fair enough.