Houses

[KrefelderFox666]

Just now, Costock_Fox said:

Agreed, was just curious as to why the broker would say it’s because of a contract of employment.

Yes, just edited my original post to expand a bit too. Without knowing the ins and outs, not sure what the tripping point is but the broker will know what he is talking about. The only thing I can think of is that recently self-employed or non-fixed employments may cause issues proving affordability.

[VLC86]

1 hour ago, KrefelderFox666 said:

Yes, just edited my original post to expand a bit too. Without knowing the ins and outs, not sure what the tripping point is but the broker will know what he is talking about. The only thing I can think of is that recently self-employed or non-fixed employments may cause issues proving affordability.

I work in the industry and that is very variable . FTC contracts, depending on the industry/track record/ level of income, don’t usually have a huge impact to be honest and would be shocked if that was deemed an issue if they were being told they need to borrow more than 25k.

[KrefelderFox666]

2 minutes ago, Costock_Fox said:

I work in the industry and that is very variable . FTC contracts, depending on the industry/track record/ level of income, don’t usually have a huge impact to be honest and would be shocked if that was deemed an issue if they were being told they need to borrow more than 25k.

Same here. The way the post was worded could sound like they were saying you cannot borrow under 25k but can borrow more, in which case it would be weird. I just assumed it was meant that they couldn't get a small mortgage or a larger mortgage.

 

Agree that brokers are not always the smartest people (and they cut corners where they can), but they generally explore a lot of options available. At the end of the day they most of them rely on commission so will try to make anything work.

[Wrighty22]

Finally had an offer accepted  

[Leicester_Loyal]

Prices are mental aren't they, I completed in July, paid 200k and Zoopla (I know it can be out largely) is telling me it's now worth 214-216k. The only issues I've had so far is a slight lack of space in the second bedroom, would like a gaming pc in there at some point but it's gonna be a squeeze, and also it's annoying having my tumble dryer and freezer in the garage, due to the lack of space in the kitchen, but hey, first world problems. I'm overpaying on the mortgage by £200 a month purely to hammer down the years on it, I don't want to be paying a mortgage in 35 years time, plus I'd like to have a lot more equity in the place when I move or remortgage in 5 years time.

 

All going well so far, I absolutely love it, having your own space and doing what you want when you want is bliss.

[Soup]

19 minutes ago, Leicester_Loyal said:

Prices are mental aren't they, I completed in July, paid 200k and Zoopla (I know it can be out largely) is telling me it's now worth 214-216k. The only issues I've had so far is a slight lack of space in the second bedroom, would like a gaming pc in there at some point but it's gonna be a squeeze, and also it's annoying having my tumble dryer and freezer in the garage, due to the lack of space in the kitchen, but hey, first world problems. I'm overpaying on the mortgage by £200 a month purely to hammer down the years on it, I don't want to be paying a mortgage in 35 years time, plus I'd like to have a lot more equity in the place when I move or remortgage in 5 years time.

 

All going well so far, I absolutely love it, having your own space and doing what you want when you want is bliss.

Best thing we have ever did was paying our mortgage off early. Life moves so fast and to get that huge dept out of the way opens so many other doors. Good luck

[Wolfox]

27 minutes ago, Leicester_Loyal said:

Prices are mental aren't they, I completed in July, paid 200k and Zoopla (I know it can be out largely) is telling me it's now worth 214-216k. The only issues I've had so far is a slight lack of space in the second bedroom, would like a gaming pc in there at some point but it's gonna be a squeeze, and also it's annoying having my tumble dryer and freezer in the garage, due to the lack of space in the kitchen, but hey, first world problems. I'm overpaying on the mortgage by £200 a month purely to hammer down the years on it, I don't want to be paying a mortgage in 35 years time, plus I'd like to have a lot more equity in the place when I move or remortgage in 5 years time.

 

All going well so far, I absolutely love it, having your own space and doing what you want when you want is bliss.

Welcome to home ownership…. With troughs and peaks as long as you sit tight you will generally enjoy an increase in value…

 

it’s tough for those getting on the ladder, but, worth the effort as it helps to secure your future 

 

My current house is until my retirement (20 years away - give or take)…. It’s been a big investment currently, but, should give me nice options when I come start life without working…

 

it’s the biggest and often the best investment you’ll ever make 

[Milo]

On 17/11/2021 at 16:55, Leicester_Loyal said:

Prices are mental aren't they, I completed in July, paid 200k and Zoopla (I know it can be out largely) is telling me it's now worth 214-216k. The only issues I've had so far is a slight lack of space in the second bedroom, would like a gaming pc in there at some point but it's gonna be a squeeze, and also it's annoying having my tumble dryer and freezer in the garage, due to the lack of space in the kitchen, but hey, first world problems. I'm overpaying on the mortgage by £200 a month purely to hammer down the years on it, I don't want to be paying a mortgage in 35 years time, plus I'd like to have a lot more equity in the place when I move or remortgage in 5 years time.

 

All going well so far, I absolutely love it, having your own space and doing what you want when you want is bliss.

Mate, most of us on here are emotionally invested in your house! 
 

Glad you’re enjoying it and are settled in. 
 

[Footballwipe]

On 17/11/2021 at 16:55, Leicester_Loyal said:

Prices are mental aren't they, I completed in July, paid 200k and Zoopla (I know it can be out largely) is telling me it's now worth 214-216k. The only issues I've had so far is a slight lack of space in the second bedroom, would like a gaming pc in there at some point but it's gonna be a squeeze, and also it's annoying having my tumble dryer and freezer in the garage, due to the lack of space in the kitchen, but hey, first world problems. I'm overpaying on the mortgage by £200 a month purely to hammer down the years on it, I don't want to be paying a mortgage in 35 years time, plus I'd like to have a lot more equity in the place when I move or remortgage in 5 years time.

 

All going well so far, I absolutely love it, having your own space and doing what you want when you want is bliss.

Absolutely batshit tbh. I still spy Rightmove and they are just mental. The little new-ish estate I'm in, there are houses smaller than ours (not that much, but still less floorspace) and they're going for £45k more than we paid for this. I'm convinced if my house went onto the market tomorrow the agents would put it on for about £70k more than we paid for it.

 

One of the houses we were going to buy in New Lubbesthorpe went back on the market earlier this year and ended up going for £50k more than we were going to pay before it fell through. How can people compete with the current market?

 

Only thing I'm fearing a little is interest rates. Two-year fixed is up next year and wondering what the best option will be in 12 months time...

[KrefelderFox666]

1 hour ago, Footballwipe said:

Absolutely batshit tbh. I still spy Rightmove and they are just mental. The little new-ish estate I'm in, there are houses smaller than ours (not that much, but still less floorspace) and they're going for £45k more than we paid for this. I'm convinced if my house went onto the market tomorrow the agents would put it on for about £70k more than we paid for it.

 

One of the houses we were going to buy in New Lubbesthorpe went back on the market earlier this year and ended up going for £50k more than we were going to pay before it fell through. How can people compete with the current market?

 

Only thing I'm fearing a little is interest rates. Two-year fixed is up next year and wondering what the best option will be in 12 months time...

Interest rates are bound to go up soon. When can you switch mortgage without penalty? Normally you can rate switch between 3 and 5 months before your rate actually ends. Worth checking with your lender.

 

One of our mortgage parts is up October 2022, so normally we can switch around July 2022 for that one. Our other rate on the second part isn't due until October 2024. I think know is a good time to fix for a good while (if it suits your personal circumstances - i.e. not planning to move soon or remortgage).

[Footballwipe]

1 hour ago, KrefelderFox666 said:

Interest rates are bound to go up soon. When can you switch mortgage without penalty? Normally you can rate switch between 3 and 5 months before your rate actually ends. Worth checking with your lender.

 

One of our mortgage parts is up October 2022, so normally we can switch around July 2022 for that one. Our other rate on the second part isn't due until October 2024. I think know is a good time to fix for a good while (if it suits your personal circumstances - i.e. not planning to move soon or remortgage).

Yeah I agree, we've owned a home since 2015 and never had to worry about rates at all. In fact the dropping of them during Covid made our mortgage on the new house even better than we could've expected.

 

Suspect I'll have to do some digging soon to see when I can open the book on remortgaging early and fix for potentially five years if it's viable!

[The Blur]

I am currently in the process of sorting out my house insurance for an ongoing house purchase (hopefully all will go well!)

 

I would be interested to know what is the average ballpark figure?  I can appreciate there is so many variables that can affect the final quote but would be essentially looking for a figure for an average house in an average neighborhood.  

[RobHawk]

49 minutes ago, The Blur said:

I am currently in the process of sorting out my house insurance for an ongoing house purchase (hopefully all will go well!)

 

I would be interested to know what is the average ballpark figure?  I can appreciate there is so many variables that can affect the final quote but would be essentially looking for a figure for an average house in an average neighborhood.  

I think my contents and house insurance is just under £100 for the two. 

 

Go through the usual price comparison websites though as some are ribbing bastards

[Tommy G]

On 17/11/2021 at 17:18, Soup said:

Best thing we have ever did was paying our mortgage off early. Life moves so fast and to get that huge dept out of the way opens so many other doors. Good luck

One other side of the coin re paying off a mortgage early....I am not in disagreement with overpaying (I overpay mine slightly) but I think there is a fine line in terms of it becoming an obsession or a weight on peoples shoulders to spend their 30's and 40's paying it off and not enjoying life at that age.

 

Another option would be to chuck more in a personal pension, you will either get 20% or 40% tax relief on this and pension pots traditionally grow 5-8% per year. While interest rates are low it might be worth directing some cash in that direction rather than just blindly paying off the mortgage. You can always write a chq at 55-57 years old and pay the final part off. If you are a higher rate tax payer just £100 turns into £140 plus 6-8% compound growth on that for the next however many years, in my case 22. 

[damolcfc]

On 20/11/2021 at 22:05, RobHawk said:

I think my contents and house insurance is just under £100 for the two. 

 

Go through the usual price comparison websites though as some are ribbing bastards

Mine was £80 with British gas believe it or not.

 

[fox_favourite]

So, wanted to see if anyone had any experience of living/knows someone/has opinions for New Lubbesthorpe? If so is it okay living there? School good? My wife is a teacher and I work in education, so know the ins and outs of schools. 
 

Nearest small shop like a One Stop or Tesco express etc…

 

We’re thinking of moving and would like a new build. Davidson houses impressed us the most. Looked around Leicestershire as  well and my wife thinks it’s a good location. 
 

Just wanted opinions. 
 

TIA

Edited 5 December 2021 by fox_favourite

[Strokes]

1 hour ago, fox_favourite said:

So, wanted to see if anyone had any experience of living/knows someone/has opinions for New Lubbesthorpe? If so is it okay living there? School good? My wife is a teacher and I work in education, so know the ins and outs of schools. 
 

Nearest small shop like a One Stop or Tesco express etc…

 

We’re thinking of moving and would like a new build. Davidson houses impressed us the most. Looked around Leicestershire as  well and my wife thinks it’s a good location. 
 

Just wanted opinions. 
 

TIA

Yeah I’m in a Davidson’s house here. I’ve been in it 2 1/2 years and not had any issues at all.

Not sure on the school unfortunately as my kids are beyond age needed to move them too it. Shops, at the moment I go to Tesco on Hinckley road for day to day items. It’s not much hassle.

The pandemic has slowed some of the development down and the planned pub/shopping area has been re-imagined, which has pissed me off enormously. 
I’ll have to see how I feel when it’s done, because it’s pretty decent overall.

Pro’s

Big open spaces.

Nice paths and walks.

Decent Parks.

Proximity to amenities (meridian, fosse park, city centre)

 

cons

Speed bumps.

Traffic lights 

Unannounced road closures.

Lack of shops and facilities in walking distance.

Edited 5 December 2021 by Strokes

[Raj]

On 17/11/2021 at 17:18, Soup said:

Best thing we have ever did was paying our mortgage off early. Life moves so fast and to get that huge dept out of the way opens so many other doors. Good luck

Same here, before we had kids and we were both full time working we just over paid as much as we could rather than blow it on materialistic sh1t we didnt need.

Best thing we did. If anyone can overpay even a few quid every month do it.

 

[Hollism]

I hate everything about the process of buying a house. 

 

We had an offer accepted on a shared ownership property in August. Bank wouldn't let on it because it had 83 years remaining on the lease. Owners had anticipated this and had already started the process of extending before it went on the market. Finally came through around 2 months ago and everything should have gone through fine from there. The entire time, our solicitors have been MIA. We've been in direct contact with the seller regarding small stuff, and we've had way more info from their solicitor through them than we have our own.

 

They signed their contract start of last week and told us their solicitor wants to complete on the 20th. We have had to chase and chase our solicitors to try and get them to do whatever they need to do to get us ready in time because we want to be in ASAP. Our mortgage broker called this week to ask what was happening and we told them, so she called our solicitor and bollocked them. Our contract pack came through on Tuesday, which was immediately signed and sent back on Special delivery pre-9am, so they had that yesterday. We've emailed twice and the mortgage advisor has called again today, but we've had nothing back at all.

 

We need to complete on Monday, so that means they will ideally want to exchange tomorrow, and they haven't even asked us for our funds yet. Surely they will need this in the next 2-3 hours!??

 

I'm more than happy to name and shame, but I don't want to get FT into trouble for slander or something.

[Mickyblueeyes]

On 17/11/2021 at 17:18, Soup said:

Best thing we have ever did was paying our mortgage off early. Life moves so fast and to get that huge dept out of the way opens so many other doors. Good luck

 

On 05/12/2021 at 09:26, Raj said:

Same here, before we had kids and we were both full time working we just over paid as much as we could rather than blow it on materialistic sh1t we didnt need.

Best thing we did. If anyone can overpay even a few quid every month do it.

 

This is some of the best advice in this topic.

 

The problem is that it’s becoming harder to do so for young people just because of the ridiculous house prices. I spoke to two youngish family members the other day who bought their first house. Nothing spectacular but a good “normal” first house. Somewhere big enough to raise a family.
 

Their monthly payments come to £1,100 - I couldn’t believe it. Their idea was that it was better to get on a ladder in a decent property and an area where they wanted to raise their family now rather than wait or go for something a bit cheaper only to want to move again in a few years. The rise in house price would benefit their next search. 
 

I thought they were genuine reasons but the lending rate, monthly payment and term was ridiculous. 

[Raj]

6 minutes ago, Mickyblueeyes said:

 

This is some of the best advice in this topic.

 

The problem is that it’s becoming harder to do so for young people just because of the ridiculous house prices. I spoke to two youngish family members the other day who bought their first house. Nothing spectacular but a good “normal” first house. Somewhere big enough to raise a family.
 

Their monthly payments come to £1,100 - I couldn’t believe it. Their idea was that it was better to get on a ladder in a decent property and an area where they wanted to raise their family now rather than wait or go for something a bit cheaper only to want to move again in a few years. The rise in house price would benefit their next search. 
 

I thought they were genuine reasons but the lending rate, monthly payment and term was ridiculous. 

This is with low interest rates as well.

25 years or so ago the rates were nearly into double digits.

I dint envy youngsters getting on the ladder nowadays.

Can imagine my kids living with us til they are 40!!!

[Izzy]

Re. paying your mortgage off early, I stumbled on this bloke a few months ago. He's very American/right wing/conservative/religious/in your face etc. but I love his approach. His views have shifted my mindset on debt and I'm working like a trojan to pay my mortgage off while cutting other costs left, right, and center. I'm on a mission and it feels good.

 

 

[KrefelderFox666]

29 minutes ago, Izzy said:

Re. paying your mortgage off early, I stumbled on this bloke a few months ago. He's very American/right wing/conservative/religious/in your face etc. but I love his approach. His views have shifted my mindset on debt and I'm working like a trojan to pay my mortgage off while cutting other costs left, right, and center. I'm on a mission and it feels good.

 

 

It's always that balancing act of do you want to maximise the money you earn and try to be tight with spending and budget yourself, or do you want to just live on your limit?

 

The latter is obviously dangerous because if your income goes, your expenses are not going to decrease too much. Equally, you don't want to budget for a long time and trade off living your life, only to become critically ill or worse.

 

In theory, having no debt is always the best option but for a lot of people, that is extremely hard. Ideally, you buy everything in cash but probably less than 1% of people can afford reasonable houses/cars etc. with cash.

 

When you get to a point of having more income or cash at hand you have many choices. Do you make home improvements? Do you spend it on yourselves (e.g. holiday etc.)? Do you plan for retirement (most people at least have company pensions these days but they are not the most rewarding)?

 

It will also be different for a 25 year old and a 55 year old. The former may want to enjoy living whereas the latter may be more concerned about retirement. Everyone has to make their own decisions as to what makes them happy but ultimately, paying off your debts is the way forward if you can and are happy with that way.

 

And you seem to be very content with that decision, so good work!

[Hollism]

4 hours ago, Hollism said:

I hate everything about the process of buying a house. 

 

We had an offer accepted on a shared ownership property in August. Bank wouldn't let on it because it had 83 years remaining on the lease. Owners had anticipated this and had already started the process of extending before it went on the market. Finally came through around 2 months ago and everything should have gone through fine from there. The entire time, our solicitors have been MIA. We've been in direct contact with the seller regarding small stuff, and we've had way more info from their solicitor through them than we have our own.

 

They signed their contract start of last week and told us their solicitor wants to complete on the 20th. We have had to chase and chase our solicitors to try and get them to do whatever they need to do to get us ready in time because we want to be in ASAP. Our mortgage broker called this week to ask what was happening and we told them, so she called our solicitor and bollocked them. Our contract pack came through on Tuesday, which was immediately signed and sent back on Special delivery pre-9am, so they had that yesterday. We've emailed twice and the mortgage advisor has called again today, but we've had nothing back at all.

 

We need to complete on Monday, so that means they will ideally want to exchange tomorrow, and they haven't even asked us for our funds yet. Surely they will need this in the next 2-3 hours!??

 

I'm more than happy to name and shame, but I don't want to get FT into trouble for slander or something.

We rang again and weren’t able to speak to our solicitor. The receptionist confirmed their account details and said she’ll get the solicitor to email us the amount we need to pay. Didn’t happen.

 

Just had a text from the seller and her solicitor has said she is waiting for something from ours still. Don’t know what. Also, they close on Tuesday for two weeks.

 

I’m shaking with anger at the thought of not being in for Christmas.

Edited 16 December 2021 by Hollism

[Wolfox]

3 hours ago, Hollism said:

We rang again and weren’t able to speak to our solicitor. The receptionist confirmed their account details and said she’ll get the solicitor to email us the amount we need to pay. Didn’t happen.

 

Just had a text from the seller and her solicitor has said she is waiting for something from ours still. Don’t know what. Also, they close on Tuesday for two weeks.

 

I’m shaking with anger at the thought of not being in for Christmas.

Sounds rough…. Hang in there, moving house is a tricky business, but, it mainly gets there in the end

 

hope it works out well for you 👍🏼