UKBouldering.com
the shizzle => shootin' the shit => Topic started by: cha1n on August 24, 2015, 08:19:13 pm
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Can anyone offer a rough estimate of what it costs to do the following conversions to a Sheffield 2 bedroom terrace:
- Convert attic to a bedroom with a Velux on each side and proper stairway.
- Convert cellar to a usable room that isn't a damp hole.
Just wondering if anyone has had this done reasonably recently, if not I'll get in touch with a local builder perhaps and see what they quote. This is more for assessing the rough value of a property, not for doing myself (yet).
Cheers!
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Can anyone offer a rough estimate of what it costs to do the following conversions to a Sheffield 2 bedroom terrace:
- Convert attic to a bedroom with a Velux on each side and proper stairway.
- Convert cellar to a usable room that isn't a damp hole.
Just wondering if anyone has had this done reasonably recently, if not I'll get in touch with a local builder perhaps and see what they quote. This is more for assessing the rough value of a property, not for doing myself (yet).
Cheers!
If done to building regs a proper stairway to the attic in a 2 bedder wouldn't usually be worth it as the stairwelll would rob too much room from the first floor - also the joists would have to strengthened raising the floor height and the ceiling height lowered to incorporate the insulation thereby minimising the usable space. Maybe budget £10-15K.
A usable cellar as a further bedroom say would likely require the floor lowering, foundation walls underpinning, dampproof membrane system with maybe an underfloor pump. Maybe budget £15-20K.
Above assumes building regs. If done without, cutting corners and cash in hand to a cheap builder a lot less but it will cause problems when reselling if you don't have the buiding regs certificate.
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Often have to put in rsj's to support loft extn and fireproofing now.
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Thanks for the comments, that's really useful.
It's interesting looking at a few of the terraces that come up that have the attics done but are still listed as 2 bedroom, I assume that's because it's not been done to regs.
Regarding the cellar, I meant converted to a standard where you could store stuff in it without it going mouldy in a few months (like our current cellar in our rented house), certainly wouldn't want to use it as a normal room.
It's crazy looking at some houses in S8 that were bought 4-5 years ago for circa. £80k and they are now selling them for £125-130k. Seems a bit greedy for 4 years, even if that have spent 20k on it doing it up. Still, I shouldn't complain too much, it's still great value compared to Bristol (where I'm from)!
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I suspect the attic will be listed as a boarded out or something along those lines so there is no building regs applicable. It can't officially be registered as a bedroom but you could use it as one should you wish.
House prices are mental at the minute - since the changes in stamp duty there is no longer the ceiling that existed at 125K and prices have altered accordingly. House around Meersbrook are now going on the market at close to 140k now whereas a year ago they would have been 125k or just under.
Just glad I bought my house late last year. :)
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Ha, yeh you got lucky there butters.
It makes me angry at my gf for turning down my suggestion that we go look at a 3 bed terrace that backed onto meersbrook park and was on for 105k early in the year. Needed too much doing apparently but would easily go for 140k atm if it'd had 15k spent on it.
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With regard to house prices being mental, they're only mental if it's somewhere "desirable". In other areas of Shef they can't give them away. It's like every other city in that respect. Decent houses in these "desirable" areas sell within a week. Caveat I'm talking about 100-150k houses
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It's crazy looking at some houses in S8 that were bought 4-5 years ago for circa. £80k and they are now selling them for £125-130k. Seems a bit greedy for 4 years, even if that have spent 20k on it doing it up.
doing a significant bit of work in one of these terraced houses takes over the whole house and makes life pretty hard for a while - it's challenging for anyone with kids to do this on a house they live in - it's those families who need the extra space, so they're stuck with competing for converted properties
also - often, those families don't have the spare cash, spare time to earn more cash or the borrowing capacity to do a conversion, relying on what the mortgage companies will lend - who are more willing to lend for properties in good condition
don't underestimate the disruption to your life while building work is going on
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It's crazy looking at some houses in S8 that were bought 4-5 years ago for circa. £80k and they are now selling them for £125-130k. Seems a bit greedy for 4 years, even if that have spent 20k on it doing it up. Still, I shouldn't complain too much, it's still great value compared to Bristol (where I'm from)!
Why is this greedy?
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It's crazy looking at some houses in S8 that were bought 4-5 years ago for circa. £80k and they are now selling them for £125-130k. Seems a bit greedy for 4 years, even if that have spent 20k on it doing it up. Still, I shouldn't complain too much, it's still great value compared to Bristol (where I'm from)!
Why is this greedy?
Between 2000 and 2005 many house prices in the UK near doubled (or more) - trying to think of a place where this didn't happen tbh...
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Why is this greedy?
Let's take one house I was looking at for example, they paid £80k for it at the end of 2011 (when the asking price was 80-90), so they got a good deal. Admittedly it was a state inside, looks like they had to decorate every room and they've converted the attic - though it seems not to regs. I'm trying to work out how much that may have cost, guess at 20k? 25k? And that depends on whether one of them is a carpenter, or has friends who can do work cheap, maybe it cost them a lot less to do. So they make 25-30k profit in 4 years? I don't know, it just seems an insane amount.
I've also just read up on LTVs and seems like it's going to be a big problem here in Sheffield, where it appears to be normal to bid over the asking price because I've only just got enough deposit to get a 90% LTV and then the Mortgage company comes in and says nope, that's not worth what you've offered... Bloody houses!
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Why is this greedy?
Let's take one house I was looking at for example, they paid £80k for it at the end of 2011 (when the asking price was 80-90), so they got a good deal. Admittedly it was a state inside, looks like they had to decorate every room and they've converted the attic - though it seems not to regs. I'm trying to work out how much that may have cost, guess at 20k? 25k? And that depends on whether one of them is a carpenter, or has friends who can do work cheap, maybe it cost them a lot less to do. So they make 25-30k profit in 4 years? I don't know, it just seems an insane amount.
I've also just read up on LTVs and seems like it's going to be a big problem here in Sheffield, where it appears to be normal to bid over the asking price because I've only just got enough deposit to get a 90% LTV and then the Mortgage company comes in and says nope, that's not worth what you've offered... Bloody houses!
still nothing to do with greed, it's to do with what people are prepared to spend and what they are prepared to spend is what the current value is.
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still nothing to do with greed, it's to do with what people are prepared to spend and what they are prepared to spend is what the current value is.
It's quite hard to work out what current value is though, because from what I've heard, nobody is getting houses for the asking price (in the areas I'm looking).
If I knew how the mortgage providers valued the house then I could look at trying to work out what's going on but I haven't quite figured that out yet! Anyway, appreciate the info, getting a bit :offtopic: now. Will start a separate thread if I want to rant further!
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The only value a house has is what someone is prepared to pay for it. If you're looking at something priced 120k in an area where people want to live then you're going to have a hell of a lot of competition. The only way to separate the competition is very basically offer more money than the next person, you do this by either being cash rich, a big deposit, or a first time buyer but even this doesn't count for that much anymore. People always want to buy for the lowest possible price and sell for the highest possible price.
Why would you need to know how a mortgage provider values the house? How does this affect your judgement? They'll value it at 120k, they'll market it at this if 3 people really want it the price will go up til someone will pay 140k (for instance), this increase of 20k may affect you if you can't afford it. Ie the bank still values the house at 120k, it's up to you then to sort out the shortfall. In other words the bank will not lend you 140k for something they deem to be only worth 120k
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The only greed is by the banks who are/were keen to lend massive amounts knowing long term they make cash on the interest, and greed by estate agents knowing they're paid a percentage so do anything to jack prices up. When demand outstrips supply, which it does in the nice areas on city's like Sheffield then prices go up, especially if banks will lend to allow it. You think its greedy on the part of the vendors? When someone sells their terrace and "makes" £25-40k (has happened to me twice) where do you think that money goes? Unless they die, downsize or move to a cheaper dares it just goes in to the next house. You never see that money.
In contrast to this, most estate agents on a percentage are making about 10x the money on fees on the same house that they were say 15 years ago, for doing the same or less work.
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Why would you need to know how a mortgage provider values the house? How does this affect your judgement? They'll value it at 120k, they'll market it at this if 3 people really want it the price will go up til someone will pay 140k (for instance), this increase of 20k may affect you if you can't afford it. Ie the bank still values the house at 120k, it's up to you then to sort out the shortfall. In other words the bank will not lend you 140k for something they deem to be only worth 120k
Well you asked and answered my question in the same paragraph.
If I want a 90%LTV mortgage on a 120k house and have 10% deposit (just) but the mortgage providers says no, it's worth 110k on the same LTV then there's a shortfall of 9k which someone in my position can't make up and you don't find out until you put in an offer and had a survey (so I've just wasted a chunk of potential deposit on a wasted survey - maybe more).
Surely it's better to save people the bother and advertise it for 140k if that's what it's worth.
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You don't have to encourage me to hate banks and estate agents, Dave, I already do! One of the reasons I hate looking around houses is that I have to interact with an estate agent. I just thought it was greed on everyone's part really, some more than others of course.
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A mate 'sold' his house on Wath Rd in S7 recently for £27K over the asking price. Ended up being only £19K over as the buyer's lender wouldn't value it at the amount they bid. The closed bid system in Sheffield is a scam by estate agents, which exploits sellers' greed.
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You can always ask for a second opinion from the valuers too. If you can prove that other "similar" properties have sold for the higher price then they may back down and go with the higher value.
This happened to us with the flat we bought in West One which was classed as a studio because there was no partition wall but was twice the size of other studio flats there. The valuation was clearly done by a moron who just looked at the layout rather than the area and who valued it lower than a tiny studio we had previously looked at. We argued the toss based on prices of other flats, condition and sq ft and they backed down and went with the proper valuation.
This was only possible because my mortgage advisor is a top bloke and it was the first time an estate agent (and Blundells no less) was actually helpful.
Worth knowing anyway.
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On that note, Shark pointed me towards his mortgage advisor and he was bloody brilliant (probably the best bit of the whole process for me). Consider having someone like that on your side as I'm convinced he will likely hold more sway than say yourself.
Also, I don't think you can simply look at buy for X spend Y sell for Z and class any 'profit' as greed. Even managing others doing such work is a PITA and time consuming (and fairly disruptive to how you live in the property, without kids).
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still nothing to do with greed, it's to do with what people are prepared to spend and what they are prepared to spend is what the current value is.
I think it is useful to differentiate between price and value. Price is what you pay and value is what you get (borrowed quote). Value is underpinned by metrics such as socio-economic affluence/income of an area, access to good schools, size of house and plot etc. Get sucked into the "I am missing the boat" mentality and you could end up making an overly emotive decision and saddled with a depreciating asset for a number of years. Just a word of caution - not advice.
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still nothing to do with greed, it's to do with what people are prepared to spend and what they are prepared to spend is what the current value is.
I think it is useful to differentiate between price and value. Price is what you pay and value is what you get (borrowed quote). Value is underpinned by metrics such as socio-economic affluence/income of an area, access to good schools, size of house and plot etc. Get sucked into the "I am missing the boat" mentality and you could end up making an overly emotive decision and saddled with a depreciating asset for a number of years. Just a word of caution - not advice.
i get your point, but in Scotland the school catchmemnt thing has changed (as in it doesn't matter where you live anymore, this would likely have an effect on Sheff prices in certain streets/postcodes if the same thing happens), hence affecting the price or value or whetever you want to call it, it still comes down to what someone is willing to pay. there is always inherent risk in atempting to assess (or bank upon) any given value at any point in time.
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It's crazy looking at some houses in S8 that were bought 4-5 years ago for circa. £80k and they are now selling them for £125-130k. Seems a bit greedy for 4 years, even if that have spent 20k on it doing it up. Still, I shouldn't complain too much, it's still great value compared to Bristol (where I'm from)!
The street behind me (I live in SW Manchester) has 2 bed terraces going for £320K so count yourself lucky! I think we've been priced out of moving up the cha1n, even if our house jumped by 10%, the bigger houses will have have gone up by 10% as well, which is unfortunately, more than we could afford.
(As an aside, I was always told a loft conversion is the only modification you never loose money on.)
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even if our house jumped by 10%, the bigger houses will have have gone up by 10% as well, which is unfortunately, more than we could afford.
House prices for bigger houses dont always move in step in % terms as small ones.
Also the power of leverage means that you can potentially borrow more.
Illustration:
Buy £200K house with 10% deposit of £20K. Price appreciates 10% = £40K equity ie you have doubled your money
Larger house formerly unaffordable worth £350K requiring £35K deposit now worth 10% more at £385K requiring £38.5K deposit which you can afford.
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The closed bid system in Sheffield is a scam by estate agents, which exploits sellers' greed.
Adopted from the Scottish way :( Plus side is we have no chains though!
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Just had a cursory look at the house price data at Nationwide (http://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/media/economic-insight/house-price-tools/) and over the last five years in Yorkshire and Humberside the average price of a terraced house has increased 19.6%, the average semi 13% and the average detached 13%
Supports my gut feel that terraced housing in Sheffield has gotten proportionately more expensive.
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House prices for bigger houses dont always move in step in % terms as small ones.
Unfortunately, the housing stock in the area is mainly two/three bed terraces so if one wants 4 or more beds, there's quite a lot of competition so prices are even more inflated......
Also the power of leverage means that you can potentially borrow more.
Illustration:
Buy £200K house with 10% deposit of £20K. Price appreciates 10% = £40K equity ie you have doubled your money
Larger house formerly unaffordable worth £350K requiring £35K deposit now worth 10% more at £385K requiring £38.5K deposit which you can afford.
That is sometimes the case but the "larger" house is still well out of my price range.....
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even if our house jumped by 10%, the bigger houses will have have gone up by 10% as well, which is unfortunately, more than we could afford.
House prices for bigger houses dont always move in step in % terms as small ones.
Also the power of leverage means that you can potentially borrow more.
Illustration:
Buy £200K house with 10% deposit of £20K. Price appreciates 10% = £40K equity ie you have doubled your money
Larger house formerly unaffordable worth £350K requiring £35K deposit now worth 10% more at £385K requiring £38.5K deposit which you can afford.
The value of the original '10% deposit' may have doubled, meaning you may now be able to afford the deposit on a £385k home... but the problem isn't that. The problem is people's wages haven't kept track with the house price inflation in some areas - people living in overheated areas who earn £25-35k per annum, even with this theoretical £40k deposit remaining from the 10% increase in value of their property, simply won't be given a £345k mortage needed to buy a £385k home..
Leverage works on big numbers by them increasing in larger increments than smaller numbers... There comes a point where things disapear, in practical terms, over the horizon.
House price inflation is resulting in people being priced out of the market for houses in areas that would formerly have been within their means. I don't see anything socially progressive in that, unless you're among the ones benefitting.
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The value of the original '10% deposit' may have doubled, meaning you may now be able to afford the deposit on a £385k home... but the problem isn't that. The problem is people's wages haven't kept track with the house price inflation in some areas - people living in overheated areas who earn £25-35k per annum, even with this theoretical £40k deposit remaining from the 10% increase in value of their property, simply won't be given a £345k mortage needed to buy a £385k home..
Obviously if you stay in a job rather than advance your career and earnings then you are inhibited from moving up the ladder.
The best investment is in your own career not least because it supports your ability to make other investments including your home.
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I'm pretty sure that the best investment is in being happy and having fun, but hey ho
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On that note, Shark pointed me towards his mortgage advisor and he was bloody brilliant (probably the best bit of the whole process for me). Consider having someone like that on your side as I'm convinced he will likely hold more sway than say yourself.
I'd read about this magician in some past posts actually, I'd appreciate if you or Shark could PM me the details. Can he check all lenders?
GFs old colleague (quit a solicitors job to become a financial adviser) can potentially help us but not sure I trust her as she's out to get every penny she can in life (the FA, not the GF, thankfully). Thanks!
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I'm pretty sure that the best investment is in being happy and having fun, but hey ho
...and the best climber is the one having the most fun
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On that note, Shark pointed me towards his mortgage advisor and he was bloody brilliant (probably the best bit of the whole process for me). Consider having someone like that on your side as I'm convinced he will likely hold more sway than say yourself.
I'd read about this magician in some past posts actually, I'd appreciate if you or Shark could PM me the details. Can he check all lenders?
GFs old colleague (quit a solicitors job to become a financial adviser) can potentially help us but not sure I trust her as she's out to get every penny she can in life (the FA, not the GF, thankfully). Thanks!
Sorry he's not active currently
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Magician? He just sounds like a guy who knows his job.
How much do you think you're going to give the FA? You're going to pay someone, anyone, £400 to get you a mortgage or give you some advice, which you pay for when the jobs done. I don't mean to be rude but you obviously have no idea what you're talking about so why not go to someone who does? Thats why they get paid what you think is a lot of money, to stop you spending more by going around in circles.
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as an aside Barrows has probably got a benefactor, most people who climb hard and say money doesn't matter do. Way of the world unfortunately
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Magician? He just sounds like a guy who knows his job.
How much do you think you're going to give the FA? You're going to pay someone, anyone, £400 to get you a mortgage or give you some advice, which you pay for when the jobs done. I don't mean to be rude but you obviously have no idea what you're talking about so why not go to someone who does? Thats why they get paid what you think is a lot of money, to stop you spending more by going around in circles.
What are you going on about? Are you on crack?
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as an aside Barrows has probably got a benefactor, most people who climb hard and say money doesn't matter do. Way of the world unfortunately
Sheffield University keep him in kneepads. Three nine is his batman.
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The value of the original '10% deposit' may have doubled, meaning you may now be able to afford the deposit on a £385k home... but the problem isn't that. The problem is people's wages haven't kept track with the house price inflation in some areas - people living in overheated areas who earn £25-35k per annum, even with this theoretical £40k deposit remaining from the 10% increase in value of their property, simply won't be given a £345k mortage needed to buy a £385k home..
Obviously if you stay in a job rather than advance your career and earnings then you are inhibited from moving up the ladder.
The best investment is in your own career not least because it supports your ability to make other investments including your home.
I'm pretty sure that the best investment is in being happy and having fun, but hey ho
Simon, so does an amateur landlord growing their portfolio of properties fit your view of career investment/moving up the career pole? Or were you thinking more traditional professions?
I agree with Alex as far as it's possible in the place you find yourself, the problem is that the Uk is increasingly a harsh place to be even a little bit poor. An econ would say money buys opportunites which lead to to a higher probability of happiness, but life's too short to do too much 'career progression' just to keep pace with a lot of people who believe (or have been trapped by) the myth of harder and longer work being a worthwhile pursuit of what looks like a rather hollow end
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and some people blame their current situation on those who have held them back (in their opinion), rather than on the choices they have made throughout their life.
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Yeh, fuckers
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Just had a cursory look at the house price data at Nationwide (http://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/media/economic-insight/house-price-tools/) and over the last five years in Yorkshire and Humberside the average price of a terraced house has increased 19.6%, the average semi 13% and the average detached 13%
Supports my gut feel that terraced housing in Sheffield has gotten proportionately more expensive.
The problem for first time buyers etc is the price to earnings ratio, which is on the last tab of the historical data spreadsheet downloadable from Shark's link.
July 1985: Avg national house price: £33,287: National avg earnings: £9,475. Price:earnings = 3.51:1.
July 1995: Avg national house price: £60,975: National avg earnings: £19,696. Price:earnings = 3.10:1.
July 2005: Avg national house price: £163,445: National avg earnings: £31,774. Price:earnings = 5.14:1.
July 2015: Avg national house price: £198,883: National avg earnings: £38,218. Price:earnings = 5.20:1.
For people who are established in houses they had to put away 1/3rd of their salary to get together a deposit to get on the ladder. Nowadays you're looking at half your salary. That's quite a big percentage difference and makes it proportionately a lot harder to save, in my opinion.
Not that the average UK house price is any help to me in London, where it seems to be £500k+ to get a 2 bed flat in a dodgy area. :shrug:
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Simon, so does an amateur landlord growing their portfolio of properties fit your view of career investment/moving up the career pole? Or were you thinking more traditional professions?
Amateur landlord by definition is not a career. Can we stop here please - its getting really tedious.
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as an aside Barrows has probably got a benefactor, most people who climb hard and say money doesn't matter do. Way of the world unfortunately
It's the great British tax payer. My parents funded me through uni but unlike Bob my attempts to convince them to buy me a house have fallen on deaf ears.
#ResearchCouncilsUK #EPSRC #grateful #yousuckerspaymystipend
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Simon, so does an amateur landlord growing their portfolio of properties fit your view of career investment/moving up the career pole? Or were you thinking more traditional professions?
Amateur landlord by definition is not a career. Can we stop here please - its getting really tedious.
That wasn't a slight aimed at you - I'm just curious that you appear to believe in a world where moving up the property ladder is as simple as career progression i.e. based on some sort of professional merit. It looks to me like the reality for a lot of people below a certain threshold is it's not like this now, for the reasons mentioned above - the cost to even gaining entry to the property market has grown higher while wages have failed to keep pace and we're now a society where working in what formerly would have been regarded as a good job with a decent wage just doesn't give you the quality of life it once did for e.g. entry onto and progression up the property ladder. Leading on from that I think your mindset that says 'well just work harder' isn't useful advice for people who are probably already working hard enough.
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What is useful advice if that isn't then? The question was aimed at buying a house, unfortunately you're not going to be able to buy a house on happiness alone. Not only that you're aiming your arrows at the person who's probably in the best position to give advice on the subject matter.
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Off topic, but what's people's opinions of asking parents for help getting a first house? Part of me thinks you shouldn't do it but I think that's mainly jealousy because I was brought up by only my mum and she barely has enough to support herself, so I've not asked her for financial support since I was 13 (obviously she supported me generally but I had paper rounds, so never asked for money to go out to the shops, cinema, etc).
My partner has parents that could lend her money but won't because they're pissed off she moved to Sheffield, so we're on our own. However, I'd like to think that if I was a parent that I'd be able to help my child out if the only way of them getting on the property ladder was to give them some deposit money, etc. It seems crazy that we could easily pay the monthly repayments on houses way more expensive than we can afford with what we've got for a deposit but it's the deposit amount that holds us back. They should sack off deposits!
Slightly more on topic, managed to find out how much one of these houses paid for their loft conversion and it was 2-3K and it's definitely not to building regs. Interesting to know how much it costs as it seems like a good way to get some extra space and not at an unreasonable price.
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Off topic, but what's people's opinions of asking parents for help getting a first house? Part of me thinks you shouldn't do it but I think that's mainly jealousy because I was brought up by only my mum and she barely has enough to support herself, so I've not asked her for financial support since I was 13
I felt the same way. I suspect that they would have helped willingly if I had asked but it would just felt wrong to me (that said, I had no compunctions about living with them for a few years at around that time for a pretty nominal rent ). My dad worked in a job he hated for his entire life (just retired last year, around three years after I bought my house). Compromising the quality of my parents' retirement for my own convenience would have felt selfish. That said, at the time I was trying to scrape together a deposit, I had an unexpected payout for a patent I was an inventor of, the timing and sum of which was pretty convenient. If I had to commute and/or rent somewhere less salubrious than my current spot for a substantial time, I might well have swallowed my pride.
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If your mum can afford it/ would like to help get her asked, if you as a grown man think she wouldn't want to do it/ couldn't afford to do it don't ask.
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For people who are established in houses they had to put away 1/3rd of their salary to get together a deposit to get on the ladder. Nowadays you're looking at half your salary. That's quite a big percentage difference and makes it proportionately a lot harder to save, in my opinion.
Back then other things cost a fortune by today's standards - my first video recorder was £400 (my take home pay was £87.00 a week). Swings and roundabouts.
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my first video recorder was £400 (my take home pay was £87.00 a week). Swings and roundabouts.
and I bet you still had to spend hours fiddling with the "tracking" to get a watchable picture half the time.... those were the days - groceries cost near double the price (relative to income) and if you wanted a tenner to spend, you had to queue up in the bank.
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fiddling with the "tracking"
I'd clean forgotten about that nonsense.
I still call an ATM - Speedbank :yes:
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What is useful advice if that isn't then? The question was aimed at buying a house, unfortunately you're not going to be able to buy a house on happiness alone. Not only that you're aiming your arrows at the person who's probably in the best position to give advice on the subject matter.
The question was about what a loft conversion costs and Shark answered it in the second post. Since then the thread has gone around the houses as usual.
Useful advice? Fuck knows, apart from learn French and move (while renting out your house back in the uk for a little earner).
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Thats probably not the worst idea you've had ;) it's of no use to cha1n though since he can't buy a house, so not useful at all really :P However I watched some programme yesterday morning where they went to look at 3 houses in rural France, all for under 200k and all outrageously good in beautiful locations! Your money appeared to go a very long way
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went to look at 3 houses in rural France
as a grape grower or lavender farmer?
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went to look at 3 houses in rural France
as a grape grower or lavender farmer?
Budding life coach ;)
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Farming country. You'd only move there to pass out your remaining years, a bit like moving to Dudno or Stoney you wouldn't do it while you've got your health
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Ha! The only reason I can see for moving to South Yorkshire is to be able to car-share with a load of other people trying desperately to get to North Yorkshire and N.Wales at every opportunity. :icon_321:
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Cha1n, if you do buy a house and do some significant work on it, I'd like to express an interest in buying it off you in accordance with your preferred non-greedy price scheme
thanks
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Your money appeared to go a very long way
France isn't that far away?
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I'll get in touch lager. x
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Closer than Aberdeen Chris :tease:
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Back on topic anyway cha1n, this hasn't been mentioned on the thread (I think) but as a 1st time buyer you're in a much better position if you've already got a mortgage in principal. Ie you've already found a mortgage provider who says they'll loan you whatever, say 120k. This will typically last for 3 mths, so you can go and look at as many houses as you want knowing you've already got the offer of a mortgage. If you're only "having a look around" it's not worth doing it but if you're serious about buying a house it's definitely worth it. Some houses the agent won't even let you see the property unless you've got this, or other proof that you're in a position to buy the property
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Closer than Aberdeen Chris :tease:
Fuck load cheaper too, no doubt.
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Tell me about it! You're lucky you don't have to get hotels there!!!
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Blimey dense, I useful and on topic post - are you feeling OK?
Thanks for that info, I'd already read up on MIP and am likely to sort one out any day now. I'm just in two minds as to whether I should bother with a broker at this stage as it seems straight-forward enough to work out what deals are good without one but I'm going to do a bit of googling before I decide on that.
To be fair the only on topic and useful post was Shark's one where he told me the costs of the conversions I asked about! The rest of it has just been entertaining banter really.
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I only mentioned it to stop you asking more questions ;)
For the sake of £400 for the biggest payout of your life I think you'd be daft not to go to someone who knows their onions. If you go straight to a bank they'll give you their deals, a FA, mortgage broker whatever you want to call them will have different deals with the same bank etc etc
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Thanks for that info, I'd already read up on MIP and am likely to sort one out any day now. I'm just in two minds as to whether I should bother with a broker at this stage as it seems straight-forward enough to work out what deals are good without one but I'm going to do a bit of googling before I decide on that.
For 0.5% better rate, (than I could get elsewhere including my existing provider) 50% off the mortgage arrangement fee plus general advice, all for 48FAs, I think so.
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we had a MIP from HSBC - gave them all our details very accurately - when we went in to actually get the mortgage to buy the house they said they wouldn't lend us anything at all
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That sounds great Paul, shame that guy isn't active any more but shows what brokers are capable of I suppose and great value.
Funny largers, I was thinking of going to them for a MIP as they seem to have the best fixed deal on a 90% LTV at the moment. As long as it gives a buyer confidence to accept your offer, I suppose it's worth doing.
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You're just as likely to find someone who says don't bother with a broker.
One of my best mates is an FA and he told me last September (when we needed to re-mortgage having built an extension) to apply direct to the big high street lenders. He did give me the lowdown on who to apply to and who not to bother with.
I always have that sense with brokers that you're never quite sure if they're really getting you the best product for you (or them). There are plenty of good websites out there to research the best products. Make a short list and make some appointments. I quite enjoyed the 'old skool' nature of sitting down face-to-face with the person I was about to commit to borrowing a vast sum from.
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If you have the time and your financial affairs are straightforward then the DIY approach is worth a go to save you the fee and be an education. In general I am in favour of doing it myself as I have my best interests at heart. It is only recently I have used a broker.
There used to be a Government website that had the listings of all the current deals available in the UK so you could find the cheapest mortgage available but it got privatised and doesn't do the listing anymore >:(
I have spent a few minutes looking for another source but no joy. Wad point for anyone who can find one..
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Funny largers, I was thinking of going to them for a MIP as they seem to have the best fixed deal on a 90% LTV at the moment. As long as it gives a buyer confidence to accept your offer, I suppose it's worth doing.
if your income and finances are pretty straight forward - ie. all income from one employer, no other loans, no businesses to run - then they should be fine to deal with
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I got my mortgage with HSBC - decent rate tracker and straight-forward. It helped though that I had a decent deposit and was seen as pretty a low risk of default. As I recall, they had some kind of rating system that governed the interest rate they would offer me, which happened to chime with my circumstances - I banked with them already and had done for a long time (so they presumably knew first hand my relative outgoings / income), no debts, reasonable job, they also liked my having a company car (so less outgoings) and that my company health plan would pay up a decent whack if I was incapacitated. Presumably other banks have something similar - so if you also have any of the above it might be worth playing up on it.
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I did think the financial side of things would be fine but I just found out from my partner that she had £8 left in her account before she got paid today! :wall:
I noticed that candle holder style, pointless decor had increased significantly this month but never dreamed she'd let her account get this low when we're trying to get a mortgage - what a moron!
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What are you trying to buy? A Lego house?
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What are you trying to buy? A Lego house?
They're the new house in the block.
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buying things makes me feel good
That's her excuse... OK, she's not on an amazing salary because she had to take a pay cut as she left teaching and went back to law (now on 20k). Not being funny but my bank balance has never got down to £8 since I've been working. I blame the parents...
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20k, 2k under the ukb level for success :o
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I think my bank account might be £8 in the black for one day a month if I'm lucky. Usually pay day.
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buying things makes me feel good
That's her excuse... OK, she's not on an amazing salary because she had to take a pay cut as she left teaching and went back to law (now on 20k). Not being funny but my bank balance has never got down to £8 since I've been working. I blame the parents...
I do hope that that's £8 after putting in her chunk of the monthly savings for a deposit
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buying things makes me feel good
That's her excuse... OK, she's not on an amazing salary because she had to take a pay cut as she left teaching and went back to law (now on 20k). Not being funny but my bank balance has never got down to £8 since I've been working. I blame the parents...
And you never buy anything to make you feel good, like yet another pair of climbing shoes. How many hundreds or thousands of pounds do you spend on your pointless hobby like the rest of us.
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And you never buy anything to make you feel good
Damn right I do but I don't spend anywhere near that much on it! I'm surprised how many people have defended her actions when I mentioned what she did (again, considering we're in agreement that we're supposed to be saving for a house deposit).
Maybe it's something to do with me coming from a family who struggled with money every month and her coming from one where she got whatever she wanted? Anyhow, I've done some research and whilst it's not ideal, no harm done because she didn't go into her overdraft. Lucky!
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Defended her actions? She's got £8 in the bank, fuck her off
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The best investment is in your own career not least because it supports your ability to make other investments including your home.
Correction. Even better to score a thrifty partner with a good career
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Amen...