Viewing / Buying a house

[Rob182]

36 minutes ago, rodders0223 said:

Agreed a price myself end of October. Now end of March. Still waiting on solicitors to hear back from their 'enquiries'. What these enquiries are I have no idea, the information provided, the level of communication is just horrific.
Past caring at this point and if it all falls through I am not sure I will even give a shit.

I’d probably be feeling the same if it wasn’t for having our first baby on the way. The enquiries didn’t seem to take too long on my sale & purchase, although for the latter it’s thrown up this shitstorm about the loft conversion.

 

Talking of the loft conversion, do we have a ‘builder’ thread on VT. I want to find out if anyone has been through the application for a Regularisation Certificate. (Retrospective Building regs).

[NurembergVillan]

On 3/28/2018 at 17:13, Rob182 said:

Talking of the loft conversion, do we have a ‘builder’ thread on VT. I want to find out if anyone has been through the application for a Regularisation Certificate. (Retrospective Building regs).

 

[Kingman]

House prices see biggest monthly fall since 2010, Halifax says 

UK house prices saw the biggest monthly fall for nearly eight years during April, according to the Halifax, as demand for homes weakened.

The lender said prices fell by 3.1% between March and April, the biggest decline since September 2010.

The bank said that housing demand had softened in the early months of this year, with both mortgage approvals and completed home sales edging down.

On an annual basis, price growth slowed to 2.2% from March's rate of 2.7%.

The average price of a home in the UK is now £220,952, according to the Halifax.

• Help sought for 'mortgage prisoners'
• People much less likely to move than in 1970s

Despite the sharp drop in prices between March and April, the Halifax said the monthly figures tended to be volatile, and stuck to its existing forecast range for price growth this year.

Russell Galley, managing director at Halifax, said: "The UK labour market is performing strongly with unemployment continuing to fall and wage growth finally picking up. 

"These factors should help to ease pressure on household finances and as a result we expect annual price growth will remain in our forecast range of 0% and 3% this year."

'Clearly struggling'

Howard Archer, chief economic adviser to the EY Item Club, said that the market for house buyers was likely to "remain challenging".

"Consumers have faced an extended serious squeeze on purchasing power, which is only gradually easing," he said.

"Additionally, housing market activity remains hampered by relatively fragile consumer confidence and limited willingness to engage in major transactions.

"The housing market is clearly currently struggling to gain traction and we suspect that any meaningful upturn will remain elusive over the coming months."

Recent figures suggest that the squeeze on wages by higher inflation is easing.

The Office for National Statistics said that the Consumer Prices Index measure of inflation fell to 2.5% in March. In its most recent data on employment, the ONS said wages grew by 2.8%. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44037087 

 

[NurembergVillan]

Despite the above article, we've had an offer accepted on a property and are currently going through the conveyancing process.

I was wary of posting about it here for fear of jinxing it, as I thought it'd be a long time before I owned my own home.  We own the property my parents live in, as it freed up cash for them and we didn't plan to buy because we were moving to Canada.  Then we came back and started a family so didn't want to rent any more.

We got the money together and viewed a few places, but all the things we liked were at the top end of our budget so we decided to hang fire for a few months to see what might happen with the economy.  Then a place came on the market 10 days ago that was at the bottom end of what we thought we'd need to pay for what we were looking for.

We went to view it, did a second viewing the following day, and put an offer in immediately.  We negotiated a little, and reached an agreement last Sunday.  Our mortgage broker submitted our details so we got a decision in principle on Tuesday, and then yesterday were informed that our application was accepted subject to a valuation.  Feels like that's all good.  Just hope the valuation goes well.

I'm very excited, but trying to temper it just in case.  I'm also part scared because right now we've got a big wedge in the bank, and in a few weeks we won't have that "safety net".  Running my own business for the first time, it's nice having a safety net!

With buying my parents house, the conveyancing process was super simple and the timing of it was irrelevant as they were already renting it from the seller.  This time, though, we're in rented accommodation and so we need to time it right putting our notice in etc.

I've fallen in love with the house and really, really want all this to work out...

[TheAuthority]

Good luck Rob. Hope it all goes smoothly.

[Xela]

Good luck @NurembergVillan! Hope it all goes smoothly

I know what you mean about having the safety net of having the money in the bank. Its a nice feeling to have that sitting there and it gives you one less thing to worry about when you go to bed!

I'm in a position where i could buy a bigger place than where I am now but it would reduce my safety net. I'm not sure I want that to happen! 

 

[PompeyVillan]

Good luck NV, we've just moved into a new 3 bedroom in a lovely area that needs some serious work. We had our previously house in the market for 5 days before it sold and we had only identified the one house we wanted to move to, otherwise new wouldn't have considered moving. It's a tough process with so much money involved. Hope it all goes well for you. 

We're living in a house that's stuck in the 70s decor wise with so much to do, and so much more money to spend on. Ah well, what else are you going spend your money on?

[NurembergVillan]

Compared to renting, when taking into account council tax and utilities, we'll be about £650 a month better off for owning this place.

The main issue really is that because we own the other property we've got to pay over £17,000 in stamp duty on this one.  It's a **** pisstake.

[Genie]

Stamp duty is an absolute sickener isn’t it. Think I paid about £7000 which I assume is similar value to what you’re buying (£340k) on my place. You get nothing for it other than a tick in a box.

Edited September 1, 2018 by Genie

[NurembergVillan]

5 minutes ago, Genie said:

Stamp duty is an absolute sickener isn’t it. Think I paid about £7000 which I assume is similar value to what you’re buying (£340k) on my place. You get nothing for it other than a tick in a box.

Yep, £345k.  We even had to pay stamp duty buying for the folks, as the under £300k rule wasn't in place then - it was 2013.

[TheAuthority]

Having never owned property in the UK can you explain what stamp duty is? I get that it’s a tax related to buying property but whats the thought/justification?

[sharkyvilla]

My old man moved on Friday as he's decided to downsize since my Mum passed away.  I never realised how stressful the whole thing is, so all the best NV, I hope it runs as smoothly as possible.  

[NurembergVillan]

17 hours ago, TheAuthority said:

Having never owned property in the UK can you explain what stamp duty is? I get that it’s a tax related to buying property but whats the thought/justification?

Missed this yesterday.

Quote

Stamp Duty Land Tax is a controversial issue for some. Originally introduced as a historic tax in 1694, it is something that is unavoidable if you are buying a house.

You must pay this tax by the official moving-in date (or possession date) of your new home.

Quote

When purchasing a property, the ownership of the land changes from the previous owner to you (the new occupier) – and it must be legally and officially registered.

This requires a Certificate of Land Ownership from the HMRC, and the only way to get that is on receipt of the stamp duty payment.

If you don’t pay stamp duty on your new home, you won’t be allowed to officially purchase the property(unless you’re exempt, see below).

https://www.landc.co.uk/insight/2015/03/why-do-we-pay-stamp-duty/

So it's basically what you pay Her Majesty's Robbing words removed to put your name on the certificate.  Which is odd, because you pay your solicitor to do that too.

[Dr_Pangloss]

I'd love it to be abolished. I've just bought a house and although I'm a first time buyer my house is apparently too expensive to avoid it!

[lapal_fan]

It's silly because it's proportional.  I get the poorer people can't afford stuff and rich people can, but even still it's pretty excessive.

But who isn't going to move house because of stamp duty? 

Death tax is the biggest con going I think.  Everything you own when you die (and thus have already paid tax on), gets 40% put on it?  Nah **** that.  My wife's granddad, who was meticulously tight when alive is having to hand over nearly 250k of his estate to HMRC.  He lived in a small ex-council 2 bed semi, was a gas man who was good at stocks etc and buying precious metals.  And what are we seeing for these record breaking amounts of tax we're all putting in?  Shitty roads,  dying NHS, councils who won't come and cut down my word removed trees.  

I'm not even going to start blaming disabled and foreigners, they have nothing (or very little) to do with it. 

[stuart_75]

3 minutes ago, lapal_fan said:

It's silly because it's proportional.  I get the poorer people can't afford stuff and rich people can, but even still it's pretty excessive.

But who isn't going to move house because of stamp duty? 

Death tax is the biggest con going I think.  Everything you own when you die (and thus have already paid tax on), gets 40% put on it?  Nah **** that.  My wife's granddad, who was meticulously tight when alive is having to hand over nearly 250k of his estate to HMRC.  He lived in a small ex-council 2 bed semi, was a gas man who was good at stocks etc and buying precious metals.  And what are we seeing for these record breaking amounts of tax we're all putting in?  Shitty roads,  dying NHS, councils who won't come and cut down my word removed trees.  

I'm not even going to start blaming disabled and foreigners, they have nothing (or very little) to do with it. 

I think if you put your money into a SIPP then you can avoid the Death Tax.

[villa4europe]

the flat i was buying has fell through, i've withdrawn, its in a block owned by a lease landlord, good price place with a good rental yield if i went down that route so worth the lease bollocks, in the sale there is a document that the landlord has to sign but he has no legal duty to sign it...14 weeks in and he's stated that he refuses to sign it

what a waste of time

[NurembergVillan]

The waiting game and levels of stress involved in buying a house is ridiculous.

You spend maybe 40 minutes across a couple of visits before deciding to part with almost every penny you have (HMRC will suck up the rest) and then have weeks of nervous tension wondering if you'll be accepted for the mortgage, if the valuation will be ok so they'll lend the amount you need, if the searches will turn up anything untoward, if the seller (or buyer) will pull out at the last minute.

We've got to co-ordinate the process with when we'll put the notice in on our rental property.  Don't want to bugger that up and end up either homeless or paying a month's rent for no reason.

There's got to be an easier way than this, surely?

[choffer]

10 minutes ago, NurembergVillan said:

There's got to be an easier way than this, surely?

I know everyone says it's the most stressful thing you'll ever do but I don't think this accurately conveys quite how stressful it will be. It's the single biggest reason I've not looked to upgrade since I first purchased a property 8 years ago.

Mine was a horror show from start to finish and included such highlights as an estate agent who did literally nothing to aid the sale of the house, an owner who wanted me to give him a grand for his crappy furniture and then refused to move it out when I didn't buy, my solicitor being useless (but ten times more helpful than the vendors), the vendor's solicitor reporting my solicitor for being racist, having to tell the guy I'd been in a flat-share with that he was not moving in with me two days before the move.......the list went on.

It's all worth it though when you actually get the keys and can move in. There's nothing quite like the feeling of knowing it's your place (even if the bank might still own the majority of it).

[villa4europe]

yeah it is stressful, for the past four months I've been budgeting and buying furniture and tat for when i moved in, im in the fortunate position that i was able to move back in to my parents house when i left the ex but its doing my nut now, this dragging out since May and now falling apart i think the buzz over thinking i was going and now the disappointment over not means i'll probably look at renting and speed of getting out which is something i never wanted to do, I've stopped saving at the same rate because i thought i didnt have to and spent some of my savings too, could have been £7/8k better off now

@choffer the solicitors / conveyancer has been a strange one for me, first i place it with someone who nationwide rejected meaning i had to cancel it and go elsewhere losing time, i then placed it with an online company called MJP who have been brilliant, the local company who are 10 doors down from my bank and who my bank were leaning on me to use (and who were twice the price...) have been really really slow responding to everything

Edited September 4, 2018 by villa4europe