Buying your first house in the UK in 2007

OTM

My boiler packed in a few days after moving in. Consider reserving some of that deposit money for an overhaul of things like the heating system, wiring, windows. So much easier to do before you move in. Check for things like pipes running through concrete floors in 60s/70s housing (and some earlier and later), my boss found this out to his cost recently when a pipe burst that was embedded in the concrete (no barrier between the copper and the corrosive concrete) and had to rip apart his entire living room and re-route all of the plumbing.

Also if you do do the heating system, look at getting the highest efficiency you can as by the time you come to sell efficiency will definitely be in the HIP and might be factored into stamp duty etc. Look at condensing boilers, Micro CHP, solar pre-heat, biomass etc. In theory there are grants for this shit but they are hard to get. (don't forget loft lagging and Cavity wall as well).

I don't agree that you should be put off by work that needs doing (unless it's unliveable). The only way we could afford our lovely flat in a gorgeous area was because it was the skankiest building in the row and didn't have central heating, was in pretty bad nick etc - as this is generally a posher area I think the price was relatively low because most people looking in that area expect to pay for a nice/modern finish. Actually paying the deposit etc really took it out of us financially but once you're back on your feet you can make upgrades as and when.
First thing we did was put central heating in, next on list is replace old holey rattly windows. You can do it at your own pace which is cool as long as you're planning to stay there long enough for it to be worthwhile.

I'd be interested as to where you end up in Exeter, as it doesn't seem to have the huge scale of type of prices/properties you get in bigger cities.

The thing about our place is that it wasn't yr archetypal fixer-upper - it was a quite well-maintained 1951 semi that had been home to the same family since the mid-'60s. They'd somehow raised four kids there with a single gas fire in the lounge and slightly dubious-looking gas heaters in the hall and on the landing (one hadn't worked for months); oh, and an immersion heater for the hot water. There was only one socket in each room and, while the kitchen had wiring that seemed to date from the early '90s (though done badly, as our GCH engineer discovered when he drilled through some strangely-situated cables), the rest of the house (judging by the fusebox under the stairs) was certainly '60s or earlier. They were on a card meter too.

I mean, what you've never had you don't miss, and it obviously was fine for them (I grew up with even less mod cons than this), but we felt we needed to get radiators on the walls and some modern switchgear under the the stairs (we had a NICEIC report done and it was borderline unsafe). We did the floors too, installed patio doors (again it comes from expectation - you have a lovely patio and you just...look at it through this little window? You have to walk round the side of the house to get to it?) and decorated every room.

We went horribly over-budget (and had a second kid in the meantime) and still have the kitchen (post-rewire plasterer sort of "forgot" to fill in the chased-in cables and the installation of the boiler wiped out a lot of storage; floor, worktops, cabinets, sink, layout = ugh) and the garden (nearing jungle status, dangerous steps, collapsing walls).

Sometimes I wonder why we bought this place but then I look in the paper and see the prices for comparable properties in this area and think we might've done quite well.

i like your gaff jonesy

going to the back of the garden is like tackling Snowdon

we had similar with ours, just stupid little things like the previous owner had run an extra plug socket off the cooker fuse so the bloke who was fitting the kitchen wouldn't reattach it, so i had to get a sparky in who took one look at the fusebox and said "you'll be having a new one then" and bang, there goes £500...

we are contemplating moving again, but the whole thing gives me the screaming effing abdabs.

i keep being told not to buy a new build - why is this? i'm currently renting a room in a 20-year-old ex-yuppie new build and it's by no means falling apart. new build advice/experiences would be appreciated, also some justification from the nay-sayers (gareth?).

:) I like it my gaff too - I just wish I could spend more time enjoying the place rather than reworking it. After the kitchen and the garden, you know there'll be something else (carport? Shed?). This is the lot of the cash-strapped homeowner, I suppose. Little-by-little, make it your own, do as much as you can yourself.

charlie, i think 20 year old is probably not too bad, it's the brand new stuff that is:

a. tiny
b. gardenless
c. built by poles for 20p an hour

if a house/flat is edwardian it's clearly built to last ;)

What do you guys think of this?

http://www.bradleys-estate-agents.co.uk/properties-sales-brdrps-EXE060293-1181220400

I know you're not going to know the area, but... it's very central, quite busy, but two floors up and the lower, quieter and of a busy street wioth lots of pubs and boutiques and so on at the top end. If you know Bristol it's like a mini Park Street equivalent.

What would be the problematic issues you'd look for with this property?

Build quality on most of the new builds in our village is very poor, possibly that's why people caution against one?

Gareth's advice seems good.

Smaller house in better area is much better than larger property in undesirable area. Whatever it is that makes the underirable area so is something you'll have to live w/for a good few years.

DUDE, it's above a tat shop, BUY IT!!!

i'd certainly look carefully at the state of the sash windows, on the second floor they wll be a BUGGER to replace. wonder why there's no pics of the bathroom...

also, is there a window in the kitchen? it almost looks like there isn't...

Also, check where the Chinese next door vents its kitchen.

The kitchen is open-plan with the living space, so windows at front. We're looking at it on Wednesday morning, and also this one; http://www.bradleys-estate-agents.co.uk/properties-sales-brdrps-BNH070414-1181552579

Jonesy take note of what's downstairs...

Re. the tat-shop one; the first-floor one, almost same dimensions but laid out differently (living smaller, second bedroom larger), is also on the market, but at £152,000. The area's undesirable because there's a Walkabout bar 300 yards up the road which is frequented by squaddies and students, and a gaggle of other pubs too. No allocated parking, put residents permit parking nearby. Very convenient for town, campus, train stations, etcetera.

Has no-one really not said location, location, location, yet?

Think about when you want to sell it on. Which may seem daft but put yourselves in the shoes of the seller now. They're probably playing up the 'quiet' aspects. When we sold our last house all everyone asked us about noise and neighbours. People want a bit of a quiet (at least some of the time). The houses in our road keep on going up and people keep buying 'em because it's a quiet cul-de-sac with a field at the end, and despite the fact it's in an unfashionable part of the unfashionable east midlands.

The second one is above a hi-fi shop so expect noise during shop hours obv. The first one seems to belong to a surfer dude. I don't know if this is good or bad.

Also ask them why they're moving. Then sue them later when they lie.

The first one is on a lease. I've never bought anything on a lease. Does it matter?

I can probably match the hi-fi shop for noise, if needed.

But they'll be playing all those over-compressed CDs!

Not when I live upstairs, they wont.

also living above subway = entire flat smelling of proving bread forever (a bad thing, in my opinion)

That's a good point.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-14595761.rsp?pa_n=2&tr_t=buy

Aye, we've spotted that one. It's a possibility. What does 'offers in region of' mean, at a practical level? 10% less?

I can probably match the hi-fi shop for noise, if needed.

I hope you like Hotel California, Diana Krall and Sting. You'll be hearing them a lot.

I hope they like Rita Lee and Acoustic Ladyland.

id make sure your mortgage multiple isnt excessive, id get a longer fixed rate as you'll only have to spend ££ arranging another fix in 2 years otherwise, and theyll say when you spread the arrangement fee over 25-30 years its nothing, but its only to get you the initial period, so its actually spread over 2 years - also if you take a fixed rate out of less than 5 years, id make sure you could pay the mortgage if interest rates were 10% instead of 5.5%

id make sure you have the facility to overpay the mortgage to bring the capital down, but i wouldnt necessarily do that. rates are going up and yours will be fixed, so you might be better putting hte rest of your money in high interest savings, then overpaying in bulk periodically

This fills me with fear. The idea of me sitting around with loads of spare money and saying "what on earth shall I do with this? i know - i'll overpay some of the mortgage" just seems like a wild fantasy, probably involving the lottery.

I've just gone for a variable rate again for another two years because the fixed rate ones are much more expensive than the (discounted) variable ones. I know interest rates could go up, in fact they probably will go above 6% some time this year, but until they do I'm better off, and they probably won't go much higher than that, and they might go back down again some time next year. If they went up to anything remotely like 10% I'd be completely fucked, but then surely nearly everyone would be? It would be even worse than the meltdown at the start of the nineties.

Don't spend the entire budget on the house/flat: you *always*need to spend more money on repairs and such. Everyone I know (incl my parents) have miscalculated on this aspect.

What does 'offers in region of' mean, at a practical level? 10% less?

i think it depends on the place. all this crap about gazumping is overplayed, if it was going to go quick, it would already be gone, right? you'll have to judge - to me, looking at other stuff around ex4, that one seems well priced, but there could be reasons for this. but dont forget you can pull out or lower your offer post-survey, so your not committed

they probably won't go much higher than that, and they might go back down again some time next year. If they went up to anything remotely like 10% I'd be completely fucked, but then surely nearly everyone would be? It would be even worse than the meltdown at the start of the nineties.

DINGDINGDING well spotted

^^ just because it'll fuck a lot of people up doesn't mean it won't happen

...but when we had the crisis in the early 90s, first of all inflation was much higher than it is now (and had been higher throughout the 80s than it has been for the past decade or more) which meant that banks had to have higher interest rates, and secondly we were locked into the ERM and had to follow German interest rates (or something).

Now we're in such a long period of low inflation that people have been getting their knickers in a twist about inflation hitting 3%. The Bank of England are supposed to keep it within a certain range - if they think it's going to go too high then they'll raise interest rates.... but only within reason, surely? I can't see a meeting of the committee sitting down and saying "well, what with the increased problems with energy costs, and some exhuberant pay deals, I think on balance there's a danger of inflation overshooting the Chancellor's targets again so we need to double interest rates and trigger a massive recession the like of which this country has never seen leading to half of the nation having their homes reposessed."

whats 'within reason'? and do the inflation figures count the one thing that has inflated the economy most of all - houseprices?

you're probably right that they wont go anywhere near like as high before (but i also wouldnt be fooled by things like '6% is the new 10%')

There is no way they are going to go anywhere near 10%, I bet my house on it.

I put this here as a challenge to future generations to look it up and say "Ha! You were wrong, grandad".

Seriously though even if it does go up a bit - hang on in there. There are a few of us on here who have lived through this, a friend of mine was in so-called "negative equity" for a few years but stayed put and is now sitting on a goldmine.

Literally, they found gold in his backyard...

Did he live in Them Thar Hills?

The choice I had to make the other day was between a variable one which is currently 5.38% (actually lower than the base rate - I don't understand how this is possible) on a discount for two years and the equivalent two-year fixed rate deal which was 5.78%. I went for the variable. If interest rates don't change at all for two years I'll be much better off with what I've chosen. If they go up by half a percentage point in the near future and stay there for the rest of the two years I'll be slightly out of pocket, but no problem. If they go up by a whole percentage point and don't come back down, it'll be annoying and costly, but not the end of the world. If they go up by four whole percentage points I will be fighting tens of thousands of other people to get to the tastiest morsels at the bottom of other people's dustbins. Most predictions I've looked at say there'll probably be another couple of rate rises within three months or so, then things will probably stay as they are for a year, then maybe start to come back down after that.

if they get ahead of inflation instead of chasing it, then yes, but they seem reluctant to do that for fear of knocking the housing market over (cake and eat it syndrome)

Bumpity.

jesus, buying a house is absolutely fucking terrifying. this thread, while extremely helpful (thankyou) is not making me any less shit-scared.

have you been to see the one i linked yet? that looks good, compared to the others on there

inflation is way above 3% people, jesus.

Is that one above the shop near the station/ Imperial?

inflation is way above 3% people, jesus.

-- That one guy that quit

which is why i wouldnt bank on interest rates stopping at 6

My latest fix lasts till December 2009 so fingers crossed it'll peak and drop back before then.

No more nails is good for skirting boards, not picture hanging.

£17k to buy the freehold for 4 flats, which would make it £4,250 for each flat to buy their freehold, I'd go for that!

oh yes, didnt notice there were 4, and it was for freehold

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/njsouthall/Places/IMG_7598.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/njsouthall/Places/IMG_7632.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/njsouthall/Places/IMG_7620.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/njsouthall/Places/IMG_7607.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/njsouthall/Places/IMG_7615.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/njsouthall/Places/IMG_7646.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/njsouthall/Places/IMG_7639.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/njsouthall/Places/IMG_7604.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/njsouthall/Places/IMG_7606.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/njsouthall/Places/IMG_7608.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/njsouthall/Places/IMG_7611.jpg

Oh wow! Congratulations. Looks fantastic!

It looks great - and echo the congratulations.

Slightly envious that when I got my first flat in the 90s, I moved in with a CD/radio 'beatbox' and an air-mattress - no computers, no widescreen TV, no expensive stereo, no over-filled wine-rack.

Nearly five years later, we're selling.

http://www.naomijryan.co.uk/content/sale/st-leonards6.ashx

Good luck! I love maisonettes. Our experience with our crazy neighbours who share our building means we're determined to get an actual house next. Where are you looking to move to?

Still in Exeter, and ideally just around the corner. We'll probably not be able to afford that, though, so will almost certainly head a mile or so further out.

Our wine rack was never that full again.

We got offered asking price. Which we didn't expect.

Good stuff. Tbf, based on those pics you got the place looking great whilst you were there. How's the house search going?

I like the idea of this thread as a form of time travel. If I read the whole thing I will know exactly how to buy a house in the UK in 2007.

We've viewed six so far, with another five or six booked to view over the next few days. Em is in love with one of them but it's at the top of our budget... It is a very nice house though, and one we could stay in for a decade or more. It'd take teenage kids. (We have no kids right now!)

Just done various phonecalls and we've now officially accepted, providing we can find somewhere to bid on in a timely fashion! Which shoudn't be a problem.

Crazy madness.

Congratulations! Go for the one you love I reckon.

Oops, this whole thread is excellent, I'm all ashamed of my glib contribution now. Will memorise for future reference.

There's one more that I'm viewing tomorrow morning (Emma's working) which I've got high hopes for, but I've booked a second viewing on the one we fell in love with for Monday morning, and told them we've had an offer accepted. Which made the agent excited!

But yeah, I reread much of this thread yesterday, and it is really awesome.

congrats

Just been re-reading loads of my posts on this thread from 5 years ago which I have no memory of making. In case anyone's been on tenterhooks for 5 years, I can reveal: my gamble on variable rates paid off massively as interest rates fell to the floor and stayed there, and Ned T Rifle was right - there was no way on earth they were ever going to rise to 10%.