House Prices #3 Property market, buying and selling

[_Laura]

My dad always told me to look in corners and behind furniture. Obviously you can’t go around moving their stuff but if something looks “out of place”, it may have been put there to hide something. Good luck!

Going to view a house tomorrow tomorrow. Substantially under budget (but actually it probably is our budget per month now due to mortgage interest rates ) and photos look like it just needs a lick of paint to suit our taste. Anything we should look for or ask? Really like it from the photos so if it works we would like to go ahead with an offer. Always make the mistake of going in at above asking price as we worry about getting it - any advice? Thanks

 

[Anne1448]

Going to view a house tomorrow tomorrow. Substantially under budget (but actually it probably is our budget per month now due to mortgage interest rates ) and photos look like it just needs a lick of paint to suit our taste. Anything we should look for or ask? Really like it from the photos so if it works we would like to go ahead with an offer. Always make the mistake of going in at above asking price as we worry about getting it - any advice? Thanks

Take a look at the property price register to compare with other sales in the same area.

Make sure to check the neighbourhood especially the types of people living there. If it is near a school, supermarkets, main roads or anything that might cause traffic jams in general.

If it is near the sea, check the flood map and any electrical or water issue. Of course, don't forget to ask an engineer's report. If it is a detached home, ask the engineer to bring a camera to check the sewage.

 

[Affiliatedlink]

Also check out if there’s any planning applications gone in to the local council. Just use the postcode to check, the last thing you want is to find out there’s going to be a housing estate built in that lovely field and view opposite Or your neighbours are about to build a three storey extension.

 

[Megansnarkle]

Going to view a house tomorrow tomorrow. Substantially under budget (but actually it probably is our budget per month now due to mortgage interest rates ) and photos look like it just needs a lick of paint to suit our taste. Anything we should look for or ask? Really like it from the photos so if it works we would like to go ahead with an offer. Always make the mistake of going in at above asking price as we worry about getting it - any advice? Thanks

Try the taps for water pressure. Otherwise try and learn what you can from the agent about what the sellers are looking for in terms of offers, buyer position, timescales and what the chain upwards looks like.

 

[SpindleWhorl]

Would this downturn make the smaller, more affordable houses hold their price as they're a bit more desirable now? Whilst the larger more expensive properties suffer the largest drops?

 

[Anne1448]

Absolutely!

Since builders refuse to build starter homes, the very few on the market are facing insane demand. I noticed that town houses are dropping too.

As of now, I'm going to save for another year to add an additional 15k to my downpayment. Hopefully, I'll finally be able to buy

 

[Notworthy]

Would this downturn make the smaller, more affordable houses hold their price as they're a bit more desirable now? Whilst the larger more expensive properties suffer the largest drops?

Not necessarily as people buying the larger houses will have equity and therefore a much higher deposit to put down, they're also likely to be high earners with more flexibility to manage interest rate changes. In my area (Southeast Zone 6) it's all types of property that I'm seeing reduced although we have an absolute dearth of tiny flats around.

 

[Meg78]

Anyone else feel like the vent diagram of “houses I can afford” and “mortgages I qualify for” is actually getting smaller in this climate?

 

[Notworthy]

Anyone else feel like the vent diagram of “houses I can afford” and “mortgages I qualify for” is actually getting smaller in this climate?

Dont worry, it will sort itself out,.

 

[WeepingCassandra]

Anyone else feel like the vent diagram of “houses I can afford” and “mortgages I qualify for” is actually getting smaller in this climate?

The Venn diagram for "Houses I can afford" and "Places I want to move to" is two separate spheres

 

[epl000]

Since builders refuse to build starter homes, the very few on the market are facing insane demand. I noticed that town houses are dropping too.

It really depends on the area, as I work in planning and am increasingly seeing housebuilders wanting to swap larger housetypes for smaller ones as those have been selling better (this seems to be across a range of areas around the Midlands).

There's a legal requirement for (most) new developments going forward to build a set percentage of First Homes which are only legally able to be sold to first time buyers, and the Govt price cap on these dwellings means that it will generally be two/three bed houses in mid-value areas. However that is dependent on new developments getting through the planning process which is becoming increasingly difficult and taking forever. Hopefully it means that going forward there will be more starter homes built though, and that these can only legally be sold to first time buyers.

I think that another factor that should hopefully increase the number of smaller units coming to the market is the impact on interest rates on landlords which hopefully will increase in those kinds of properties coming on to the market. It's obviously not good news for renters who will be turfed out, but may mean there is more opportunity to buy those smaller properties.

 

[Yel]

If you look at the mortgage rate graphs for the last 22 years this year is pretty much a verticle line in the UK, US and Eurozone.

 

[Bobbleowl90]

Will the reversal of most of the budget bring interest rates back down?

 

[Anne1448]

I highly doubt that that interest rates will go down to past levels. Especially when they've been kept so low artificially. Until all the extra money is flushed we'll have to deal with high rates.

As a first-time buyer I'm hoping for them to go over 10% to force companies to bring them back on the market. In Ireland 25% of the investors who bought homes are already behind on their mortgages. High interest rates will crush them and they'll have to put them for auction.

Homes should go back to occupants and not people gambling with it.

 

[Yel]

In a word no. Rates won't be going down anytime soon. The cheap credit that the world got addicted to is over.

As much as it's a popular opinion to 100% blame the Tory's for the interest rate rise, the budget had a small overall affect. It brought forward the inevitable rate rises by a few weeks, they were already rising quickly this year. The BoE shares the blame for being slow to raise rates and causing things to come to a head suddenly.

Mortgage rates will probably be over 8% soon. It's way worse than when interest rates were 15% because house prices have been allowed to balloon.

 

[epl000]

@Yel completely agree. The graph you shared earlier is quite interesting because it shows how actually the US has had the jump ahead of Europe & UK so arguably people should have seen this coming. There does seem to be a range of opinions about where interest rates will get to, but I think the general consensus seems to be that they wont fall as quickly as they rose (and I don't think they should).

House prices are such a big issue in all this though, because ultimately if you owe a small amount a high interest rate is less of a worry, but if you have a 90% mortgage on a 400k house, you are going to be paying a lot more in interest with these rates. I think a lot of people were lulled in to false security by the low rates and bought at the top of their budget, which is going to be problematic when they come to re-mortgage even if its not for a couple of years.

 

[Notworthy]

The chickens have definitely come home to roost. Everything has been too cheap for too long and suddenly it's all heading up to where it should've been months if not years ago.

 

[Bobbleowl90]

What’s the best option re interest rates now then? We’ve put an offer in today for a house. Who knows if they’ll accept it but if they do, do we go for a two year fixed and hope prices come down or do we fix for 5 and suck it up?

 

[Folkevermore]

What’s the best option re interest rates now then? We’ve put an offer in today for a house. Who knows if they’ll accept it but if they do, do we go for a two year fixed and hope prices come down or do we fix for 5 and suck it up?

Five year fixes are currently cheaper than two years (at least they were when I looked last week), which suggests banks expect the interest rates to go down a bit, but honestly who knows these days.
It depends on how much you value stability. I also don’t think rates will go to the levels they used to be

 

[Anne1448]

I would advise you to get the longest fixed rate possible. There is nothing more priceless than the piece of mind associated with a low fixed rate.

In my case, my mortgage is a 10 year fixed rate. My ex partner's mortgage was a 25 fixed rate.

Unless you are cash poor and have no choice than to take an ARM mortgage always pick the fixed.