House Prices #4 Property market, buying and selling

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Meg78 said:
Stewart Milne has collapsed, this is quite scary, I always think of new builds as the safe option

www.cheshire-live.co.uk

Building work halted on two Cheshire estates after Stewart Milne collapses

Astbury Park in Congleton and Palladian Gardens in Hooton are facing an uncertain future
www.cheshire-live.co.uk
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They really aren’t. I worked for one of the biggest in the company and got made redundant last year.

Used to work alongside Stewart Milne’s timber frame division too though it was bought out a couple of years ago now.

Sad news for all involved but house builders are ruthless. The second profits drop they drop their staff too.
 
anonesk223 said:
We’re currently saving to buy. Nowhere close to a deposit and will probably take another couple of years. I absolutely hate this 😩😩 doesn’t even feel worth it at this point
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I was in your position a few years ago and felt a bit hopeless and now we're in our own home after having rented for years and it's wonderful <3 there is light at the end of the tunnel and for us, it's felt like its even more worth it as we spent so long pining for it! You got this!
 
jojida said:
I was in your position a few years ago and felt a bit hopeless and now we're in our own home after having rented for years and it's wonderful <3 there is light at the end of the tunnel and for us, it's felt like its even more worth it as we spent so long pining for it! You got this!
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Did you have any tips for saving at all?
I know the current climate is a lot different, but any tips would be great!!
 
LifeOfMog said:
Did you have any tips for saving at all?
I know the current climate is a lot different, but any tips would be great!!
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We utilised our moneybox LISAs and put in the £4k every year to get the £1k bonus and made sure this was our priority. As we were renting it did mean that some months were a little tight and we had less entertaining funds but we made it work by doing things like date nights in (we love eating at restaurants so did things like Pasta Evangelists etc to make it feel a bit special).

We also did all the usual swaps that save a little bit but add up in the long run - swapped our energy bills to a tariff, swapped from Tesco to Aldi, paused memberships for things we weren't using cost effectively. I'm also a bit of a spendaholic and I had to really reign in my 'little purchases' like new clothes whenever I went to the shops etc and made myself vow to only buy things on a replacement basis. It's a long slog but it's so worth it once you get there!
 
LifeOfMog said:
Did you have any tips for saving at all?
I know the current climate is a lot different, but any tips would be great!!
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I know you didn't ask me, but I'm just sharing from my experience. I bought a house by myself in my twenties with no help. Disclaimer: I did start putting money away each month from my part time job since I was 16 for a deposit, so I wasn't starting fresh from my mid-twenties.

Honestly, you have to be brutal and honest with yourself. I sat down and wrote out all my expenses. I divided them into 'essential', 'non essential but need every now and then' and 'don't need/waste of money'. I cut out and cancelled anything in the don't need list. In the non essential list I rationed myself or changed to a cheaper version. These tended to be things that I could do without but would make my quality of life worse. So for example I got rid of my phone contract, bought the phone outright and got a really cheap SIM only contract. I limited myself to how many times a year I would go out and spend money and if I did go out I'd do it as cheaply as possible. It was hard and I lived frugally, but it was absolutely worth it to own my own home. You can't have it all. You either have to make some sacrifices or you can't buy. You'd be surprised how quick a tenner here and there add up!

Also utilise anything like LISA etc.

When looking at property I had to be realistic. I looked at 1 bed properties even if a 2 bed would have been nicer. As a single woman at the time, I wanted to at least live in a 'safe' area. I ended up buying a little starter house that needed a bit of work but was perfectly liveable. I took the view it was better for me to get on the ladder sooner rather than later and then life immediately becomes easier because you can then use equity as a deposit on the next purchase.
 
LifeOfMog said:
Did you have any tips for saving at all?
I know the current climate is a lot different, but any tips would be great!!
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Not aimed at me but my best advice is that it's generally easier to earn more than it is to save off a smaller salary. Obviously trickier now with inflation as it is, but I would focus on increasing pay but maintaining the same outgoings and lifestyle and putting the extra into savings.
 
Has anyone here made the decision to forgo going up the ladder? Did you ever regret it?

Long story short myself and husband did some dull retirement planning and discovered that if we stayed on our current mortgage we could potentially save enough to retire by the time we’re 50. The idea is very appealing, but the house we’re in is tiny and cramped with no room to extend, we’ve been looking for the next step up but now I’m considering a sideways move to a larger house in a worse area. I can’t decide whether we’d regret it or not, hoping to hear from anyone who has made sacrifices in this area for their thoughts 🙏🏻
 
Meg78 said:
Has anyone here made the decision to forgo going up the ladder? Did you ever regret it?

Long story short myself and husband did some dull retirement planning and discovered that if we stayed on our current mortgage we could potentially save enough to retire by the time we’re 50. The idea is very appealing, but the house we’re in is tiny and cramped with no room to extend, we’ve been looking for the next step up but now I’m considering a sideways move to a larger house in a worse area. I can’t decide whether we’d regret it or not, hoping to hear from anyone who has made sacrifices in this area for their thoughts 🙏🏻
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Yes and No. I stayed in my 2 bed flat as I had school fees to pay then I was growing my business.
I do regret not moving into a small house when the gap between moves was so much smaller as I'm leasehold but I wouldn't move from my flat into something bigger in a poorer location as it does meet all my needs.
Off road parking, Southwest facing garden, nice area with plenty of amenities within walking distance
Zone 6 but a village with open land at the end of my road etc.
Tiny houses keeps popping up on my Facebook and I love them so maybe look at ideas to maximise the space in your current property.
 
Meg78 said:
Has anyone here made the decision to forgo going up the ladder? Did you ever regret it?

Long story short myself and husband did some dull retirement planning and discovered that if we stayed on our current mortgage we could potentially save enough to retire by the time we’re 50. The idea is very appealing, but the house we’re in is tiny and cramped with no room to extend, we’ve been looking for the next step up but now I’m considering a sideways move to a larger house in a worse area. I can’t decide whether we’d regret it or not, hoping to hear from anyone who has made sacrifices in this area for their thoughts 🙏🏻
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Yes but more at a mental than practical cost. When I met my other half I ended up moving in to what really was his family home, always with the intention of moving to somewhere new and buying somewhere together. But the reality of buying somewhere big enough for both of us and his two (now teenage) daughters didn’t make sense at all financially and when it came to it I had to put my feelings about ‘his’ house aside and be practical. Which I definitely don’t regret now as we became mortgage free in 2015 and after Covid I only ever went back to work part time as we have more disposable cash. We have thought about buying a student let for the kids and doing as a mortgage (in my name) for financial security for them and us but that’s still not a commitment.

So yes I definitely would recommend a compromise if it means you can retire as early as 50
 
Meg78 said:
Has anyone here made the decision to forgo going up the ladder? Did you ever regret it?

Long story short myself and husband did some dull retirement planning and discovered that if we stayed on our current mortgage we could potentially save enough to retire by the time we’re 50. The idea is very appealing, but the house we’re in is tiny and cramped with no room to extend, we’ve been looking for the next step up but now I’m considering a sideways move to a larger house in a worse area. I can’t decide whether we’d regret it or not, hoping to hear from anyone who has made sacrifices in this area for their thoughts 🙏🏻
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This is such an interesting question and loving seeing the answers.

My partner and I bought our house in 2017 on a 10 year fix and 11 year overall term. So we’re close to be mortgage free relatively early for our ages. Our current house is nice enough, but I think we’d both like more space. But psychologically it feels hard to recommit to a bigger mortgage again, especially with how rates compare to our 10 year fix.
 
Meg78 said:
Has anyone here made the decision to forgo going up the ladder? Did you ever regret it?

Long story short myself and husband did some dull retirement planning and discovered that if we stayed on our current mortgage we could potentially save enough to retire by the time we’re 50. The idea is very appealing, but the house we’re in is tiny and cramped with no room to extend, we’ve been looking for the next step up but now I’m considering a sideways move to a larger house in a worse area. I can’t decide whether we’d regret it or not, hoping to hear from anyone who has made sacrifices in this area for their thoughts 🙏🏻
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If I was you I’d stay where you are, retiring at 50 is something most people could only dream of!

Personally I’d rather have somewhere to live in a nicer area even if was a little small. Is there anyway of reassessing your possessions to thin them out a bit to not feel as cramped. Have you looked at redesigning? Would that be a possibility?

We downsized slightly about 3 years ago and are now mortgage free in our 40’s, it’s a relief tbh.
 
We only brought recently, but we went for a house on the bottom end of our budget, it's tiny and just fits all of us in, but we are adjusting and making the house work for us practically, we have already decided we will stay here with out small mortgage and make do as we will be mortage free by 50 also, so I'd rather that than have a bigger house
 
We wrestled with the whether or not to upsize decision for the past few years, but have ultimately decided to take the plunge and buy the bigger house now and move next week.

We bought our two-bed end terrace 8 years ago and absolutely love it, but with wfh and having a dog it really is too small for us now. It was a big decision though as we were doing really well on that mortgage and would have been mortgage free by our early 40s, whereas based on the new mortgage we'll have an extra 20 years ish to go. Hopefully we will be able to reduce that when we come to re-mortgage in 5 years time. The new house is more than big enough for us though, and in a great location so I am hopeful that we will live there for a longgg time 😊
 
Meg78 said:
Has anyone here made the decision to forgo going up the ladder? Did you ever regret it?

Long story short myself and husband did some dull retirement planning and discovered that if we stayed on our current mortgage we could potentially save enough to retire by the time we’re 50. The idea is very appealing, but the house we’re in is tiny and cramped with no room to extend, we’ve been looking for the next step up but now I’m considering a sideways move to a larger house in a worse area. I can’t decide whether we’d regret it or not, hoping to hear from anyone who has made sacrifices in this area for their thoughts 🙏🏻
Click to expand...

Daft question possibly but what sums did you do to work out you could retire then? We are about to make the jump to the next step when we currently live in a house that we have enough cash to pay off tomorrow. A small extension could make the house more suitable but far far far from ideal but could this compromise be worth early retirement? How do I work this out?

Thanks!
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The thought of being mortgage free at 32 and 35 is very tempting but there’s no denying it would be a huge compromise.
 
Looks like we may not be completing next week after all. Me and my buyer and our solicitors have been ready to go for weeks. Our sellers solicitors said they were ready to go for completion day but now when they've been asked to exchanged tomorrow they've suddenly come out and said that they aren't ready after all and they still haven't done some paperwork. So my sols and my buyer sols have been in them like a tonne of bricks to get their finger out so we can exchange tomorrow
 
We’re saving up and we are about 30% there. Living with my boyfriend’s parents. God I miss our own space. Think we have a while left and we’re debating just renting instead 😩 my mum said she also thinks we should rent because it’s so hard to get a mortgage now and we’re not overly happy in our living situation.

Would anyone advise against this?
 
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