Owning your own home

I myself am looking to move to a smaller (more manageable) house due to a change of circumstances.

We were looking at a place that was about £150k-£200k over the pre-lock down valuation

I asked about 'the situaton' and the EA, also the director of the local chain, looked tired, then reeled off this story about there being three offers at £100k less than asking. He seemed genuinely exasperated that the seller hadn't accepted as they were already half way out the house and had already bought in Devon. If he was lying to my face, he was very, very good at it.

He's probably good at it

We viewed it again but didn't bother to offer based on his story.

They must be so fucking rich and so fucking young.

I always think it's people with parents who got on the ladder, who led stable lives, who were able to progress up the ladder, who now are able to help out above and beyond, and the kids don't mind asking for a deposit, who bump in the deposit or whatever, first property does well, they sell that, plus maybe a bit more money from somewhere.

That or they're so fucking rich they go straight in at £1mill.

What? The owner was hanging in for the extra £100k?

I don't want to jinx myself but we got a cash offer of asking (which is what EA valued it at) on our place within a week of going live.

Great because its ultimately what we wanted, but it makes me wonder if it was undervalued.

Here's hoping nothing goes belly up between now and completion!

Yep. Assume mafia debts or something really important.

They didn't seem particularly worried about it not selling, and then having to make sure an Edwardian Terrace doesn't fall to bits unoccupied over winter.

But that's just the story.

I've said it before but even if you have a £600k deposit you need a massive income between the two of you - or very little expenses - to get the finance for a £1m house, and now a £1m house is fucking cottage of 1300 sq foot.

Maybe they have £900k deposits but where the fuck does that come from?

we got a cash offer of asking

Did they literally rock up and offer you asking? Or was there a negotiation? Tell me there was a negotiation. Please.

Didn't we have this conversation 3m ago?!

Yep, hence the 'I've said it before bit'

I was bewildered then, I'm bewildered now :)

Possibly more so.

I'm baffled by it too. It's at that "it's time to move out but where can I work ?" point.

We viewed a place that sold in mid 2016 for 600k theyre asking 795 for it right now which is definitely overvalued by 75-125k, we really liked it and cant do anything till we have an offer on our place anyway but theres no way we'd pay over 720.

I cant fathom how somewhere could gain even 100k since 2016

I'm really confused about what's happening.

Is everyone in total denial that we are entering a massive recession with minimal fiscal or economic firepower to fight it?

Or is it just some kind of suspended animation and the crash will kick in at Christmas?

I very much think both.

I've asked to see this place at the weekend: https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/55661838?search_identifier=65d180c3b5d560ad3e0550e62cd89cbc

I needed an FD30 Fire Door with windows, and I got the whole thing fitted and bought for £1,396 from ValueDoors inclusive of VAT. That sounds a bit much tbh.

@ChasnotRobert see for e.g. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jul/28/brexit-will-deliver-double-shock-to-uk-economy-study-finds-coronavirus

lot of people with a lot of money for some reason

Not so applicable to those in London, but WFH has definitely saved some people a shit load of £s in commuting.

The UK property market is extremely welcoming of foreign property investors

Maybe UK/London property looks cheap right now? Especially with the pound's battering.

even if you have a £600k deposit you need a massive income between the two of you - or very little expenses - to get the finance for a £1m house.

If you've rustled up £600k for a deposit is a 100k household income an unrealistic expectation?

Presuming you are childless and have few expenses you might get away with that. But you'd need closer to £450k when factoring in moving costs and SDLT which is still a wedge on a £1m place.

When did you last apply for a mortgage? It seems like a different game to when we last did it. Our household is more than that but we can barely get £400k with existing lender.

Agree with that, but the money you're looking at to push house prices up isn't "save up for 4m" levels, is it? Or at least, if you can save up enough to make a meaningful difference in that time to what house you can afford, you are surely pretty income rich anyway....

Depends how many big deposits are from inheritances.

We were quoted 5x household income a couple of weeks ago with a 15% deposit

Because you don't have expenses presumably.

I mean, I literally have a spreadsheet calc showing that with a £450k mortgage at fuck all percentage we'd basically break even when you include childcare provision in expenses.

Zero negotiation. Well, they asked if we'd be open to leaving white goods behind.

Zero negotiation. Well, they asked if we'd be open to leaving white goods behind.

Fuck me people are so fucking stupid

Kill me