Selling your house.

[pipme]

Generally, I think people use the interest only mortgage when buying to let ....
On a medium term basis, historically, it would have proved a success ... Property rises and falls in value over time, but as salaries continue to grow faster than inflation and property creation falls behind demand ... Then overall, property values rise and will continue to do so, there will of course be the short term blips, where money will be lost and money made .... the way of the world !

P

 

[IanDB]

Oh for a crystal ball!! History repeats itself. The stock market correction a couple of years ago was predicted by quite a few observers who said that it was overvalued. Result, in the end the FTSE went from 6000 to 4500 at current levels (ish) a correction of -30%.

People are saying the same thing about house prices now in relation to salary. Mind you, rising property values are not a purely british phenomenon. Ever since the eurozone was established the interest rates plummetted and people have moved their money from banks into property as the potential return was better. The effect is not as marked as in the UK but it is still a trend.

What next? Pass me the bigger ball and polishing cloth please!!

 

[pipme]

Anyone see the program recently on tv focussed on a married couple, both teachers, buying to let ? I think they started in '91, now have over 500 properties let. Given they started just about the bottom of the market ... What a winner ... Good on them !!
500 times average property price today less the average price over 13 years = a load of dosh !!
I think the wife was in the news for spending £7M in the property market during one day following a drop in bank interest rates !!
They utilised interest only mortgages.

Was reading a West country newspaper .. Bath house prices rocketed by aan average £50,000 during last year ... mainly buy to let market ..I reckon this is mainly long term strategy to reduce exposure to failing pensions.
P

 

[david and julie]

Pipme .... It may be good for them but what about the rest of us.

In my area nearly all the old large victorian houses have gone to make way for buy to let flats. Apart from completely changing the the look and feel of the area it is also causing social problems too.

Our local councils are renting these properties for asylum seekers and the like. If you take a block of say 10 flats. Put in ten housing benefit tenants at £600 a month each. Then take off the 10 council taxes of say £500 each. Thats 600x12=7200+500=7700x10=£77000. For council tax payers to find. For one small block of flats. In my council tax bill this year the increase for this benefit was 21%.

You then have rising values, because the rent is guaranteed, causing further problems. The young people born in the area then have to move out. You then get the couldn't care less attitude of these people who don't contribute anything.

I have no problem with people making wise investments, but the Gov will end up taxing us on house sales due to all this.

 

[pipme]

D&J, I know what you mean.

When you look hard enough in the renting game, you see people screwing the system in the most unlikely places.
P

 

[planenut]

Slogger, I would go along with the advice already given, go and have a chat with "an independent financial advisor" they will give you their first half hour for free.
A lot of mortgage advisors may be situated within an Estate Agents office but they are not within the company, they just hire the desk, they all have access to thousands of mortgage offers and reams of information, (if you can say that about computers).
You do not have to take their advice, but you can check it out with other forum sites.
You seemed to indicate that you only wish to take a twenty year mortgage. This may be because of your aim to clear it before retirement, a good option, but again, don't let them make you sign for any deal that you don't understand - take it away to check it out.
The first mortgage payments seem impossible, but after a few years, it get's a whole lot better.
Good luck

 

[securespark]

Talking of selling houses, seen that article about squatters "moving in" to an old dear's house? No B & E, so police cannot act. Squatters threaten prosecution to anyone trying to effect an entry to the property.

Will cost min 1K to evict, if this happens what will they do to the house?

family want to sell house to pay for care.

THESE LAWS STINK!

You should be able to say "F off outta my house and stay out!"

Imagine I go to a customers house to do a job, they are out but I have a key. I nip out to get something from the car, leaving the door ajar, meanwhile some scrote leaps over the garden wall, legs it across the grass and into the house, slamming the door behind him. Have I just "lost" a customers house to a squatter?

FRIGHTENING!!

 

[AdamW]

Any other time you try to take someone else's property it is called stealing.

If you leave your car parked and unlocked, can I come along and claim it as my own? No. That is theft. The rules of "Finders keepers" do not apply in this country. So why do they apply with houses, the most expensive thing anyone in this country owns?! What if I say to my bank "Hey, I'm not paying the mortgage anymore, I'm squatting from now on!"

I don't think I have ever heard even the most liberal of people saying "No, you can't take away squatters' rights!"

How does one go about re-claiming their own house? It might cost £1K to legally evict them, but I bet you could go into any pub on the wrong side of town and find some blokes called "Mad Bazza", "Mental Nobby" and "F*cking big Dave" to do it for £500+VAT (Vodka, Ale and Tabs). Then you just go in, sit down and say "I am squatting here now" and the original squatters can't touch you (once they retrieve their face from the back of their head).

In fact, if I recall the law states that if someone is in your house without you wanting them to be there you are allowed to open a can of whup-ass on them to make them leave.

 

[AdamW]

Have I just "lost" a customers house to a squatter?

Not in your case Simon, I am sure you could just threaten to sit on them

Has anyone noticed that European regulations seem to have been lost on squatters? They call themselves squatters, but has anyone ever seen one squatting? As soon as they sit, stand, crouch, lie-down or kneel they are no longer technically "squatters" and thus can be evicted using any foot you wish to frappertitiously interact with their posterior. Brussels says so.

 

[kendor]

If the squatters want to have their rights let them take over the thousands of empty office blocks wastefully strewn around the City and leave the houses alone!

 

[david and julie]

Offices don't usually have the mod cons of houses though.

Best bet is lob a brick through a window and say they did it breaking in. This poor old dear has probably worked all her life to be treated like this.

Adams right here, down the pub chuck the lazy Bas****s out and argue after.

Just another typical example of the depths this country is sinking.

 

[planenut]

A horrible situation, some low-life such as we are now aware of. He's hardly likely to improve the property.
Why, why, WHY do you never hear of a squatter moving into a gypsy caravan? i'd even open the door for them myself.

 

[david and julie]

If this was an MP's/ judge/police chief/royalty etc, household it would no doubt be a "security issue" and they would be arrested.

Somehow I don't think your average gypo would phone the police and complain.

 

[AdamW]

There must be situations where someone has come back from holiday and found squatters in their house, and forcefully removed them. I have never heard of such a case though.

Has anyone heard of squatters being given "rights" in the situation where the owner has forcefully removed them (I won't use the word "evicted" as that suggests they had some right to be there) and the courts have found in favour of the squatters?

Not that many people would worry about it. I mean seriously, if you came home and found people living in your house, your first thought wouldn't be "Oooh, first thing in the morning I must check that it is lawful to kick them out!"

 

[AdamW]

Somehow I don't think your average gypo would phone the police and complain.

Yes, they are somewhat medieval in their justice...

I will never forget the episode of "Police, Camera Action!" (police reality show) where they were pursuing a car thief. He led the police driver through a gipsy camp and narrowly missed hitting some kids. So when he got stuck against a wall about 50 gipsy's appeared and started throwing rocks through the windows at the thief. The policeman (very brave fellow, nigh on suicidal!) managed to single-handedly stop them before they literally killed the guy!