First time buyer worries
Discussion
Can anyone offer any advice on the housing market in Central Scotland.
The GF and I are looking to buy our first home with an estimated budget of around £120k. For this I've seen some really nice 3 bed houses with garage and decent gardens (more car storage
).
I have some concerns over buying:-
How will our mortgage repayments change as the interest rate rises? Are we likely to see 15% like the early 90's? Is there a big risk we could lose the house in a few years? (We are both good with money and our mortgage will only be about 20% of our joint income.)
Is it really worth buying in the current climate? I regularly see houses at 10-20% lower than there valuation report and Ive read online that this is ideally the range to be looking at.
I will probably add more to this later, just a quick post during my lunch.
The GF and I are looking to buy our first home with an estimated budget of around £120k. For this I've seen some really nice 3 bed houses with garage and decent gardens (more car storage
).I have some concerns over buying:-
How will our mortgage repayments change as the interest rate rises? Are we likely to see 15% like the early 90's? Is there a big risk we could lose the house in a few years? (We are both good with money and our mortgage will only be about 20% of our joint income.)
Is it really worth buying in the current climate? I regularly see houses at 10-20% lower than there valuation report and Ive read online that this is ideally the range to be looking at.
I will probably add more to this later, just a quick post during my lunch.
You can get some decent fixed rate mortgages at the moment, if they are offering fixed rates they must be confident interest rates aren't going anywhere for years to come so fix for extra piece of mind.
Provding you have a decent enough deposit you will be fine if house prices decrease, last thing you want is negative equity on a house.
Provding you have a decent enough deposit you will be fine if house prices decrease, last thing you want is negative equity on a house.
I'm in the same position as you, First time buyer with my Girlfriend, Where you're looking up north, we however are looking the opposite down south, (Hampshire).
We had our mortage accepted in July ish time with 'the worlds local bank', As you we've also gone for the 20% LTV mortgage on a 2 year fixed rate, we got a rate of 3.69%.
We're hoping to move in at the end of the month, with contracts bieng signed this week.
If i could go back a few months, i'ld probably go with tracker mortgage which offered 2.99% as the rates are staying low for at least a year or so, (My guess, which my OH's Dad is faily high in the banking industry agree's). Most banks will let you go tracker and at any time swap to a fixed with no charge.
If you can afford the mortgage which to be fair costs less than rent nowadays then it is certainly the way to go. I wish i could get a house like that for down here, I'm paying £180k for a 2 Bed semi with Garage.
Gaz
We had our mortage accepted in July ish time with 'the worlds local bank', As you we've also gone for the 20% LTV mortgage on a 2 year fixed rate, we got a rate of 3.69%.
We're hoping to move in at the end of the month, with contracts bieng signed this week.
If i could go back a few months, i'ld probably go with tracker mortgage which offered 2.99% as the rates are staying low for at least a year or so, (My guess, which my OH's Dad is faily high in the banking industry agree's). Most banks will let you go tracker and at any time swap to a fixed with no charge.
If you can afford the mortgage which to be fair costs less than rent nowadays then it is certainly the way to go. I wish i could get a house like that for down here, I'm paying £180k for a 2 Bed semi with Garage.
Gaz
We went for 15% deposit and 5 yr fixed, mostly on the basis that we will have lots of renovation costs and wanted to lock out at least the 1st 5 years (and needed to save cash for renovations preventing a 20% deposit).
I know people don't look at multiples any more, but we planned our risk on being able to afford the mortgage based on a worst case of only one of us working (me as principle earner) and interest rates going to 12% before it would impact our life materially (and approx 2.5* joint income for mortgage)
I know people don't look at multiples any more, but we planned our risk on being able to afford the mortgage based on a worst case of only one of us working (me as principle earner) and interest rates going to 12% before it would impact our life materially (and approx 2.5* joint income for mortgage)
Thanks for the replies guys.
Gazza, house prices are crazy up here too, we had a look at a £260k 2 bed flat near Glasgow, yet the same developer was selling a 5 bed house with double garage 5 miles away for £270. I was scared to ask how much the 5 bed house was on the first site.
Thankfully we can justify staying out of the cities (we are both in the construction industry and mainly site based), so opens up much better value houses with some space and hopefully a garage.
Gazza, house prices are crazy up here too, we had a look at a £260k 2 bed flat near Glasgow, yet the same developer was selling a 5 bed house with double garage 5 miles away for £270. I was scared to ask how much the 5 bed house was on the first site.
Thankfully we can justify staying out of the cities (we are both in the construction industry and mainly site based), so opens up much better value houses with some space and hopefully a garage.
Hi, I have just bought my first house, got the keys a month ago now. Thought about the same things when I was making my decisions:
When you apply for a mortgage you should recieve a Key Facts document explaining how much a 1% rise in rate will mean in monatary terms. In my case 1% equated to almost £100 difference, but I do recomend don't look at the total you finally pay back, you don't want to know.
I decieded on a 5 year fixed deal, which although wasn't the best rate out there meant I knew exactly where I was for the next 5 years, plus there was also no clause/penaulty for getting out early.
I'm not sure whether the Winchester market mirrors that of Scotland but putting in and having an offer accepted at 80-90% of the asking price is the norm, I managed a £15K reduction.
Whether it is worth buying at the moment or not, at the end of the day you will be buying somewhere to live, and it will be all yours to do with as you please, it's a lovely feeling.
Good Luck.
When you apply for a mortgage you should recieve a Key Facts document explaining how much a 1% rise in rate will mean in monatary terms. In my case 1% equated to almost £100 difference, but I do recomend don't look at the total you finally pay back, you don't want to know.
I decieded on a 5 year fixed deal, which although wasn't the best rate out there meant I knew exactly where I was for the next 5 years, plus there was also no clause/penaulty for getting out early.
I'm not sure whether the Winchester market mirrors that of Scotland but putting in and having an offer accepted at 80-90% of the asking price is the norm, I managed a £15K reduction.
Whether it is worth buying at the moment or not, at the end of the day you will be buying somewhere to live, and it will be all yours to do with as you please, it's a lovely feeling.
Good Luck.
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