how do people afford to buy houses nowadays?

was just browsing the property market in the north west, always keep an eye out in case i see a bargain..

i want to know how they can have the cheek to call £150,000 homes "ideal for first time buyers" - i paid nowhere near that for my home and it's only worth just over half the above! the homes in question are those new builds which have 6x6 dining rooms and 8x9 master bedrooms (ie tiny!)

by my calculations if you were buying on your own you'd need to be earning about 50 grand a year to afford it! who are they kidding, what sort of job pays that salary at the age these properties are marketed at (i.e young people) - even if you were buying with a partner you'd have to be both earning about 30-35k

by 2020 all company executives will be living in ex-council terraces with 50 year mortgages to afford them..

is there a secret that i'm missing out on??!

£150,000? .... If only they were that cheap down here.

how do people afford to buy houses nowadays?

It's a huge problem. One day the property market will have to crash big time. Property is bizarrely over-priced and first time buyers haven't a hope in hell unless they have two full-time incomes and mortgage themselves up to the neck - and then realise that it's actually impossible to have kids unless they give up and go on the dole.


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Originally Posted by Nutkins

£150,000? .... If only they were that cheap down here.

amen to that brother nut

Not cheap by me either.....robbing s*ds!

im looking for a house at the moment - first time buyer, 24 yrs old, girlfriend no kids. My girlfriend wont have a job when she moves up here (she's in Leeds). Im trying to find somewhere half decent, 2 bedroom and up here im looking at anything from £100-120k. Mortgaged to the hilt but theres no other way.

[Spiderman]

Originally Posted by jonboy

It's a huge problem. One day the property market will have to crash big time. Property is bizarrely over-priced and first time buyers haven't a hope in hell unless they have two full-time incomes and mortgage themselves up to the neck - and then realise that it's actually impossible to have kids unless they give up and go on the dole.


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Ive been waiting for this to happen too but since the changes in the law to allow pension funds to purchase residential property as inverstments means that we will all end up as tennants paying off other peoples mortgages for them as there will be very little actually worth buying that hasnt already been bought by fund managers who dont care what they pay for the property (ie value for money wise) as long as they can let it and hav it cover its costs.

Some of my clients i have even advised o take a loss on the monthly rental figure as the growth of the asset over the 5 or 10yr period will mean hey are quids in when they sell it.

Its a bit of a joke really but i cant see how or why the market will crash. Its gonna go on like this, imho, until the buying public just refuse to buy anymore as they have lost confidence in the market and then sellers will be forced to sell. But that may put them in a negative equity situation which means they wont be able to sell or will end up banrupting themselves too cos they are so mortgaged to the eyeballs.

Either way, its not agood situation and one of the primary reasons why i left the property sales industry. Its just so wrong and soul-less.

Rich and I looked at the buying history of our 2.5 bedroom house.

We bought it in 2004 for £91,000. It was the cheapest in the area.
The previous owners bought it in 2002 for £53,000, the owners before them bought it in 1998 for £32,000.

As far as I can tell there have been no major works (no minor ones either come to think of it) except the cellar has been filled in.

We had to get a 100% mortgage and work overtime to pay it. We were planning to have a family but the mortgage company is bleeding us dry!

Good luck to any 1st timers out there - Our house is now worth £110,000.

[fizzwheel]

I couldnt afford the mortgage repayments on my own house if I were to purchase it now

I paid 104K for it in 2003 and that was right on the limit of what I could afford to pay each month and still be able to live. One next door just sold for 125K

Don't blame the lawyers!! My fee on a sale or purchase below £120K is £350. From £120K - £250K I charge £400. It's not much but people still complain - I get a few calls for quotes and people expect me to do a sale and a purchase for the £350. I wonder if they ever complain about the huge 'arrangement' fees that lenders add to the loan.