Dazbo1983

It sounds like we are in quite a similar position in terms of ages, family situation and around £50k mortgage left. As much as we would like a bigger garden, more internal space etc., the trade off in terms of significantly increasing our debt isn’t worth it, in my view. I have settled on being grateful for what we have now, as I think a change in job situation would leave us regretting increasing our mortgage. Personally, I have a low appetite for risk and hope to be mortgage-free by 2-3 years and yearn for the security this will bring. Rather than get a bigger house & mortgage at this point, would rather reduce the time I spend working slightly, as well as invest more in to retirement planning. We can buy bigger houses and more space via credit if we choose…but no amount of credit will buy us any extra time in this life. Make the most of what we have.

Considering his last tenant left without paying £2k in rent arrears, I suspect that would have been lumpy information for him to swallow. 😆

Post Christmas lunch, my father-in-law said he was due to complete the sale of his second buy-to-let property, both of which he had bought with cash from his ill-health retirement at 55 due to a health scare. I explained that I was extremely reluctant to even consider the concept of buy-to-let. The response I got was along the lines of “a house is the best pension you will get…you can get a mortgage and rent it out to somebody else to pay off your mortgage”. As it was Christmas Day, I had to quickly change the subject before I lost my temper to explain (my personal opinion) that having someone pay to rent a property to pay off your mortgage is, in my view’ morally bankrupt. Pleased I never told him where to shove the stuffing…

Brilliant post! 😂

Festive Greetings HPC. Hopefully not too many crossed words over the dinner table, but I thought it would be interesting to gauge the festive sentiment… Has anybody had any festive conversational anecdotes from the dinner table or over a board game which related to HPC?

Primary 2024 Goals: Personal financial consolidation. We have a modest 3-bed semi which we bought (mortgage) in 2017 and have been working expediently to pay down the mortgage capital in that time in the expectation that rates would rise. Our fix ends in April ‘24 and we hope it will be our final fixed-rate deal (2-3 years 🤞). Although, we aren’t counting chickens as I fully expect a recession and economic deterioration in 2024. I am 40 and feel grateful to be in our current position, and I have zero appetite to extend our debt to get an extra bedroom or larger garden; the cost/risk just isn’t worth it. I desperately want the outlook to improve for the future generations, and for this to happen there will need to be pain. Wishing everybody the very best of health. Let’s see what 2024 brings.

Personally, I would go a step further and make BTL mortgages illegal and serious jail time for anybody who takes out a normal mortgage for BTL purposes. 😁

I would say a 33% reduction would bring the price back to a reasonable level, but then there would still be an increased mortgage cost due to the interest rate rises comparative to 3 years ago. My advice to my sister is sit tight and keep an eye on the market, as there are a lot of factors that are in her favour…the vendor just needs to wake up and smell the coffee!

My sister’s landlord invited an estate agent to value the property she rents with a view to potentially selling it to my sister today, with all three parties present. The agent’s estimate was approx 30-35% higher than selling prices were 3 years ago (bork!). However, the agent made some interesting points to the landlord: - “You should factor in that anyone making an offer would pitch at 5% below asking price any way… - The bathroom is dated and could do with replacing, you should consider factoring in to the asking price… - Have you taken into consideration how much rent has been paid over the past 4 years….” Seems to me like sales are slowing and an anecdotal example of EAs trying to manage vendor expectations…? Watch this space!

We have one 3 bed semi in the North East with mortgage. Have £82k left to pay. Current fixed deal expires April 24. Hope to pay £36k off at the end of fix before renewal and reduce term from 16 years to around 8 years. Have been on this site hoping for a proper crash since around 2008. Still hoping…

Royal Mail have lost a lot of the lucrative package deliver to competitors. As a previous poster commented, letters are likely to be a dwindling trend over the coming years. A close friend works for Royal Mail, and from his experience after 14 years service, the management are an absolute disgrace. How they avoid constructive dismissal cases being brought against them is beyond me. Whether these are representative of the Company as a whole, I am unsure. Where a Company has poor management, poor employee engagement is typically a poor investment IMO. My view: stay well clear.

I bought conservatively in the North of England mid-2011 due to ridiculous rental prices in comparison to mortgage rate. I have continued to follow this site with interest - at the time I was convinced that the stack of cards would tumble the day after I received the deeds! Although there appear to have been steady falls locally, I am truly disgusted the lengths this government will go to in order to support/rig this housing market. I fear that the Help2Buy Scheme being extended to existing housing stock to be an enormous mistake and will create further artificial demand and further inflate prices, pushing ownership out of the reach of more families. The situation in southern areas of the country is utterly disgraceful - far worse than in the northern regions. To say that the situation boils my blood is an understatement. In my view, until elections are held every 10 years or people stop view house price increases as being a 'good' thing - this nonsense will continue. Absolutely pathetic.

It was on BBC 1 10pm News last night (approx. 10:20pm)

It was on BBC 1 10pm News last night (approx. 10:20pm)

In the interview the could state that they are currently struggling with the repayments - frightening given that IR's are so low! I feel that this is an indication of the flaws in the education system of this country. IMO more time should be spent on learning skills which are of practical use in the 'real world' i.e Budgeting and the perils of racking up debt! The big question is how many people are there like this out there - in your towns and cities too!