blind_canary

My rent was increased by £200 last month. I'm on prepaid gas and leccy. I've decided I'm not going to top up the gas and just buy a couple of wool jumpers. I'm considering not paying the rent, only thing that worries me is the knocking at the door by the landlord and his friends who are both considerable bigger than me. I'm so depressed right now.. So much so I'm back on this forum after a 15 year sabbatical. What I would give for the 'crazy' house prices we experienced then........

I have a feeling we might be in for a shock next meeting... I'm thinking 75 or even 100 bps. Which to be honest is the absolute minimum we need to see. How heads at BoE haven't rolled I don't know

How many times can they lose credibility?

I am not a car salesman, I am a computer programmer for a car sales company - I have too much of a conscience to be a salesman. Your right i am petrified that i am making a mistake and the HPC we are all predicting does occur i will obviously be gutted..... I me along with thousands of other people are contributing to HPI by continuing to buy at inflated prices.

I just think its anyones guess as to which way the market will go. Its a no win situation, if HPI increases then people cannot afford to own a home, if we have a HPC millions of people are left with negative equity. I remember thinking the exact same thing when i bought the house i am in now 4 years ago, i though prices were too high! Sorry but i am just losing faith with the whole concept of HPC and now i have seen the people it will affect i no longer wish for HPC. I am now hoping for a sustained period of HPS (House price stagnation)

Get real IanBe If the people I am purchasing from would drop 30% I would be more than happy to follow suit!

I know only too well what you are saying about people going back on an agreement to buy/sell, I am stressing about that myself as I have just splashed out 800 solicitor fees and £700 mortgage fees, I will lose both if either my buyer or seller change their minds! - not a very nice position to be in as you know..... I just think peolpe are detaching themselves too much from their emotions a little and you should spare a thought to the people (me included) who could be on the receiving end of HPC, and left with K's of negative equity! Also we should not completely rule out the fact that we have not quite reached the summit of HPI. A couple of IR cuts and the HPI juggernaut is up and running again, and will soon make up for the "quiet" period.

I was planning on doing exactly the same thing, but I have done a complete U-turn now I no longer wish for HPC. I sold my house last month (sale goign through) and the plan was to sit out the crash at in laws. I sold my 2 bed semi to a couple in there 30's who are maxing themseleves out to get on the propery ladder before its too late, and I realised that the HPC I have been hoping for could actually ruin the lives of 3 very nice people. I dont think it is right to wish for HPC when knowing how much misery it will cause. Seeing this couple has changed my opinion completely, you must have a bit of a conscience now!

Of course I could not afford my mortgage if rates doubled! To be honest my job would be one of the first to go if recession did hit us, Im in car sales!!!! If rates hit 15% I would be well a truly fudged, as would 15m+ other people. The dooms day scenario of 15% IR, and 20% unemployment will not happen and you know it....we will continue to borrow our way out of it

There is no denying that houses are massively overpriced and there will come a point, soon, when FTB's can no longer get on the ladder. But like you say people, me included, have been predicting a crash for 3-4 years and in that time here in the midlands prices have increased by 40%. Houses are still shifting here, the average 3 bedroom detached property is on the market for 2 months, my house sold within 3 days, if this is a slow down, i would hate to think what will happen to the market when it picks up again.

I fear you might be right..... A crystal ball would be very handy about now

I cant believe you cant rent a 1 bedroom for 950, im guessing thats London. 950 is a bit of a stretch, but its a house we both really like so i think its worth sacrificing the odd xbox game here and there for a nice home. I will just be really gutted if i did end up with negatve equity, as with most people on this site i think, i still beat myself up over the fact i did not buy before the boom, 4-5 years ago, and buying now at the WRONG time would only rub salt in my wounds!

Sorry, I do not want a fight with anyone I looking for advice, I am as big a bear as anyone but I want to provide my wife and I with a nice home, thats all. Im not buying a house to make a profit i am buying a house for somewhere to live! My only concern is buying at the wrong time and in a couple of years time having 20k of negative equity! Sorry if my question does not make sense, I would like to know peoples opinions on whether my 170k house will be worth more in 5-10 years than it is now? ie Do you think I will end up with negative eqitity?

I am a bear who has been predicting a crash for 3 years and still do not see it happening. I have delayed purchasing a house for the last 2 years based on the fact that house prices can only come DOWN. After all the excitement of IR increases and the credit crunch/stock crash, I see no change in HP's. IR look set to decrease next month if anything, Fed bailed out the banks and credit tightening is not happening. I sold my house last month with the intention of renting and watching prices come crashing down and bagging a bargain. After finally giving in to the wife I agreed to have a look around some houses and as you can guess we found the perfect house. We are taking out a huge mortgage (150k) 950 a month, which is ridiculous I know, but i'v decided to just go ahead with it as I remortgaged 2 years ago instead of upgrading and I noticed that the ownders of the house i am buying bought the house for 150k. So not buying 2 years ago has cost me 10k (my house has gone up 10k in that time). My question is, if I am in the house for 5years and prices do come down next year say 10%, surely over the 5 year period prices can only be HIGHER than they are now. I just dont think waiting for a HPC that may never come is worth the financial risk and more importantly my marraige. No doubt I will get slated by you all for joinging the growing list of debt slaves but Iv missed out once and i dont want to miss out again.....

Thanks again for all the advice I guess expecting the market to significantly change within 6-12 months is a little unrealistic. My plan now is to go ahead and sell my property and move in with in-laws for 6months and save money towards the costs of buying the new house. In 6months time i think it will be even more of a buyers market and as an earlier comment stated offer 20% below the asking price on suitable properties in the spring, and see if i can bag a bargain. Anyone know any decent websites for selling houses privately? apart from ebay?

Summer is definitely the time to sell, especially when, like in my house you dont have central heating :-) I am having my house valued tonight, and will hopefully have my house on the market early next week. I will see how many viewings/offers I get before deciding. At the moment I am 90% certain I will sell up and wait for the crash

I think 12 months would be my absolute limit, tbh i think after 6 months i would seriously think about renting a one bedroom flat. Between my wife and I, we could save about £1300 a month, so thats nearly 8k we could save, giving us the best part of 40k deposit in spring next year ready to put down as a deposit for our next house.

If prices continue to increase at the same pace as the last 3 years my property will increase at 10k also, thats the gamble. I am gambling on the fact that prices will not continue to increase at the same pace, at worst I need them to level, at best they need to come down! Thanks alot for all the replies I have had, iv spent weeks thinking about what to do everytime I make my mind up to sell, someone manages to convince me its wrong and the market will contine to rise and I will end up buying my house back for 10k more than I sold it for in 12 months time.

Extending is not really a possibility no, its a small semi with communal parking on the side of the house. In regard to the costs of selling, that is one of the reasons I am thinking of selling as when we move not only will we have to pay estate agent fees etc, but stampt juty and legal costs for the property we purchase. Also if i sell now i will avoid the pointless HIP I am one of those people who can only see house prices falling, they have to, they have reached a point where they can not go any higher.

Exactly 'cash buyer' status could be worth 2-4k off the next property I purchase. The only danger I see is sustained high rates (say 6-7% for 2+years) meaning a mortgage of 150k is just unrealistic. I know nothing about investing money so I plan to just put the equatity from the sale of my property in a savings account.

my house is worth 125k and i paid 90k for it in 2003

Hi everyone, I am new to the forum and would like peoples opinions. (apologies if this is posted twice as I am stuggling to post a new topic) I own a 2 bed semi in Telford, and for the past 6 months I have been looking at upgrading to a 3 bedroom house but found I am priced out of the market. Rate rises mean a mortgage of 150k would cost me 1100 a month, which is rediculous. I am thinking of selling my house and moving in with the in-laws, with my wife. We have a tracker mortgage for 90k which has gone up £70 this year alone, and with rate set to rise again this year i feel we would be better off selling up and saving for 6-12 months and hope prices start to fall. Many 3 bedroom houses in my area are not selling, they sit on the market for months. A 3 bedroom in the street I am in now is up for 195k and has not had a viewing in 3months - i think this says alot for the market for houses priced at 150k+. Im thinking of selling the house and riding out the rate increases to enable me to save up a bigger deposit and to help save for moving costs. My other reason for wanting to do this is as i think if i find a 3 bedroom property and i am not in a chain and have a mortgage ready i will be in s good bargaining position to buy my next house. Thanks for reading and i welcome all opions.....