200p Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 (edited) For old timers on here. This poll isn't brilliant, please forgive me. Edited January 22, 2013 by Notanewmember2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Eagle Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 (edited) We were looking to buy around 2004/2005 in London, but when we realised how ridiculous prices were even for shoe-box sized flats (never mind anything big enough to start a family) we quickly changed our minds and started thinking about moving abroad (which we did a few years later and have no regrets about it!). At this point I doubt we will ever move back to the UK as IMHO the UK will be stuck in a depression for many years to come unless some radical changes take place (IMHO unlikely, the UK 'elite' is well in control and doesn't want to change the status quo). Edit: sorry didn't see the restriction about "joined before 2005", seems a bit silly to me, I was lurking on HPC since 2004, but only joined later. Maybe you should change it to 2007, the year of the crash? Edited January 22, 2013 by The Eagle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byron78 Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Saving, studying, and also looking to emigrate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byron78 Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Should also add I'm very happy to be renting at the moment: Flat I rent for £500 a month was priced at 130k in 2007. It's now for sale @ 90k (with 80k being the best, and only, offer they've received on it this past year). It's straight up losing far more than it costs me to rent at the moment (even without factoring in inflation, and the costs of a mortgage, i.e paying back £1 in interest for every £1 borrowed etc). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorkins Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Thanks for the effort, but why did you combine "have bought a house" with "planning to buy a house in the next 24 months"? These are two very different situations! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Have always owned the only house I live in, only because I bought when houses were affordable to buy (if other leisure past times and purchases sacrifices were made) for people in an average job on an average wage equivalent to about £25k I believe in today's money, .......I joined because I thought house prices were fast becoming out of kilter with reality and if it carried on people like myself would never in the future be able to buy near the place where they worked again without outside financial assistance...... Property prices falling makes no difference to me........if mine is worth 50p and falls to 25p the next house if I buy will be 25p. I would not recommend someone to buy at the moment unless they don't mind sticking around a bit, is in a good well paying secure job with promotional prospects that they enjoy and can happily afford the repayments..... Sometimes not having to be tied down gives different freedom and choices.....the hard part is working out when to play it....early on head down working for future benefits or live a bit, learn a lot and to work harder later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byron78 Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 (edited) Have always owned the only house I live in, only because I bought when houses were affordable to buy (if other leisure past times and purchases sacrifices were made) for people in an average job on an average wage equivalent to about £25k I believe in today's money, .......I joined because I thought house prices were fast becoming out of kilter with reality and if it carried on people like myself would never in the future be able to buy near the place where they worked again without outside financial assistance...... Property prices falling makes no difference to me........if mine is worth 50p and falls to 25p the next house if I buy will be 25p. I would not recommend someone to buy at the moment unless they don't mind sticking around a bit, is in a good well paying secure job with promotional prospects that they enjoy and can happily afford the repayments..... Sometimes not having to be tied down gives different freedom and choices.....the hard part is working out when to play it....early on head down working for future benefits or live a bit, learn a lot and to work harder later. I'm always a bit shocked by how few home owners seem to grasp this logic. You're spot on of course (and the majority would actually be better off if house prices were lower, as it makes moving, buying, and upgrading to a bigger property much much more affordable). Edited January 22, 2013 by byron78 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killer Bunny Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 For old timers on here. This poll isn't brilliant, please forgive me. Agreed. I won't be responding as the answer options do not apply to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeryMeanReversion Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Bought in 1997 Sold in 2003 after price more than doubled and joined HPC (account was MeanReversion but forgot password) Bought in 2010 (~£50K cheaper than sold in 2003 for similar house) I bought after realising currency destruction was inevitable. I'm now turning the last of my cash into real stuff (building materials). I have a large enough plot to build extra housing in the garden for the kids if necessary (using Class E permitted development). Mortgage is base-rate linked and well below CPI, savings/pension are RPI-linked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Got bored waiting + found a new life partner + wanted to really settle down now that I'm 50. Think I joined in about 2005 and STRed for a few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OurDayWillCome Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 I brought an auction property in November 08 at about two thirds of its peak price. I spotted the property whilst viewing a post containing auction lots on this site. Didn't need a mortgage as it was in need of modernisation. Still living in it with my wife and 18 month old daughter. This will probably be our one and only house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crashmonitor Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 (edited) I rented for two years from 2006-2008, status STR. I then owned from 2008-2011 and had a further one year of STR before my present house 2012-date. I slowly reduced my proportion of equity in housing during this time. Sole owner of a 300K in 2006, sole owner of a 223K in 2008 to a joint interest in a home costing 242K in 2012 with a girlfriend i had previously lived with prior to 2006. There is no doubt that from a purely financial perspective renting is the best option. I can see that with the movement in the balance sheet shooting into orbit during times when I am 100% in cash and renting, and moving sideways during owning. Sticking it out Bruce Banner style is the best financial option. I think that that postion will prevail until hpi at least matches retail inflation, at least +3%. That position looks at least a couple of years away. Edited January 22, 2013 by crashmonitor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goat Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Property prices falling makes no difference to me........if mine is worth 50p and falls to 25p the next house if I buy will be 25p. Only if you're mortgage free; if you have a 30p mortgage outstanding the next house you buy will be made out of cardboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markyh Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 (edited) I rented for two years from 2006-2008, status STR. I then owned from 2008-2011 and had a further one year of STR before my present house 2012-date. I slowly reduced my proportion of equity in housing during this time. Sole owner of a 300K in 2006, sole owner of a 223K in 2008 to a joint interest in a home costing 242K in 2012 with a girlfriend i had previously lived with prior to 2006. There is no doubt that from a purely financial perspective renting is the best option. I can see that with the movement in the balance sheet shooting into orbit during times when I am 100% in cash and renting, and moving sideways during owning. Sticking it out Bruce Banner style is the best financial option. I think that that postion will prevail until hpi at least matches retail inflation, at least +3%. That position looks at least a couple of years away. Posted this several times before but STR a 2 bed semi in the South East in August 2007 for £194k, Bought that in December 2006 for £55k. Zoopla now says my old house is worth £185k now, although the joining identical mirrored semi sold for only £165k in 2009. Family holmes in my local area in 2007 where going for £300k upwards but as my wife and I witha family income then of £60k couldn't have afforded to buy the house we sold for £194k which was to small with our newborn, So I called the top and put us into rented and whacked 1/3 of the STR in GOLD, the rest into premium bonds savings accounts and national savings certs. Only had to wait 18 months for the flash crash of 2008 (although it took until December 2008 for the Housebuilders to crack). Come March 2009 we moved into a newbuild decent size smaller 5 bed, that sold on our estate for around £300k in 2007. Some chump even managed to pay £340k in early 2008! We complete March 2009 for £230k. Also took a loifetime offset baserate tracker @ 1.49% over base and the month we moved in IR dropped to 0.5% so for almost 4 years new we have been paying 1.99%. So 18 months of STR to jump straight to a 3rd step property for an additional £36k which has doudle the house size, 3 more bedrooms, double the bathrooms and 2 more toilets and 4 x the garden size. And it's so heat efficient it costs less in Gas now to heat than what our 1980's 2 bed semi did in 2007. However we have not mewed to buy new cars, like to keep the mortgage 5 figures and I still beleive in the next 5 years our house will be worth less than we paid for it inspite of the last one on the estate to be built being sold for £285k in 2011. Everyone who i meet and get onto this subject about says I wa "lucky" but I watched the local market, made by own decisons and risks and made my own luck. M Edited January 22, 2013 by markyh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starcrossed Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 STR in 2004, shortly before joining here. Rented for several years and then bought a house in 2009 after a c.15% fall in house prices. Would have been happy to rent indefinately but my life circumstances changed and buying became the right thing to do. The best thing about the whole process was finding this website and learning about economics and debt. The best thing about the whole process was the opportunity it gave me to be a wise-ass in 2007 when the financial system collapsed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woot Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 For old timers on here. This poll isn't brilliant, please forgive me. I wonder if you could separate the second section, first answer into 'Have bought a house' and 'Plan to buy in the next 24 months' since these are really two quite different positions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
200p Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 I am going to leave sleeping dogs lie, I don't think I can change it once the votes are in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie The Tramp Returns Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 STR in 2004, shortly before joining here. Rented for several years and then bought a house in 2009 after a c.15% fall in house prices. Would have been happy to rent indefinately but my life circumstances changed and buying became the right thing to do. The best thing about the whole process was finding this website and learning about economics and debt. The best thing about the whole process was the opportunity it gave me to be a wise-ass in 2007 when the financial system collapsed. Nice to see you back after going missing for a long time. You are one of the old great posters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmpiricalBear Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 (edited) STR in December 2003 and had a nice time until 2007 living off the interest on our capital. Finally got bored after 9 years renting in a beautiful place, but a gradually degenerating rental property (typical of the UK, zero maintenance by the LL), so bought a place. Getting older decided I didn't want to ring someone if I wanted to repaint the kitchen. Spent far too much thanks to the rise in house prices over the years, but we have a great house now. Borrowed shitloads at low %age, but the capital is still there to pay a lot of it down if IR's rise. I don't see that happening for many years though. STR was my defining poor financial decision of my life, luckily I've had a few breaks as well so all the karma tends to level out. I'd still like house prices to fall maybe another 25% in nominal terms, but I don't really see it happening. Even though I'm not young, a fall might help me move up to another property one day, and we need the cost of housing to be lower in general. If I'd BTL'd my west London semi (very nice area) I'd have been quids in now. But its weird, I sometimes work in London and now I live in rural Wales I actually feel a little pang of empathy for the people I see commuting on the tube in London, poor devils. I'm glad to be out of it, and I can dip in every time I want to experience the good bits without having to live with the constant urban anomie. Edited January 24, 2013 by EmpiricalBear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crashman Begins Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Could have joined in 2004. Was a lurker & didnt know the forum existed Just used to read the fron page & its comments lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustYield Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 (edited) . Edited January 24, 2013 by JustYield Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starcrossed Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Nice to see you back after going missing for a long time. You are one of the old great posters. Awww, thank you Charlie. I do lurk the joint most days but very rarely post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crashman Begins Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 Bump for those who missed it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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