Someone on this forum just bought his first house (me :D )

[Koolpc]

Me and the wife are on approx £20,000 between us!! Really low wages and going to get lower when i have to give up my job to look after our baby girl. Then i will be 'sponging' as you put it from the benfits. I have worked all my life so i think i deserve some payback.

[GeorgeTuk]

Koolpc, don't worry its not directed at you but at what I understand is a sizeable minority who will not work and who make it so they get more money not having to work. I am pleased to see it will help out your family and best of luck to you.

But it goes to show the stigma attached to the state benefit system because it is mis-used.

[mark19632]

Are you a young person? Do you think it's right that people under the age of 30 have no chance to buy a house unless they are city traders or lucky to have rich parents?.

I'm under 30 (26) and am on my second home with my girlfriend (now wife). My parents are cetainly not rich, hers are well off, but we never given a penny towards our house. We brought our first place when we were 21 on a join income of £26,000 and a mortgage of £115,000.

We both worked hard to buy our home together and are are certainly not high flyers.

So I disagree with saying young people have no chance.

I would say that buying a house on your own is neigh on impossible, but I think that is down to the changes like the increase with women going to work and house hold incomes increasing.

[Koolpc]

Koolpc, don't worry its not directed at you but at what I understand is a sizeable minority who will not work and who make it so they get more money not having to work. I am pleased to see it will help out your family and best of luck to you.

But it goes to show the stigma attached to the state benefit system because it is mis-used.

Sorry if i came across as having a go at you. Not meant to.

Thanks for good wishes anyway.

[Koolpc]

I was approx 24 when we bought our first house. The mortgage was for £25,000. Second house the mortage was for approx the same, this house, our third was for £30,000. It cost us £49,000 when we bought it approx 9 years ago. Finished the mortgage off last year and the house is now worth approx £150+

[Rave]

I'm under 30 (26) and am on my second home with my girlfriend (now wife). My parents are cetainly not rich, hers are well off, but we never given a penny towards our house. We brought our first place when we were 21 on a join income of £26,000 and a mortgage of £115,000.

We both worked hard to buy our home together and are are certainly not high flyers.

So I disagree with saying young people have no chance.

Erm....prices have gone up anywhere between 70 and 100% in the last five years. I could afford to buy if houses were still at their 2002 prices. That's a pretty fatuous thing to say, frankly.

Renting is like throwing your money down a drain! When you have your own house you have something to show for all your hard earned expenditure. Its a good investment too.

<rolls eyes in disbelief> Have you even read any of my posts explaining why that's absolutely not the case? When you bought, in 1998, houses were cheap and it was better to buy than to rent. Now they are expensive, and it costs more in interest payments to buy a house than it does to rent it direct. Only someone who's too thick to grasp that a lot has changed over the past 9 years would keep trotting out tired old generalisations like 'rent is money down the drain!' and 'houses are a good investment!'. It's not, and they're not.

[greektony]

But Rave, what happens if your prophecy of a house crash doesnt happen for years to come, or isnt as huge a crash as you are hoping for? Are you happy to never own a house and rent for the rest of your days?

[dangel]

Come on Rave don't sit on the fence on this - tell us what you really think

Anyway, well done to the chap who's got his own house - I believe that's the purpose of the thread rather than doomsaying and conjecture, oui?

[Koolpc]

Erm....prices have gone up anywhere between 70 and 100% in the last five years. I could afford to buy if houses were still at their 2002 prices. That's a pretty fatuous thing to say, frankly.
<rolls eyes in disbelief> Have you even read any of my posts explaining why that's absolutely not the case? When you bought, in 1998, houses were cheap and it was better to buy than to rent. Now they are expensive, and it costs more in interest payments to buy a house than it does to rent it direct. Only someone who's too thick to grasp that a lot has changed over the past 9 years would keep trotting out tired old generalisations like 'rent is money down the drain!' and 'houses are a good investment!'. It's not, and they're not.

Only someone who's too thick to grasp that a lot has changed over the past 9 years would rent when it is better to buy. I would never rent as it is definitely throwing money down the drain! When you buy a house the mortgage you pay when completed makes all that money you invested in the house worthwhile as you will have something to show for it.

I could never pay x amount each month to some landlord only to have nothing to show for it x amount of years down the line.

Renting is the same as tossing your money down the drain. You pay for somewhere to live, yes, but you get nothing in return.

Property is a better investment than paying someone money you aint going to see a return on. Get real mate. You need to get off your bus and have a rest!

[Tom Scott]

Only a moron would rent when it is better to buy. I would never rent as it is definitely throwing money down the drain! When you buy a house the mortgage you pay when completed makes all that money you invested in the house worthwhile as you will have something to show for it.

I could never pay x amount each month to some landlord only to have nothing to show for it x amount of years down the line.

Renting is the same as tossing your money down the drain. You pay for somewhere to live, yes, but you get nothing in return.

Property is a better investment than paying someone money you aint going to see a return on. Get real mate. You need to get off your bus and have a rest!

So what if you're paying for negative equity? Is that not money down the drain....

[Koolpc]

So what if you're paying for negative equity? Is that not money down the drain....

Depends on a few factors.

[mark19632]

So what if you're paying for negative equity? Is that not money down the drain....

Negative equity is only a problem if you have to sell your house otherwise you just ride it out. Prices will always go up eventualy under normal circumstances

[chicken]

I'm not sure if I believe the prices will crash after reading this. I started to think, there seem to be so many young adults waiting for this "crash" before buying a house that won't they all rush out the second it starts to happen and cause the prices to rise again?

I know it has happened in the past, but more people are more clued up on it now. Mass anticipation of a crash might be enough to stop it from happening.

[Tom Scott]

Yeah but what I'm trying to say is that paying money to actually be in a worse position (plus the cost of maintenance etc) than when you started is definetly worse than paying rent.

[Koolpc]

Yeah but what I'm trying to say is that paying money to actually be in a worse position (plus the cost of maintenance etc) than when you started is definetly worse than paying rent.

Totally wrong mate. I would much rather pay maintenance on a property i 'own' than throw money down the drain renting a property. Rememeber that a property is one of the best ways to invest your money these days. What is better:

£600 a month to Landlord

£600 a month for a property that will one day be yours?

£600 rent a month for 25 yrs = £180,000 pounds wasted!!

[Tom Scott]

What size mortgage are you talking about for &#163;600 a month over 25 years? &#163;80k?