UK- Buying Real Estate

b2b · Post by **b2b** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 8:18 pm

What are the things to look for while buying a house in the UK?
What's the process? Any good websites / builders / agents?
What are the pitfalls one needs to be aware of?
How does one go for mortgage - how do you get reduced cost and reduce risks?

And overall is it a right to buy property in the UK?

b2b · Post by **b2b** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 10:18 pm

One more Q -

How much is current mortgage rate? On what factors does it depend?

neesha · Post by **neesha** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 10:24 pm

b2b,

As Europeans say, UK is a nation obsessed with house purchase.
There are many websites that have property information updated every day.
Almost every other day there is some kind of survey coming up saying it is right/wrong to buy property this time.
There is lot of information from different angles which could be confusing at times.
From 1996 prices have gone up like crazy, year on year.
But there are still no clear signs that say prices could come down. Many people are expecting a crash for many years but that hasn't happened yet.
Thats the thing, a crash never comes with any signs.
The best bet is to see how property prices are doing in your area. You can use the land registry data to see the actual sold price versus asking price.
Here is one website (I like to read the debate on this website ) -
www.housepricecrash.co.uk

(Disclaimer : I am not directly/indirectly suggesting to make a decision based on this website )

Currently, the situation in my area is -
We rent a house for £950 per month. If we buy the same house I would pay a mortage of £1500 per month (at the current rate) plus updating,insurance etc. So we have put off buying at the moment.

Plus i like the flexibility in renting. I can move as and when i want. It may not be that easy if i buy something.

neesha · Post by **neesha** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 10:30 pm

Mortage rate depends on the base rate decided my Bank of England. They meet every first Thursday of the month to see if the base rate should increase, decrease or stay on hold.

There are also fixed rate and capped mortgages. The max. fixed rate mortgage that i know of is usually 5 years. The fix rate is generally more than the base rate when you start,however, if the base rate goes high you have an advantage. But if the base rate drops then it is a disadvantage.

Floating or variable ones vary with the BOE interest rates. Capped ones stay in a certain range of the BOE base rate.

You can find more info about the base rate on the BOE website.

fantoosh · Post by **fantoosh** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 10:35 pm

U can use following web site for compring mortgages(there are many like this).

http://www.moneyextra.com/

If u don't know, stamp duty for houses upto 250 K GBP is 1% and above that
its 3% and I think its till 450-500K.

For checking the rating of a particular post code u can use following web site.

http://www.checkmyfile.com/neighbourhood.asp

Rating provided here is quite consistent for whatever houses I have checked till date.

Leha-Leha · Post by **Leha-Leha** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 5:03 am

b2b,

www.primelocation.com is a good web site to get an idea. Some of the info can be dated though.

I think there are still a few pockets with good value.

suniil · Post by **suniil** » Thu May 31, 2007 6:51 pm

ourproperty.co.uk gives you exact (last) transaction value of the property for 5 years!

HAKUNAMATATA · Post by **HAKUNAMATATA** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 2:15 am

b2b;14252What are the things to look for while buying a house in the UK?
What's the process? Any good websites / builders / agents?
What are the pitfalls one needs to be aware of?
How does one go for mortgage - how do you get reduced cost and reduce risks?

And overall is it a right to buy property in the UK?[/quote]

The process is very simple and uncomplicated, you see a property you like, you ring the agent advertising. The vendor pays the commission to the agent, so remember he is working for the vendor and not you. However nice he is trying to be. This is the point the agent will vet you and give you appointments to view, once or twice,thrice...etc. If you like the property you tell him your offer, subject to survey. If the property is in the region of £260k to 270k, try giving an offer of £250k so you can pay 1% stamp duty or else 3% for anything above 250k, worked for me 4 years ago.
After a full structural survey, which can cost anything from 300-600, which will give you reports of works to be done, subsidence(very imp) you could further negotiate a price drop for remedial works.
Once this has been done and solicitors appointed carry out searches on the property, this is also very important, as they find out if there is any money outstanding on the property, if it is an ex council property, if it is going to be demolished etc etc...2 MOST IMPORTANT THINGS. Once all these factors are clear, your solicitor and the vendors solicitor exchange CONTRACTS,at this point YOU are legally bound and you are required to pay a 10% deposit towards the property and if you back out you could lose this deposit.
The solicitors set a time scale required for completion which can be anything from 1 month to 3 months(be very careful if you buy auction properties as there is a deadline of 1 month or less, so have all your finances in place b4 you bid).

I have recently released equity on my home and got a
favourable rate with abbey, fixed for 2 years @5.14% and set up fees of £999, no other charges. After the recent rise in the rates there aren't many deals there but still plenty with high set up fees.
If you want to get a mortgage as a first time buyer, i haven't been in this position, but the bottom line is have an EXCELLENT credit rating, this is the most important thing,have 3 months wage slip and an excellent broker.
If you want to buy a house in the current market, it is more than likely your gross combined wage(husband and wife) multiplied by 5 falls short of the value of the house.
IF you go to the major banks they work by the rules, they will multiply your combined wage 5 times or yours alone @3 1/2 times. If you have a good broker he may charge you 200-500 pounds and self certify you. This is helpful if your income is low and you are self employed or you have fluctuated income.
Lately, majority of the people are opting for interest only option this way their outgoings are fixed on a monthly basis and are hoping the property gains they make will offset their loan in the long term......or will it become negetive equity.
On your last question...is it right to buy a property??? OFCOURSE ITS NOT!!
But can you put a price for a roof over your head??
when i bought 4 years ago for £250k 4 bed house i thought i was mad, today i have had an offer of 450k, i'd love to sell, but can't buy much with it. Some thing i like is prolly 600k-700k, THERE CAN NEVER BE A PRICE FOR A ROOF OVER YOUR HEAD. Yes, the buy-to-let market is finished .
If you mean investment then the sums dont add up.
THIS is average rental in London,outskirts forget central london. 1bed yields=650/month, 2 -3beds=950-1200 roughly.

1 beds are generally selling for 120k(small)-160k(nice size good area) not central london where prices for 1 bed can start 180k-290k and even more.
lets take that as an example .Lets say you buy a 1 bed flat 150k and that will give you 650/month=7800/year. Thats 5.2% return gross. Take into account voids,compliant certificates maintanence insurance agents fee(8-10%+vat), once you take all these figures, solicitors fees,setting up contracts etc..etc..you are left with nothing.This is just an example, there are so many upto date websites with prices on London advertised already.
The only reason the demand will remain and could even get stronger is due to shortage of housing and i mean good housing.Not to mention the ever increasing demands from people migrating from Russia, china,India with alot of ''kala paisa'' and buying good homes blindly.
The secret here to watch out is if UK decides to join the euro which is imminent ,we are already half there, and whichever party comes into power will take us there, they are quiet about it cause they know the public is anti, if this happens the sentiments of losing the POUND and the uncertainty will DOUBLE the property prices if not tripple from current prices. Now, this is debatable....LOL.
Cheap euro mortgage,low interest on savings on euro, london capital of euro economy etc etc, who wants to debate??lol.....:emsmiled:

suniil · Post by **suniil** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 10:26 am

Lot of my US friends (who settled in UK) says they are planning to relocate to US, as this the lifetime opportunity to encash their savings (2:1 value of ££ & property value)

punjabi · Post by **punjabi** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 1:33 pm

HAKUNAMATATA
very usefull and nicely put post
I have been thinking of buying since the last 3-4 years
Not sure I will buy at todays prices,
damn those newspapers who have been predicting a crash since 4-5 years
btw I have sent you a PM , could you reply please