Moving house

[blackrat]

Keeping as much money as we can to leave for our kids is how we were brought up. I want to do it for mine. It will likely only go half as far by the time we die, so every little helps. The cavern between average pay and average house price is ever widening. I'd rather help them out than give it away, unless of course they're filthy rich which I doubt they will be!

Frankly, I am overwhelmed at the cost of housing in Britain today. When I bought my first house - actually a maisonette - in Bromley it was about two and half - to three times my salary and very manageable. I just cannot imagine how people can afford housing in Britain any more with current prices. I see common place terrace housing going for 800,000 pounds in nice towns, how can that be? What the hell has gone wrong.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

A bit of a burden for you then. Sorry about that. We should all be able to enjoy our later lives without having to concern ourselves with or worry about the children. All in a prefect world.

You are being over-assumptive there.

It's not a burden at all. We are a million miles away from being hard up, quite the opposite, in fact.

 

[midlandsgrimpeur]

Around here, all that kind of title work is done by title companies and there are lots of them. You buy a house and get a title to it. If you have a mortgage the mortgage company is on the title. You pay off the mortgage and then you are the only name on the title. Transferring the title on sale to a buyer is a simple process. Once the sale is agreed, the title company draws up the paperwork, the buyer and seller meet at the title company, sign papers and money is transferred instantly.

Sounds like a much more straightforward approach.

 

[midlandsgrimpeur]

Frankly, I am overwhelmed at the cost of housing in Britain today. When I bought my first house - actually a maisonette - in Bromley it was about two and half - to three times my salary and very manageable. I just cannot imagine how people can afford housing in Britain any more with current prices. I see common place terrace housing going for 800,000 pounds in nice towns, how can that be? What the hell has gone wrong.

This used to be a big point of debate on the old BIke Radar forum. The general consensus is usually huge demand versus limited supply and nowhere near enough new housing stock. I think an equally big problem is years of people overpaying for good areas and the trickle down effect of forcing up prices elsewhere as people get priced out of one place and look for another.

I am not being critical of it, but parents/family stumping up deposits has also skewed the market for first time buyers. If you don't have a 15-20% deposit now, you are very unlikely to buy a house.

 

[blackrat]

You are being over-assumptive there.

It's not a burden at all. We are a million miles away from being hard up, quite the opposite, in fact.

 

[rogerzilla]

We're actually paying £49,000 in stamp duty because we can't quite synchronise our two sales, so my SO will be a second home owner for all of three days. But we get to claim back £29,500 of it. Silly that they don't give a month's grace or something, as we may well be claiming the refund before HMRC has even received it from our solicitor.