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Original poster

Why is finding a house so hard?

52 replies

Rainbowhairdontcare · 08/08/2019 13:30

We're trying to find a house we can afford. It looks like without struggling too much we can afford a £205k one.

The problem is that we haven't been able to find one for that price.

Most are three bedrooms with two being a good size and the 3rd one being the size of a shoebox.

We have 4 DC. (11 DS, 9DD, 7DD, and a newborn). The three older children only live with us 50% of the time but obviously they need a room and not a bed in the living room.

Mortgage payment is not a struggle at all it is substantially lower than rent.

Houses that will work for us are between 15 and 20k on top.

My cousin is willing to lend me some money but at an eye watering APR. (14%)

Our plan is to get approved for a mortgage and then ask for a personal loan with a much lower APR.

Our take-home income is of about £2800 and the mortgage with the loan on top would be below £950.

Our current rent is that and we really need a bigger house, particularly because I work from home at times giving language lessons and I have zero privacy.

OP posts:
stoplickingthetelly · 08/08/2019 14:24

Where about are you looking? Could you maybe widen your search area? You are asking quite a lot for 205K. I’m in the north so considered cheaper than the south, but even near me you wouldn’t get a 4 bed for your budget. Could you perhaps live with a smaller house in the short term and find something you could extend?

Original poster
Rainbowhairdontcare · 08/08/2019 14:28

Originally we were looking for places that we could extend. I don't think it's that hard, but my DH thinks that it's near impossible or.too expensive if on a hill (the vast majority of houses are this way).

We know that for that budget we wouldn't be able to get a 4 bed, but even a 3 bed with possible extension comes at about 215k (and DH is quite pessimist about this).

We could live in a 3 bed for maybe three years, but just the costs of selling and buying again makes me think it's not worth it. (Plus the baby would have to sleep with us that long).

OP posts:
KurriKawari · 08/08/2019 14:31

Get all your paperwork and mortgage in place, so when you see a house you like you're in a good position. It took me almost a year to find the right house.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

General money
Original poster
Rainbowhairdontcare · 08/08/2019 14:43

Yes, we have everything ready to trigger. It's just getting that extra loan from family or not that's making us hesitate.

OP posts:
TyrionsNextWife · 08/08/2019 14:50

Just remember that any loans might affect your affordability scoring and could mean you’ll get a lower mortgage offer.

Original poster
Rainbowhairdontcare · 08/08/2019 14:57

Yes, we'd only get a loan after we bought the house. So then I can pay my cousin back and keep it at a much lower APR.

OP posts:
TyrionsNextWife · 08/08/2019 17:13

If you use you money from your cousin to help fund the house purchase, then they would either have to gift it to you (and sign paperwork stating that they don’t want it paid back) or it would be classed as a loan the same as if it came from a bank.

Original poster
Rainbowhairdontcare · 08/08/2019 17:24

Yes, I have two ways to solve that. My exH will write a letter saying that he'll give me the full amount on the charge on the house (30k). He won't/can't but that's a different matter. Then my cousin or mom will write a letter saying the rest is a gift (it's coming from overseas so it should be ok).

OP posts:
daisypond · 08/08/2019 17:25

You need to be able to prove where the money comes from to buy the house. How will you explain the cousin’s money? If it is a loan, you need to say so.

daisypond · 08/08/2019 17:28

And have you thought about tax? You are taxed on gifts.

Original poster
Rainbowhairdontcare · 08/08/2019 17:30

Crosspost

OP posts:
idril · 08/08/2019 17:34

Are you looking at asking prices? In the current market, I think it would be possible to get a £225k house for £205k if you are first time buyers/not in a chain.

SweetMelodies · 08/08/2019 17:39

I was never taxed on the gift portion I was given for my house deposit? I know you can be in certain circumstances but generally not.

OP I get what you mean about 3 bed houses- we also found this when viewing properties, sometimes the third ‘bedroom’ couldn’t even fit a bed inside :/

Some smaller bedrooms could still work though as a shared room if done right. Have you looked about on Pinterest for inspiration on shared bedroom solutions and utilising space?

I’ve also found in my area that town houses are similarly priced to the other three beds and generally have 3 really good sized bedrooms, although often at the expense of downstairs living space so depends what you want to prioritise.

Have you looked into schemes such as shared ownership or help to buy? We had a very positive experience of shared ownership. Very affordable every month and allowed us to live in a bigger house that suited our needs. We also had the option to buy it outright once we were in a better position. We had no issues reselling and moving when the time came.

SweetMelodies · 08/08/2019 17:40

Oh and yes often a lot of properties go for less than what they’re advertised at. You would likely get one of the properties for a lower price.

Original poster
Rainbowhairdontcare · 08/08/2019 17:41

Yes, I'm considering they'll lower the price. I think most asking prices (for what we can actually use) is anything between 215 and 235. I know both houses at 215 went for the asking price.

And whoever asked about being taxed on gifts, I don't think that's the case:www.accountingweb.co.uk/any-answers/cash-gift-from-abroad-to-uk-resident

OP posts:
BendydickCuminsnatch · 08/08/2019 17:43

Mortgage payment is not a struggle at all it is substantially lower than rent.

Why not raise your budget then?

Can you move to a cheaper area? We have 2 young boys in a 3 bed (2 doubles and a box room) and can’t imagine anyone else, we need to move as we feel cramped as it is!

Good luck with your search!

IvanaPee · 08/08/2019 17:44

And you can’t get a higher amount in the mortgage?

Original poster
Rainbowhairdontcare · 08/08/2019 17:44

@SweetMelodies we've looked into shared ownership and most of them are two beds, with a few exceptions of 3 beds. Also, most of them with the rent they charge and the mortgage on top ends up being very similar to our current rent for the same amount of rooms.

Sharing is an option but DSS has said that he'll never share the room with the baby.

I don't qualify for help to buy because technically this is my 3rd house.

OP posts:
IvanaPee · 08/08/2019 17:45

Sharing is an option but DSS has said that he'll never share the room with the baby.

He will if he doesn’t have a choice. Assuming baby is a boy?

Original poster
Rainbowhairdontcare · 08/08/2019 17:45

No, we can't get a higher mortgage due to our base salaries. What they offer is given what the affordability calculator says we can afford. If computer says no, computer says no!

OP posts:
Original poster
Rainbowhairdontcare · 08/08/2019 17:47

Unfortunately my DH is very insecure about his son. He's stopped seeing him for some time at times, so I know that going against my DSS will is not an option.

OP posts:
Pipandmum · 08/08/2019 17:47

Why is your cousin charging such an high rate? I borrowed from my sisters and we drew up a proper agreement but I was just charged base rate. They wanted to help but we wanted it to be all legit and that’s what the lawyer recommended.
If you do borrow make sure it’s all legal but I’d really hesitate borrowing from someone who seems more interested in profit than helping you.

BasinHaircut · 08/08/2019 17:48

Sell one do the other houses then?

BasinHaircut · 08/08/2019 17:48

*of

SweetMelodies · 08/08/2019 17:50

Help to buy isn’t just open to FTBs on a lot of the new build estates so worth looking into?

Have you got a mortgage AIP? We went round a few brokers for an initial consultation- 2 brokers reckoned our absolute maximum limit would be 145k however a third broker managed to find us a mortgage for 165k with no problems at all even with my husbands income consisting of bonuses and my contract being zero hours.