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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:
Original poster
Rainbowhairdontcare · 08/08/2019 17:54

Yes , this is the best mortgage advisor of several mortgage advisors... New builds are £350! No way we can afford those.

OP posts:
IvanaPee · 08/08/2019 18:01

Just remember that someone could accept an offer of £205k!

But the stepson issue might be a problem and needs to be looked at. It’s just unreasonable for him to dictate who gets what room!

FuckAPotNoodle · 08/08/2019 19:14

Which part of the world are you looking?

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

General money
Original poster
Rainbowhairdontcare · 08/08/2019 19:21

Cornwall, which I know it's expensive in itself.

OP posts:
BarbaraofSeville · 08/08/2019 19:22

Yes, why is your cousin wanting to charge such a high rate?

5% would be generous currently as far higher than they could get in savings and you could get a loan for less than that if your credit rating is decent although I wouldn't bank on it as banks sometimes make what seems like weird decisions especially if they see 'new mortgage followed by a loan' as a negative although it's probably quite common to pay for improvements to a new home.

FuckAPotNoodle · 08/08/2019 19:25

What about shared ownership?

Wigeon Road, Bude
www.rightmove.co.uk/new-homes-for-sale/property-63615342.html

reefedsail · 08/08/2019 19:31

There are currently 89 properties in Cornwall with 4+ bedrooms for under £220k listed on Rightmove.

Are you tied to a particular area?

lornz · 08/08/2019 19:35

We're finding there is very little on the market at the moment :( which is frustrating. We have a budget up to £250k first time buyers and zero houses which tick the box atm. Sorry no words of wisdom just someone feeling the same.

PickAChew · 08/08/2019 19:36

DSS can have a room to himself, when he visits, when he can pay for it himself! If you can't afford the 4 bedroom house that would require, assuming the girls don't want to share with a baby, who won't stay a baby for very long, either, you can't afford it.

Worth looking at houses with some flexibility downstairs so a room can be separated off, with a decent sofa bed in. A lot of terraced houses with the traditional 2 reception rooms and a kitchen off the back would allow this.

Original poster
Rainbowhairdontcare · 08/08/2019 20:02

@BarbaraofSeville that's his rate. His words were "you're better of saving up more because those are my rates". He's US based so I'm guessing it's more competitive for the American market.

@FuckAPotNoodle shared ownership could be an option if there were any available where we need them to be.

@reefedsail because of school and work were tied to Truro-Falmouth.

@lornz well there's two of us now!

@PickAChew that's what we're looking for, but not that many ATM.

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BarbaraofSeville · 08/08/2019 20:12

Is he a loan shark? Google suggests that US mortgage rates are similar to here.

I wouldn't touch that with a barge pole as you have the risk of currency movements on top of the shitty interest rate. If the pound weakened further it would get even more expensive.

Original poster
Rainbowhairdontcare · 08/08/2019 20:21

As far as I can tell he is indeed. Unfortunately without that money we can't buy much unless we move further away/undesirable areas or live in a 3 bed for the next 3 years.

It has its good things though, we'd get to save £400 a month because it's cheaper than renting but that's where it ends.

We'd pay him as soon as we can get a personal loan with a 2.6% rate.

My mother who's helping a bit (by 5k) has a million issues with the house being less than perfect. She's is my mum of course, but hearing how much my exH stole from me, how my current one impoverished me or how my stepchildren should share instead of my DD are never a pleasant conversatios to have.

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IvanaPee · 08/08/2019 20:25

@Rainbowhairdontcare there are a few nice ones for your price range!!

Original poster
Rainbowhairdontcare · 08/08/2019 20:39

This is our favourite so far (of the smaller ones)
www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/52189553?utm_source=v1:5bWFDybfWx7C7AGpeagt7mP3PgcqjuqJ&utm_medium=api

Unfortunately anything in Redruth, Camborne or Helston are no gos

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PickAChew · 08/08/2019 21:12

I was wondering what the problem with this one was, then looked at street view. Not the tidiest area! www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/fullscreen/view-streetview.html?propertyId=69124438

Original poster
Rainbowhairdontcare · 08/08/2019 21:17

The area isn't that bad! But the house is an utter mess... Needs new kitchen and plastering around some bits. No room for extension either. I've viewed it twice thinking it could be doable, then DH said it was a tip!

OP posts:
timshelthechoice · 08/08/2019 21:23

Sounds like you cannot afford a house that suits your DH and you have a lot of children. I think the cousin is just a no go. You need to find somewhere else to borrow money from.

Passthecherrycoke · 08/08/2019 21:28

You don’t need to prove where the gifted money came from as someone said above, you just need a letter from the person gifting it. Easy peasy.

However I can’t think of anyway you can get a personal loan for the deposit. The mortgage company won’t allow that. I’m assuming the deposit is what’s restricting you?

ChicCroissant · 08/08/2019 21:36

I think you will need to prove where the gifted money came from, they ask for statements - we had to show all kinds of proof, the paperwork required was staggering although the fact that part of our deposit was an inheritance that DH was the executor for didn't help!

MrsMoastyToasty · 08/08/2019 21:50

Have you thought of extending the term of the mortgage to keep the repayments lower? Say over 30 or 35 years.
Then a few years down the line, renegotiate your mortgage.

We had a 25 year mortgage. Moved after 9 years and extended the term up to 20 years to do so. Extended the house 5 years later and borrowed an additional sum and increased the term back to 20 years. Our financial situation has improved significantly in recent years and we brought the term back to 16, then 12 and now 6 years. We are mortgage tarts!

Original poster
Rainbowhairdontcare · 08/08/2019 23:13

I'm not getting a personal loan for the deposit. I have a deposit of 20k (which comes from the charge on my ex family home). What we'd need on top (anything between 10-15k) is what I'd ask my cousin to lend to me, and once the house is bought get a personal loan to pay him back.

We can afford one on our own for up to £205k.

@EvePolastrisFace Perranporth is too far away for the school run and the other house has tenants in, so definitely a no-go.

My DH is adamant that most kids should have their own room (girls still sharing). His newest idea is to turn the lounge (a tiny one) into a diner-lounge. Something I'm not happy with as I sometimes work from home and would like to start my PhD in the next few years, so I'd rather have my own desk space.

@MrsMoastyToasty whatever we get, we'll look into overpaying to reduce the term.

I'll also eventually inherit £350k but that will be in 10-15 years.

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lastqueenofscotland · 08/08/2019 23:19

You need to compromise on location or size. Simple as.

PickAChew · 09/08/2019 00:12

The kids will be grown up by the time you inherit!

Original poster
Rainbowhairdontcare · 09/08/2019 05:46

I know the inheritance has no role in the house we buy, it only means we'll be mortgage free in 10 years.

DH is going on about how we have to move further away. Which we might have to, poor baby eventually he'll have days of spending at least two hours in a car.

But the whole idea of the living space being cramped beyond belief just for the sake of children that don't live with us FT seems a bit bonkers too. He just goes on about the cost of extending, but we won't have to extend until three years from now, by then our circumstances would have changed, not enough to simply move out and buy another house, but definitely good enough to absorb the extension cost. Especially if we're able to save £500 a month.

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