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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to tell my friend I think she's making a huge mistake buying an ex council studio flat for 200k on the outskirts of London at 35 when she doesn't earn much

183 replies

entiledornot · 14/02/2015 20:54

My friend is an estate agent in London. She's currently living in shared houses but wants to buy something. She's had her offer accepted for 200k on a small ex council studio. She has only ever seen house prices rise in her few years as an ea so she thinks this flat will be her way to a millionaire rather than somewhere to live. She only earns 20k and is making virtually no commission as the housing market is dead. Shes looking at it as an investment not a home and can only afford it as parents have given her 60k. If interest rates rise even a bit she will be screwed and she will be paying back for this tiny studio until she is in her mid 60s.it isn't in a great area, zone 3 20 min walk from any tube. Prices are already in a bubble and this could pop at anytime.

Should I just stay quiet or tell her my concerns?

OP posts:
Cantdecideondinner · 15/02/2015 10:31

Streathan us only going to go up price wise. With a £60k deposit I can't see her going into negative equity. If she has any sense she will hold on to it for 5 years, sell at a huge profit - and it will be a huge profit, and move to zone 4 or 5 which is still only 20 mins out of Central London

MonkeySeeMonkeyDooo · 15/02/2015 10:44

Friends of ours made over £100k on their Streatham flat. They've now moved away and bought a bigger house they never thought they'd be able to afford, very lucky!

Floisme · 15/02/2015 10:54

You do seem to have a colourful life, op but when you can't remember where you've lived for the last ten years, then I think it's time to slow down.

As for this problem, why not let your friend house-sit for you while you're working in Ecuador?

Greythorne · 15/02/2015 11:12

You can't spell Streatham but you think you should advise your friend on buying there?

fatherpeeweestairmaster · 15/02/2015 11:16

Given that you know all your friend's financial details, from her salary to her deposit to her mortgage deal, yet appear unaware of your own husband's wheeler-dealings, don't you think it might be better to turn your searching beam of forensic financial analysis closer to home?

another Biscuit. There certainly seem to be a lot of... unusual threads in AIBU at the moment.

ilovesooty · 15/02/2015 11:21

I don't know why the OP keeps name changing anyway. She's transparently the same person every time.

Pipbin · 15/02/2015 12:44

May be you should get your DH to get a mortgage on her behalf given than he seemed to be able to open a bank account in your name with just a photocopy of your driving licence.

Apatite1 · 15/02/2015 12:48

Fatherpeewee: that's made me lol. Beam of forensic analysis hahahah!

OP, judgemental much? Why did you buy a zone 2 house then?

firesidechat · 15/02/2015 14:43

I'm not sure she will find a lender who will offer her 7x her salary.

Quite. As I said earlier better arithmetic would have made for a more believable post.

FlabbyMummy · 15/02/2015 15:17

I think she is doing the right thing. She can get a 5 fixed mortgage currently too. £200K is a snip at london prices for zone 3.

Eltonjohnsflorist · 15/02/2015 15:38

I don't really see how this situation is worth trolling about. More likely the the OP doesn't know nearly as much as she thinks about her friends finances and is just a busybody?

ilovesooty · 15/02/2015 15:42

Judging by the OP's posts under her various names she just thinks that she knows best all the time. She always posts in AIBU and never accepts that she might be.

TheChandler · 15/02/2015 15:48

YABU. If she's an estate agent she will certainly have seen house prices fall recently (have you been living in a bubble?). You sound very naïve and possibly against home ownership. If she can get on the market near London for that price at that age, she is making a very good buy. And she's unlikely to be paying for that particular property into her sixties. You honestly don't come across as having a clue about the property market and macro-economics.

Blu · 15/02/2015 16:25

I think it's a reverse psychology thread to big up Streatham. The OP is probably a Streatham EA Grin

Jewels234 · 15/02/2015 16:29

My in laws keep insisting that the bubble is going to pop and houses will be at 20% of their value. They can't accept that there are no certainties in this life. You don't know what will happen. Be a friend and support her.

MonkeySeeMonkeyDooo · 15/02/2015 19:51

Probably works for Foxtons Blu Grin

shabbycaddy · 15/02/2015 22:29

Don't people feel something is wrong in the country where someone is paying £200,000 for a studio flat in london(I'm guessing it's going to be in a none so great area) and that person is in their mid thirties and can only do it from help from mum and dad? Kinda nearly think they could quite easily get that paying job outside London and get a decent house instead. Ah well she's an estate agent must know what she is doing, not like any estate agents from the last little blip in 2008 got burnt.....

Eltonjohnsflorist · 15/02/2015 22:32

I think the main thing wrong is her earning so little? (If true) maybe she's lazy

bamboostalks · 15/02/2015 22:35

Sarah Beaney lives in Barnes, quite a different prospect to Streatham.

ouryve · 15/02/2015 22:35

I'm sure she's absolutely naively waded into the purchase without the first clue what she's doing, OP Hmm

Devora · 15/02/2015 22:40

Lord yes, would rather live in a teeny bedsit than in a flatshare.

LalaLeona · 15/02/2015 22:47

This poster is clearly a troll or else completely deluded about the property market in london-I wouldn't bother giving her a proper reply!!

Blu · 15/02/2015 23:00

shabbycaddy - I think it is wrong that an ex-local authority flat is being sold for £200k, at a massive profit for someone, while people who should be able to get council accommodation at fair rents are pushed into private rental at hugely hiked rents.

The shortage of affordable council accommodation and the scooping up of new-build flats by landlord developers has as much to do with house prices at this end of the market as Russian oligarchs buying up all the Mayfair and Kensington properties.

shabbycaddy · 15/02/2015 23:02

Lol when the riots start in London it will the last place in the uk you will want to be anywhere near.

shabbycaddy · 15/02/2015 23:03

Blu very true