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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To not understand Location Location Location?

81 replies

Edgarj7674 · 15/02/2017 20:37

Just sitting watching this with my wife. Can someone help me out with it? Are the "rules" for getting a mortgage different in London than the rest of the country? I see what appear to be relatively normal young couples with relatively normal jobs looking at houses that are 500k plus. How are they making these mortgages affordable?

OP posts:

Viviennemary · 15/02/2017 22:11

I wonder the same sometimes when I watch this type of property programmes. They will be taking out huge mortgages and then there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth when the property prices stagnate or shock horror go down. And interest rates go up.

thenightsky · 15/02/2017 22:25

What annoys me is when Kirsty or Phil airily announce that a house is £20k 'under budget' and then say 'so that leave you lots of money left over to 'knock down walls/refit kitchen yada-yada'.

No it bloody doesn't... the building society will only give you want they value the house at... not the max you want to borrow FFS!

This came as a shock to DD and her DP last month when the applied for a mortgage and thought they'd just say what they wanted to borrow. I did warn them that the building society would likely undervalue (which it did by 3k).

I think LLL actually gives a false impression.

PageStillNotFound404 · 15/02/2017 22:32

Oh yes thenightsky, that winds me up too! I have been known to shout as much at Kirsty or Phil

thenewaveragebear1983 · 15/02/2017 22:35

I don't get how they can be searching for months and months and not found anything, then look round 3 with K&P and always offer on one of them.

I'm bored of the show now after a million series of the same thing week after week.

theothercatpurred · 15/02/2017 22:37

Lots of the London people will have considerable equity.

I bought my first flat in London in my mid 20s. I was earning £16k and my parents acted as guarantor. It cost £105.

Now I'm in my early 40s, that same flat is worth approaching £400k. So if I was in a position to sell it I'd have over £300k deposit (including money paid off). If I was on location location I could easily get a £200k mortgage if myself and my partner had jobs with a decent London salary.

Sadly however in reality I sold it when it had "only" doubled in value and moved out of London so I don't have £300k to play with. Hey ho!

thenewaveragebear1983 · 15/02/2017 22:39

And I agree with the pp- that's 20k under budget so leaves lots for renovations - no it doesn't it might mean you save a bit on your deposit but if you're putting 10% down then buying a house for 20k less only really gives you a percentage of that as 'money left for renovations' which doesn't go far in kitchens and bathrooms and knocking down walls....

MrsPeasbody · 15/02/2017 22:39

What annoyed me was 'oh, it's an induction hob? A ceramic hob would be a no, but induction is fine.'. it costs, what, £100 to change your hob?

Motherofhowmany · 15/02/2017 22:46

gallivanting yes five times your earnings is pretty standard. Me and dp earn 27k each and can borrow up to 250k for our first home with a five percent deposit.

thenightsky · 15/02/2017 22:46

ahaha yes peas I shouted that at the screen too

Chickiwick · 15/02/2017 22:57

Gallivanting - how's that not true? We've been offered £390k which is 4.9 x combined earnings and credit card debt too.

CherryChasingDotMuncher · 15/02/2017 23:08

I watch LLL just to shout at the telly really, usually "how fucking much!!"

Another one up North, our house cost £210k, it's a 4-bed new build in a village with a conservatory and 3 bathrooms. In some parts of London that wouldn't even buy you a bedsit (but yes I get it's London but the house prices are totally insane).

I also get frustrated at couples who say "we want to buy in London in zone 1, preferably 2 bed with outdoor space and our budget is £150k" and the youngsters usually want "entertaining space" - whatever the hell that is!

I also wonder if the buyers want to slap Kirsty and Phil when they take them to a property and say "now it is £20k over budget but I think it's worth it". Do people really just have a spare few thousand to pull out their arse?! I know when we were looking we stuck to a budget and I'd have been mightily pissed off if that estate agents suggested something we blatantly couldn't afford

AbernathysFringe · 15/02/2017 23:09

Ah, the 'smug bastards' programme.

mummytime · 15/02/2017 23:15

Where I live I am shocked that "relatively young" couples manage to buy on our road of "family" homes, but costing about 1M; but I think a lot have family help in some way or are on seriously high wages. Only a few years ago those on the really high wages could have afforded big houses on the "best" roads.
On the other hand they have just built some flat nearby and they cost £450K for a 1 bed flat. We would struggle to afford that on DH's present salary - and they will probably be bought by investors.

AbernathysFringe · 15/02/2017 23:16

My mind also boggles over the very very boring, 50 somethings buying amazing places to retire to in exotic locations. I just think, well that's ruined the mystique of xyz island, imagining Roy and Barb sitting by their infinity pool and rooftop barbeque. Never need to go there.

TinfoilHattie · 15/02/2017 23:20

Love Kirstie and Phil and particularly enjoy the episodes where a couple are looking for a mansion with a pool and a helipad on the roof for £50k in Central London and are not prepared to compromise. I swear Kirstie is going to thump someone one of these days.

As for affording it - the couple tonight with the smaller budget had saved a 15% deposit so around £45k of their £300k total. Mortgage of £255k, two people working full time on £30k salaries - very achievable. The other couple who were a little older (the American woman) had been working abroad, possibly renting cheaply and saving every penny. Or inherited money. Or perhaps they had won the lottery. I don't really waste time wondering about other people's finances.

HopefulHamster · 15/02/2017 23:23

I know the areas in tonight's show well, having lived in two of them. The wanna-live-in-Hertford couple annoyed me. You cannot buy a 'big' house there for the money they were looking at and yet they seemed so annoyed everywhere was 'small'. Look somewhere else! Hertford and Letchworth were both featured and very close, both commute into London, they could've bought a four-bed house in Letchworth for the price of the Hertford tinies.

They hardly ever want to compromise on this show. And they have huge budgets. Enraging.

I did like the other couple though.

ElspethFlashman · 15/02/2017 23:25

Oh god yes. The 200k couples are the worst.

"We'd really like three bedrooms, open plan, doesn't need any work done, decent garden, near a good school, not on a busy road, close to amenities and no more than a 40 min commute"

Kristie miraculously manages to find one, then "It hasn't got the character we were after"

Aaaarrgggh!

neveradullmoment99 · 15/02/2017 23:29

I think its fake. Made for telly.

DesolateWaist · 15/02/2017 23:35

I think its fake. Made for telly.

I know someone who was on it. Totally not made up.

I hear you though op. I do wonder if the young couples are taking out 30/35 year mortgages.

MaryPoppinsPenguins · 15/02/2017 23:41

The 'this is 50k under budget, leaving you more than enough for the renovations' winds me up the most. !!!

I think a lot of people I know in early 30's are buying around that price.. I'm 34 (but a SAHM) and my DH & I are currently buying at almost 600 for a tiny 3 bed in Surrey.... (but I guess that's why they call it Location, Location, Location)

PickledCauliflower · 15/02/2017 23:42

This tv show gets up my nose.

Why would you need Kirsty and Phil to find you a house you like? You would just google various online estate agents and views the ones you like the look of - until you find the one that suits you.
Not pick one out of three or four that they choose.
Bonkers fake tv rubbish.

MrsMcMoo · 16/02/2017 00:02

We live in london. We have a £900k mortgage. I kid you not. I felt sick just typing that actually.

DesolateWaist · 16/02/2017 00:13

When I bought my first house with DH 15 years ago it cost £85k, and that was the most we could afford.
Our house now is £165k 4 years ago, and we are both teachers with no children!!

BabychamSocialist · 16/02/2017 00:23

I love any property programme like this but Location, Location, Grand Designs and Homes Under the Hammer are the absolute Gods of this department.

When I was on maternity leave I was addicted to them. Kirstie has some kind of absolute hatred of internal walls. I'm pretty sure her ideal home would be some huge warehouse with no walls at all.

BabychamSocialist · 16/02/2017 00:28

Every Location, Location, Location episode summed up:

"Atticus and Leonora run an artisanal bakery in Shoreditch and have a budget of £1.4million and are looking for a three bedroom house that is away from the city but close to a tube station in an area with a village vibe but also nightlife. They would also like to not be too far away from Leonora's parents who live in Edinburgh, but would like to be within an hour's commute of London. They're looking for a house with lots of character and charm but would like something that has been recently renovated to a high standard."

Sorry, I've just realised the program actually infuriates me.

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