Countdown to Christmas 2020 (thread 9): Vibrating beds and tiny choppers!

[NoWordForFluffy]

Here we go. We're still a chatty bunch. We're going to knock any previous thread count into a cocked hat!

Go, go, go...

How long is the mortgage fixed for, Crazy? And is it affordable? I would probably go for it, as long as I could escape it within 2-3 years. Hopefully you can then benefit from an increase in house prices / the amount you'll have paid so you can then remortgage with a lower LTV.

Crazy with your DH being a teacher and a key worker can you get on the ladder by having a local housing association house that is shared equity? There are schemes all over Wales , first time buyers & key workers are first in the queue. It's a bit of a palavar to understand but that won't be a problem for you l know 🤗. The Welsh Govt is doing all it can to help first timers get on the ladder. House builders have to provide so many houses per site for this and DD2 house is exactly the same build as the private ones just she only pays for 65% of the equity . She can buy the 35% off them if she wants to after 3 years it's called stepping. She isn't interested in doing that though because what is the point in effect she is renting a third of the house for nothing and she would be insane to buy it.

Crazy don't watch that one. That was useless. You need this .

I don't like JO. I just find him too arrogant. I don watch his Christmas episodes though.

Biddy what's the podcast? Lucy Worsley has a show last year about the history of the Christmas carol. Very interesting.

She's paying 127k towards a new build of 195k. They have other schemes there with a third rent and you pay 200£ rent and your mortgage of 144k for 70% ofa 3 bed semi you can buy the third after 3 years of you want to. It's a faff but l did so much work for it. We saw hundreds of houses online over 8 months and about 10 in RL . When we saw this one we just knew .

Fluffy Mortgage is fixed for 2 years. We can afford it but it just makes things a bit tight (I think this may be me worrying more than I need to as we used to live with a much tighter budget but it's been nice having the extra money for the last year).

Our aim is to buy the worst house on the nicest street - we're looking at buying near the top of our budget to get in a nicer area but buy a house that needs some work / updating so we can add value that way, without it costing too much as my lovely dad has already said he'll use his trade discounts / contacts to get materials at cost price and will do lots of the work for us / call in some of the many favours he owed and all I need to do is pay him in coffee and roast dinners.

MrsMad we have looked at those schemes but the options are really limited in the areas we're looking at. If we wanted Newport or Cardiff it would be more of an option.

In all honesty I think we're going to have to take the plunge and just suck up the cost because the alternative is saving £150 per month but paying off someone else's mortgage by renting - and I really don't like my street / where we are. It's just a bit of a kick in the teeth to have paid off debts, increased credit score, saved like crazy, finally got where wanted only for Covid to mean we needed to find an extra 5% deposit and pay an extra £150 per month 🤬

I'm watching that Nigella one now Neros. Much more festive and (sorry) but nice for me to watch something Christmassy that isn't just about getting kids involved etc - it's a grown up Christmas. But (and I know I'm being horrible) the way she speaks irritates me but I'm not sure why.
Will still watch at least one JO Christmas special as per tradition in December though

Crazy it is very disappointing you now need to pay more, but hopefully you can get to reduce it in a few years time to a lower fixed rate. I would certainly go for buying now just in case the worst happens and things go up even more in the future.

Crazy we bought our first house in 1990 when interest rates were double digits (15% iirc) and there were no such things as fixed rate and fixed term mortgages. It was doable. You will benefit from any (not guaranteed) changes in interest rates eventually and you will be building up equity all the time plus if you are buying a house that needs work then you will be adding value.

Crazy One thing about higher interest rates is that, if rates lower and you have been managing the higher repayments, it is a great opportunity to keep the repayments at the higher rate and knock off more of the capital relatively early on, thus reducing the interest payable and the term of the mortgage, potentially by years. We did this in the crash of 2008, and just managed to keep the repayments at original level, and paid off the mortgage this year, 7 years early, as a result.

But that's only if the rules allow extra repayments and either rates drop in line with markets or (if fixed) you can renegotiate rates. (And it did mean that improvements we were planning were put on hold for a few more years until we had more certainty and savings built up again).

Neros ooh, I must see if Lucy Woolsey is available on our side of the border (youtube or similar - we can't get iplayer for tv, only radio). But the podcast I listen to is the Merry Little Podcast, through podcast app but also on their site My Merry Christmas - I have been looking at the site occasionally but listening a lot more frequently to the podcast for a few years now, as it can be quite interesting once you get past the Americanisms.

Worlsey - is she the historian who always has a single hair clip securing her bob in place, which always looks perfect?

Biddy that's the one

Ok, definitely need to go hunting then - she's always so interested and excited in her subjects, which then makes them interesting to me!

Catching up...
woolly it's out of stock everywhere local (within 100 miles tbh) inc B&Q/Wickes delivery.
Nero not sure "wacky fanny craddock" should be googled either 🤣🤣 I cannot stand JO either.
Crazy go for it. I really cannot see this govt stepping in. House prices have increased near us over the last few weeks (I get emails from Rightmove as I'm a nosey cow). Interest rates won't go down any time soon - they're already at an all time low. Mortage rates generally track them +3 to +5%. If in 2 yrs you find a better rate make sure you overpay - even by £50 a month. We did and it brings the term down quite quickly and gives you a cushion in case you need it for ill health or changing jobs/redundancy etc. Make sure you shop around for house insurance though - the mortgage comp always give you a £££ quote and you will get it a lot cheaper.

Oh, and no Range nearby, B&M say they stock it, but they don't- we've been to 2 different ones. I suspect we'll do it the same colour as the fence which is what I wanted to do initially but DH didnt🤷🏻‍♀️
Either that or I'm going to go wild and do it in dazzle pattern (pic attached) - black/grey and white 🤣🤣

I might need more than a couple of rolls of making tape for that...

My ex always said that he'd never tire of hitting Jamie Oliver's face with a spade! 🙈😂

fluffy count me in.

boots I am sure we have a load of masking tape in the shed, happy to send you some for that!

I would love to spade JO's face as well. Would be great. Boots that would be quite some project...

biddy thanks. why DH will probably paint it boring brown before I get the chance, but it would be fab to have something a little bit different that is almost undetectable by submarines one ping only 🤣🤣

If your fence is anywhere near a submarine, I think we're in really weather-based trouble, Boots!

We're safely home now! So far I've made a pot of tea and done an 'it'll do' clean of the kitchen, as I forgot to do it before we went away (it's done on a day between Fri-Sun normally). I now have to bloody iron some school shirts, FFS. Ironing!

15% woolly? 😱 If they were like that now we definitely wouldn't be able to afford it!

The good thing I think is that our jobs are as secure as they can be, mine comes with some bonuses and DH gets a good pay bump so things should ease up after the first year. It's just such a big thing - I look at it as taking on a house value worth of debt and it freaks me out.

I'm guessing I'm the only one on the thread with any love for JO then? He can be a bit much, and every now and then he says things that make me 🙄 but his recipes are usually good and I enjoy his shows - please don't kick me off the thread! 😂

You have my sympathy Fluffy. I avoid ironing like the plague but had to do jeans on Monday and I was irrationally annoyed by it

fluffy have you got an iron?

The board and iron both belonged to my dearly-departed gran who died in 2012. I brought them up here in 2008 when I moved here.

I last ironed (other than cross stitch-flattening) in December 2012, when I was pregnant with DD. I almost fainted (heat + low blood pressure from standing), so didn't bother again! 😂😂

I wouldn't blame the heat/bp - It must have been the ironing wot did it!🤣🤣