I need cheering up

[nohouseyet]

FTB here, I have been trying to buy a house since May and the latest (third in a row) has just fallen through after a bad survey.
Hearing on the news that interest rates are going up makes me so down as I will likely miss out on houses now because I won’t be able to afford to borrow as much. Feel like I’ve missed my chance.

Are there any positives to this situation at all? Any silver linings? I just feel properly fed up.

Sorry I should have said rates are “likely to go up soon” - haven’t actually gone up yet.

anyone?

I guess this might be one of those situations that is just a bit shit and you have to suck it up.

Hey there, it is absolutely rubbish - sorry for you OP. You will get there. Don't worry about rates going up, if they do it will only be a minor tweak. They are at historically low levels so now is still a good time to buy.

I've been trying to sell my flat since April with no luck. We're stuck in it with 2 kids and no garden and have enough money saved to make the break to a house but we just can't shift our flat. We're trying again in January. It's so disheartening isn't it.

Keep plodding on. Who knows, the next place you find might be your dream home and you'd have never seen it if the previous places had gone through.

It’s tricky but interest rates have been at abnormally low levels for a long time now. The long term norm is around 6%. It would always correct eventually

How bad is bad?
My survey showed up a fair bit of work to do but I bought anyway and planned to do the work. Spent about £5500 so far on roof and frontage.
I mean if it's falling down then don't buy but buying with the view to doing work isn't the worst thing.

We need to remortgage very soon so I’m keeping an eye on rates, yes, they’ve gone up since September but they are still lower than the one we’ve got 3 years ago, and we’ve got good rates due to good deposit.
I think lack of houses is a bigger problem. You have to be very prepared and act quickly to get something decent. We’ve missed out on a lot of houses at the very beginning because we needed sometime to think whereas other people were able to make an offer at the very first viewing.

I just wanted to let you know that you're not alone. Also FTBs and also have been looking since May. Worried about interest rates too.

We've not got as far as having a sale fall through as we keep getting outbid. Thoroughly fed up with best and finals, I cried my eyes out this week.

Our budget is rubbish - I was made redundant last year and although I've been self employed since and actually earning more than I did pre pandemic, they won't take it into account yet obviously.

I think we just need to try our best to keep positive and believe that our time will come. I hope you have success soon

You need 3 years of accounts normally when you are self employed. My DD had to wait for this. However you might be better off waiting. A further decent salary will make a difference. Big just to what you can borrow, but if you have more money in the meantime, try and save more.,

Years ago very few of our friends bought a house on their own! Most had a partner. It makes a massive difference. So even years ago many single people struggled!

If interest rates go up, you may not be able to borrow as much, but that will affect other people too, so sometimes- I hasten to add only sometimes- high interest rates can help keep prices down, or even reduce them.
The difference in the current market is there seem to be more people buying without a loan, like downsizers, inheritors, and people moving from expensive places like cities to cheaper ones.

I hope you find something. It sounds like you are due some better luck.

Have you had three that have fallen through due to survey? I’m not trying to be a dick but I do think a lot of people panic about the arsecovering that’s done in home buyers? How bad is bad? Even new builds will have snagging. There’s no such thing as a perfect survey.

Depends on what has cropped up in the survey ? No survey will be clean there are always things that need to be addressed with any property , sorry to sound harsh but FTB in my experience are easily frightened and quick to scurry away when often there is little that needs doing imminently, perhaps you can tell up what cropped up ?

Thanks everyone. Well, quite a lot came up on the survey, sadly.
It’s an old victorian terrace, and the old man who lived there hadn’t done anything to maintain it since the 90s at least and maybe earlier. He had dementia and moved into a care home last year.

It was top of my budget, maximum mortgage term, with 10% deposit. If there was nothing much wrong with it, I was hoping to save to put in a new bathroom and bedroom over the first 5 years and just keep on top of everything maintenance wise.

But, the survey showed there is a plant growing out if the chimney and the roof will need re-doing soon (no underfelting and there is daylight showing through broken tiles). Damp (rising - yes I know it’s a ‘myth’ but another expense to investigate and fix), scary things about how damp can cause timbers to rot (even though he didn’t actually inspect the timbers), wood boring insects in various places, loads of wall repairs and lime repointing needed, a retaining garden wall that needs rebuilding so as not to be a risk to passers by. And loads of other things like needing new gutters, new windows, new doors - just a huge long list of things.
Much as I love the house I could just tell it was going to eat up every penny I save, for the forseeable, and I would probably grow to resent it eventually.

Maybe these are the sorts of things to be expected in old houses, and I was naive in offering on it when I didn’t have a realistic idea if what renovations would cost.

@nohouseyet

Sorry I should have said rates are “likely to go up soon” - haven’t actually gone up yet.

The silver lining is that rates going up are positive for buyers as it leads to lower prices.

You're right to pass on it. I live in a Victorian terrace that was pretty good nick when i bought it structurally and it still took thousands to make it liveable with new bathroom, damp proofing, and windows let alone redecorating. I wouldn't have gone ahead if anything structural needed doing like the garden wall. The right place is out there for you!