Buyers asking for £60k off just before exchange

[Loobydoobies]

Just as the header says. Suddenly wrote us a long letter ranting about interest rates etc, and asking for a huge discount.

We live in an area where property is scarce and holding its value ATM due to that. Told agent to tell them where to go. I am furious as we will lose our dream home.

@CrashyTime

I watched that Panorama programme Crashy is referring to. The people that seemed the worst off on it were the renters.

The female renter made the same point - that they have it worse than the homeowners who have more options when struggling to pay a higher rate.

@Twiglets1 unfortunately crashy isn't engaging with any facts that state anything other than what they believe. I also saw that Panorama and had the same impression.

Can you outline some of the options you know about? The only ones I really know about are extending the term and being in debt for longer, or like one lady in the piece start getting extra jobs and keep those much larger monthly payments hitting the account, the renter can walk away from her flat, you cant walk away from a mortgage debt, but I love hearing all the ways that people are trying to spin sub 1% to pushing 6% as not really a problem, it is fascinating to watch.

A lot of people watching that programme are just going to forget about getting a mortgage until prices collapse, who wants to go from 750 p.m housing costs to 2k plus per month like the first couple in the piece? Or they will be asking for good discounts from their seller so the debt is more manageable.

You were saying houses are selling like cakes where you are though…. Literally few days ago lol

Exactly.

Not sure where renters can 'walk away' to? Another rental?

At least with a purchase there are many options available.

I'd rather have a secured debt of a mortgage than the insecurity of a rental.

If only it was as simple as the family in the programme you referenced (Panorama) just walking away from their home. Did you not notice how devastated she was?

She sounded almost bitter about how easy homeowners have it by comparison. Understandable in the circumstances but if you were paying attention, she listed several things homeowners could do that she could not. And yes, extending the term, taking a lodger, going interest only or taking on extra jobs seemed preferable to her than being turfed out at short notice because the landlord had decided to sell up or push them out to put the rent up.

You say house prices are holding well in your area. Where are you getting this info from as the LR would be the only true accurate measure and this is at least 6-12 months behind.

😂

How much had her rent gone up by?

The current average asking price of a typical first-time buyer property is £225,244. Based on that, the average monthly mortgage payment for a first-time buyer taking out an average five-year fixed, 85% LTV mortgage, is now £1,185 per month if repaying over 25 years.

The average rent price in the UK for September 2023 is £1,276. Excluding London, the UK average is now £1,061.*

So average mortgage: £1185
And average rent: £1276

With added security, more options and a terribly unregulated rental market, it makes much more sense to buy.

Posters that view a mortgage as a pure debt are not seeing the bigger picture. But that's fine, some people prefer to rent and don't want the responsibility of a house.

I bought as soon as I could (thank goodness) as I wanted my own home.

Why are mortgage applications down 40% if that is the case?

Can’t remember but you watched it too

Her rent hadn't gone up, the landlord decided to sell the property

Ok - she was devastated whatever the reason for her family having to leave the house. And expressed the opinion that homeowners have it easier despite the rises in interest rates.

@CrashyTime I agree with a lot of what you say (although I do think you refuse to believe it's different in any area of the country where the drop might be more/less than average) but your comments about renters are bang out of order and you're coming across blood rude and insensitive or just honestly ill informed.
The rental market is brutal. I work in housing support and so many families are absolutely desperate and miserable. They are turfed out when unable to pay hiked rents and often cannot afford anything new. It's almost impossible if you have kids or pets without 2 x decent salaries.
It's not a competition about who has it worse but making out renting is some breezy flexible ideal is just daft!

Just a reminder that Crashy has been pedalling this particular agenda over on the MSE forums for nigh on ten years now. They laughed at them and soundly ignored them there too, which is probably why they came over here.
Yet another shining reason why this forum needs block features.

They're banned there now, hence being here.

If only they'd ignored their own advice and bought 10 years ago, I think they'd have a very different viewpoint now...

I'm not MSE admin, I don't know.

I do know they spout a lot of inaccurate information here and seem to have an agenda for fear mongering. And their keyboard is weird.