is anyone else in this position?

[branflake81]

Spent years and years saving for a house, finally managed to scrape together a deposit, get a mortgage and buy one this time last year. Now house prices are falling I wondered why I bothered!

In fact, I really dislike having a mortgage. We can make our repayments if we live modestly, which is fine, but there's no escaping the fact that renting would be a) cheaper and b) wouldn't have all the stress of having a big debt hanging in the air and markets moving out of our control.

I'm starting to feel scared by these doom and gloom stories.

Did you buy to stay in the house long-term, or more with the idea that it would appreciate quickly and you'd sell up?

If you were going for hte long-term you should be able to ride out any fluctuations in the market.

branflakes81, what sort of mortgage have you got? If it's a tracker or fixed, console yourself with the fact that your payments may well go down over the next few months or even couple of years. Not guaranteed as not all lenders are passing on rate cuts but your rent would only ever go up. I'm feeling much the same, tbh, as we bought at the top of the market and our mortgage payments are horrendous. Try and ignore all the horror stories because it shouldn't affect you too much as long as you're willing to stay put for a while.

Sorry, meant to say IF you're willing....

Well the house is completley not friendly for children (no garden, very, very steep stairs, tiny kitchen) it was meant to be a stop gap until we could afford something bigger. I suppose that's one of the things that annoys me, I'd love to have a real "family home" however I know lots of children grow up in some pretty horrible places in the world and I should be happy with what I've got.

Oh, I see.

Were you planning on having children when you bought the house?

Or did it just sort of happen?

Maybe sell up and move to another location where you can afford a more suitable home?

Branflake, don't be disheartened. If it's any consolation, most people's first property is often tiny and/or in a less desirable location than they would like.

In fact I hear friends complaining about not being able to get on the housing ladder, and what they are actually saying is that they aren't willing to make a) the financial sacrifice; or b) the lifestyle sacrifice. They could do it if they had your discipline.

Over the long term, property will always be a good invesment so you've done the right thing. As long as you can pay the mortgage and don't NEED to sell, you'll ride this thing out.

If you're on a fixed rate, then you have security. If you're on a tracker, some pundits are saying the rates could drop as low as 4% by the end of the year. It's 1st time buyers who, unlike you, didn't manage to buy last year who are in trouble.

I live in Edinburgh and believe me there are people who genuinely cannot afford to get onto the property ladder!!!