House buying, mortgages, insurance, etc

[TxRover]

5 hours ago, Soapy FFC said:

I'll be old and boring. In 2008 I got a 10 year fixed rate at 6.15%. I thought that was a good deal at the time. However a month later rates started to come down, but at least I knew what I was paying for the rest of the loan. 

No, old and boring is those that recall high teen interest rates on homes and automobiles in the 70’s and early 80’s. It was still low teens (13.4%, as I recall) for my first auto loan.

[alta-pete]

4 hours ago, Gnash said:

Generally speaking, overpaying your mortgage, if you can, is a good idea. 

Worth saying that for people in certain circumstances at the moment would be much better off not overpaying.  For example, if you have a lengthy fix at a rate of say, 1.5%, and have spare cash every month you would be better off putting that into savings and earning c. 4%.  Then when your fix is up, use the savings to pay off as much of the mortgage as you can.

Absolutely correct. But that’s almost getting towards the endowment mortgages of old.

 I take the old fashioned (simplistic!) view that a debt’s a debt and I’d rather be rid as soon as possible. 

I’m on a 5 year fix at a stupid low rate that I can overpay by 10% a year. At the end of that 5 year period my debt will be ~60% of the original projection.

Goodness knows what nick the economy will be in by that point. If still a basket case, I’ve got less debt to have to deal with then. 

[Gnash]

24 minutes ago, alta-pete said:

Absolutely correct. But that’s almost getting towards the endowment mortgages of old.

 I take the old fashioned (simplistic!) view that a debt’s a debt and I’d rather be rid as soon as possible. 

I’m on a 5 year fix at a stupid low rate that I can overpay by 10% a year. At the end of that 5 year period my debt will be ~60% of the original projection.

Goodness knows what nick the economy will be in by that point. If still a basket case, I’ve got less debt to have to deal with then. 

The returns weren't guaranteed on endowment mortgages though.  As long as you use an FSCS backed institution, your savings and interest are guaranteed (up to £85k / £170k joint account). 

A better comparison to endowments would be investing the money in the stockmarket.  Nothing wrong with doing that, but clearly it's a much riskier option than savings accounts.

[statts1976uk]

What a day, currently buying a new build and waiting for the part-exchange survey to happen so trying to persuade them to issue all the paperwork on the reservation. No paperwork meant no mortgage and lots of rates are going up or mortgages just being removed. Managed to get a deal at 4.95% and been told that I'm lucky to get that! 

[TxRover]

1 hour ago, alta-pete said:

Absolutely correct. But that’s almost getting towards the endowment mortgages of old.

 I take the old fashioned (simplistic!) view that a debt’s a debt and I’d rather be rid as soon as possible. 

I’m on a 5 year fix at a stupid low rate that I can overpay by 10% a year. At the end of that 5 year period my debt will be ~60% of the original projection.

Goodness knows what nick the economy will be in by that point. If still a basket case, I’ve got less debt to have to deal with then. 

I just have trouble wrapping my head around these mortgage types. Around here it’s mostly 30-year fixed, 15-year fixed, or various ARM’s with differing lock periods…but even they have caps on increase and fixed terms. Shorter, partial term and balloon notes never caught on. I’d be fecking terrified of any note with a balloon like those, simply because the math is so unfavorable to the consumer.

[Duszek]

We bought our flat five years ago on a Swiss Franc mortgage, 19 years fixed at 1.2%.

Which is all well and good, but the euro has since tanked against the CHF, meaning if we sold it for X euros, we'd have to pay the balance off in CHF.

And that was all well and good while I was earning CHF but I'm now earning US$.

Think I've fucked up here.

 

[statts1976uk]

Looks like things are going to get even worse with no respite in sight.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65925224

[OmegaSpeedyPro]

Let's face it the British and Irish obsession of buying property is now for mugs. 

The Europeans don't have the culture view have the right idea. 

Here we pay crazy high prices for properties not worth it,  will get shafted with interests rates and all the costs of running a property then if we finally do make it to old age get shafted royally if we need care and lose it all. 

Oh the prices for all these soulless sub standard new builds in the middle of nowhere is laughable i mean people really buy these!  Wow

Edited June 18, 2023 by OmegaSpeedyPro

[Shadow Play]

6 minutes ago, OmegaSpeedyPro said:

Let's face it the British and Irish obsession of buying property is now for mugs. 

The Europeans don't have the culture view have the right idea. 

Here we pay crazy high prices for properties not worth it,  will get shafted with interests rates and all the costs of running a property then if we finally do make it to old age get shafted royally if we need care and lose it all. 

Oh the prices for all these soulless sub standard new builds in the middle of nowhere is laughable i mean people really buy these!  Wow

Are you suggesting a significantly higher percentage of the population rent their homes in Europe than here in the UK?

[TxRover]

4 hours ago, Shadow Play said:

Are you suggesting a significantly higher percentage of the population rent their homes in Europe than here in the UK?

No, it’s likely either a bot account, or a person with poor grammar, currently pushing the Russian line across threads.

[alta-pete]

5 hours ago, OmegaSpeedyPro said:

Let's face it the British and Irish obsession of buying property is now for mugs. 

The Europeans don't have the culture view have the right idea. 

Here we pay crazy high prices for properties not worth it,  will get shafted with interests rates and all the costs of running a property then if we finally do make it to old age get shafted royally if we need care and lose it all. 

Oh the prices for all these soulless sub standard new builds in the middle of nowhere is laughable i mean people really buy these!  Wow

You will own nothing and you will be happy. 

[Moomintroll]

5 hours ago, OmegaSpeedyPro said:

Let's face it the British and Irish obsession of buying property is now for mugs. 

The Europeans don't have the culture view have the right idea. 

Here we pay crazy high prices for properties not worth it,  will get shafted with interests rates and all the costs of running a property then if we finally do make it to old age get shafted royally if we need care and lose it all. 

Oh the prices for all these soulless sub standard new builds in the middle of nowhere is laughable i mean people really buy these!  Wow

Good luck renting somewhere in the UK with your Pension.

[mathematics]

6 hours ago, Shadow Play said:

Are you suggesting a significantly higher percentage of the population rent their homes in Europe than here in the UK?

I thought that was the case.

[RH33]

1 hour ago, mathematics said:

I thought that was the case.

As did I.

[ICTChris]

Home ownership rates by country

[Shadow Play]

On 18/06/2023 at 17:18, mathematics said:

I thought that was the case.

I don’t think it is.  In the UK it is 35% private or social tenancies.  It’s higher in Germany but not most other European countries.  

Each to their own but I would rather own my home than rent it.  Once the mortgage is paid you’re living ‘rent’ free for the rest of your days.  It also gives you something to hand onto the kids (up to £350,000 tax free if you are otherwise caught with inheritance tax £1M for a couple).

 

Edited June 19, 2023 by Shadow Play

[TxRover]

29 minutes ago, Shadow Play said:

I don’t think it is.  In the UK it is 35% private or social tenancies.  It’s higher in Germany but not most other European countries.  

Each to their own but I would rather own my home than rent it.  Once the mortgage is paid you’re living ‘rent’ free for the rest of your days.  It also gives you something to hand onto the kids (up to £350,000 tax free if you are otherwise caught with inheritance tax £1M for a couple).

 

Varies…in my locale, the property taxes on an average home will be around $5,000-7,000 per year and insurance runs another $2,500-4,000 a year. The average “home owner” why burned his/her/their mortgage, still have to shell out over $800 per month just to keep it…and that’s before the maintenance costs.

All that being said, I preferred purchasing over renting, but the much lower costs for utilities versus detached houses has opened my eyes a bit in my most recent stint.

[Honest_Man#1]

My fixed rate ends in November. My best option at the moment is an increase of 63% on my current monthly payment.

There are going to be a significant number of people who have overstretched themselves to live in a big house on a maximum mortgage with a brand new car in the drive on finance, that are going to be seeing the bailiffs.

[Shadow Play]

34 minutes ago, TxRover said:

Varies…in my locale, the property taxes on an average home will be around $5,000-7,000 per year and insurance runs another $2,500-4,000 a year. The average “home owner” why burned his/her/their mortgage, still have to shell out over $800 per month just to keep it…and that’s before the maintenance costs.

All that being said, I preferred purchasing over renting, but the much lower costs for utilities versus detached houses has opened my eyes a bit in my most recent stint.

I know California has extremely expensive property tax and i would imagine it will be quite high elsewhere.  In Scotland the cost of Council Tax for a Band E house (average type house?) is under £2,500.  Insurance can be found for under £500.  That’s only £250 per month.  

I think a significant problem is some people appear to have mortgaged themselves near to the max to get as big / nice a house as they can.  To make matters worse people were taking out 2 year fix mortgages because the interest rates were cheaper.  10 year mortgages tended to be overlooked because of the comparatively higher interest rates.

[19QOS19]

On 27/05/2023 at 22:21, BukyOHare said:

I've taken the plunge and become a self employed mortgage advisor. Obviously I'm keen to help as many people as I can, so if anyone on here has any queries around their current or future mortgage or protection products, please feel free to send me a message and I'll answer them no problem. Cheers.

Is this offer still available? My Fixed Rate comes to an end next year and I'm starting to think what might be best. Got a few queries in regards to my next deal and what would be best for us. Is it possible to give you a PM tomorrow with the figures? No worries if you're too busy