Anyone who's read my account of the Camberwell conf (see Announcements) will recognise this. As I didn't receive any reply pertaining to this particular topic I thought I'd repost it and see what happens.
Are there any sources of support for getting onto the property ladder? You only need to watch the numerous property programmes on TV to realise that even the most neurotypical of neurotypicals with supportive partners find buying a property very stressful. So what about us Aspies? Is it assumed that if we can hold down a job we can jolly well get off our backsides and go it alone? Where are Kirstie and Phil for the autistic community?
I've never heard of any help available to actually buy a property, only to find council or rented accomodation.
I'm not expecting the state to assist me with my mortgage repayments. All I want is the advice on how to go about it, and preferably someone to accompany me on viewings.
An estate agent can give you some advice, and can usually accompany you on viewings if you request it.
Also, you have to have a solicitor to do your paperwork on buying the house, they can give you the legal advice.
If its the financial aspect then your bank can advise you on the details or obtaining a mortgage and repayments etc. They will look at your income and assess what you can afford.
When you know what you can afford, go the estate agents and tell them what your looking for, ask about areas, good points and bad points, and ask them to accompany you on viewings to advise on any problems. If the bank isnt too helpful, try another one, new mortgages are competitively sought by lenders, so someone should help.
Likewise with an estate agents, if they are not helpful go elsewhere.
Having said that, it is all stressful and a hassle, take it one step at a time, its a jungle out there.
I wonder if Marc Segar would have added a chapter to his survival guide on this topic if he had lived?
http://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/~alistair/survival/
I'm daunted at the thought of having to deal with all these professionals who might rip me off or whom I might rub up the wrong way by asking stupid questions. Plus there's my complete inexperience in DIY...
When I first tried to seek advice about buying a property, some people said I should see a financial advisor in the first instance, while others said, "Oh no, no, no, you don't want to see a financial advisor," but didn't say why not.
It seems I need to seek advice on where to seek advice on where to seek advice...
Let's start at the beginning:
What can you afford? It's tempting, especially for a first time buyer, to go for the maximum mortgage and get the biggest house they can afford, but while this, in a rising market, is good for maximising one's profits, there are considerable risks too (prices can fall; I lost my life savings in this manner, back in the crash of '89). Ask first "what do I really need?"; I though I needed a garage, and that was corrrect (but I usually found work in built-up areas where garages are scarce and expensive...) and at least three bedrooms. This was incorrect; looking back, at least one, and often both "spare" rooms where usually empty, and served only to accumulate junk (which later became a burden) and were really just unnecessary drains on my resources. With hind-sight a two bed would have been ample, with the spare serving as my office or DIY room, set up in such a way that a floor space could be cleared and a spare bed set up, for my very infrequent visitors. Multiple guests? There's allways the couch, and other possibilities (bathroom, shed etc.,) for emergencies, there was really no justification for those extra rooms; had I saved and invested the extra money it would have given me enough to put my guests in hotels for the limited periods of use, and given me much more flexibility in other financial matters! This is contrary to the usual advice, but I'd say, especially for your first property, buy the most modest property you can get away with!
Thinking you may want to have children? Then move to a bigger place when needed, not before!
The other reason for keeping a reserve is the stupid games mortgage providers play, but first, shop around; there are many types of mortgages as there are different kinds of lenders (building socs etc.,). Visit any of their offices and you'll be presented with dozens of leaflets on the various options, and how they work. They are usually complete if you take the trouble to read the small print, so give your study the time it deserves, and think too about future developments, in relation to job prospects, illness, divorce... The big deal when I was younger were endowment policies, which essentially meant renting you new home while paying a small amount into an investment fund which should pay out a huge lump sum on completeion, which, according to the projections of the time, would not only pay off the mortgage, but also leave a large profit. I was deeply suspicious of them, didn't like the inflexibility (I never even dreamed I might stay in the same house/town/job for life) and in any case, after doing the appropriate calculations realised I could save a great deal of money on a regular 25 year mortgage, by simply paying it off early; the monthly repayment for the first several years amounts mostly to just paying of the interest and makes little impact on the principle. If you can pay it off over 15, or better yet 10 years then you'll save half your money; this is no exageration (do the calculation) as, once you're settled in, making sacrifices in the early years, to reduce the principle, makes a huge difference in your monthly payments, especially if you should return to the 25 year rate later (there can be sound reasons for doing this). For this reason alone, you should only opt for a fancy fixed option if you are absolutely clear there is an advantage for you (most who took out endowment mortgages got their fingers burnt!); if it's not absolutely clear, then go for the best of the flexible term mortgages you can find.
Valuations are best done personally, by comparing the prospective property with similar types in similar areas (if you're buying on an estate, there should be plenty of identical properties on the market) and conditions (if you now little about structures then you'll need help here, as I can't cover it in such a post, but you local buiding supplies or DIY super store will surely have lots of pamphlets on detecting dry rot, and other such concerns) and taking account of floor area (which most people ignore, in the uk, but a bigger space is worth more in practical terms!).
Don't rely on the asking price (as most people try to hike it, and are often unable to perceive that their property may be run down in comparisson to similar houses in the area). Don't rely on a professional valuation either, which your lending company will insist on in any case, but for their benefit not yours; when it comes to making an offer, you'll need to try and knock down the asking prices (whether you think it's reasonable or not) and whatever you finally agree on, the valuer will say the property is worth 5% less (if it's in good condition) or that it will be worth that once you've carried xy&z repairs out, completely ignoring the fact you got it below the going rate exactly because it needed some work doing on it.
Pay attention; the lending company will then withhold some of the agreed loan (expecting you to get the difference from eslewhere) until such time as you've completed the repair work (by which time you'll probably no longer need the money in any case...). This happened to me over a repair already carried out by the previous owner, but even when I presented the details and receipts the response was "we are advised that this does not materialy revise the valuation, so the retention stands..."! Why do they do this? I haven't the faintest notion, but it's something you'll have to get used too; your lender will be all sweetness and light until you sign the contract, then, once they've got you by the short and curly's, they'll start treating you like dirt (nothing new for Aspies...) for no better reason than they think they can!
Do you understand now why you must retain some financial lee way? If you've no way around this manipulative maliciousness, then they will contrive to make life needlessly difficult for you, but if on the other hand, you've held back several thousand that they didn't know about, then in such circumstances you can politely give them the finger and state that you no longer need that portion of the loan. They won't like it one little bit, but if you've checked the contract details, and done it by the book, then there's not a thing they can do about it (and in fact, it's possible to bend the rules and get away with it, but it's best not to go that route unless it's absolutely necessary, and you know what you are doing; the safe option is to have some cash in hand).
Enough for one post, but if you need more I'll try to help.
The golden rule for dealing with mortgage companies: Always take out a smaller loan than you can afford to pay off, and always initially ask for a bigger percentage of the purchase price than you actually need (but make sure there are no penalties for early repayments, there usually isn't but check in any case before commitment)!
Theyre all bastards - evil money grabbign bastards !!
Thats all I have to say :p
Theyre all bastards - evil money grabbign bastards !!
So true!
Dealing with sellers: If you want to move soon, don't even consider a house that's got furniture, unless you have convincing proof the seller has found the new home of their choice, and are ready to move in! [I hope things have now improved, but it used to be the case that people waited for an acceptable offer before even looking for their next home!!!]
There are conflicts here; one being that women (when couples are involved) usually make the decision, and they preffer houses that are nice and trendy, which involves having the flavour of the moment in carpets, sofa's etc., even though the furniture will go with the seller (and the first thing then is they redecorate...). There's no logic to it but it's well known that it's easier to get an offer this way!
On the other hand, an empty house is a house that needs to be shifted; it's not only immediately ready, it also may have been on the market for a very long time and a "knock-down" offer may well get results! It depends on the rationality of the seller of course (which is in short supply, believe me!) as most start off by asking to high a price, and then fail to realise that a house that's been "standing" loses value. Even stranger, few take into account the hidden costs of delays, and will stick out for their perceived "value" without regard to the fact that each month's delay loses them hundreds of pounds! Sometimes it can pay to raise the subject, diplomatically.
A strange phenomenon is that people of practical bent (like yours truly) may well do the real calculations, including estate agents fees, and conclude it's better to pare the asking price to the bone, put an ad in the local paper, put the furniture in storage and be ready to move out (to B&B if need be) as soon as an offer arrives, assuming a quick sale will be in the offing.
Said person then finds the only interest is from nosey time-wasters who want to check things out, or wide-boys who try to knock them down another thousand ("because the garden needs weeding" in one of my experiences) untill such time as they give up, hand it to an estate agent, and have an offer two weeks later for 10% more than they were asking previously!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My theory about this is that people foolishly assume that going through "the professionals" gives them some "security" (there is none in practise, an estate agents is under no obligation to compensate for mistakes under any circumstances, any more than a valuer) thinking that they are perhaps constrained to the local market values? Hell no, the pressure, as far as estate agents are concerned, is to continually drive prices upwards! The moral seems to be, once you've got the hang of valuing properties (and it'll come to anyone who studies it, and tries it, and is systematic) then you buy through private ads, but sell through estate agents. Do they still have property shops in the UK? A genuine attempt to get agency fees under control, but if my experience is anything to go by, it failed, as, people didn't trust 'em! There's nowt as queer as folk...
May I ask, Gwynfryn, how recent is your experience of buying or selling in the British property market?
My last property was confiscated in 1991 (my first purchase in 1981) and there have been certain changes in the regulations since then (and long overdue, especialy the "gazumping" issue) but these you can get specific information on, and I seem to remember they didn't go as far as most of us had hoped!
The behavior and attitude issues won't have changed much though (it takes generations) and one can only get profficient in these from experience; the guidlines I've proposed are only that, but should nevertheless give a sound starting point for you to build on.
To summarise, it's not as daunting as people make out. In fact, some of the characteristics those of us with AS have can put us at an advantage. However, I'd strongly advise you take an NT male with you when dealing with the people you've mentioned. And I'll reiterate; never believe what you're told, even by the big-name banks, unless you've got it in writing.
Yes, that's true on many levels, especially if you are able to stay in the property long-term, as we can sometimes profit from perfectly adequate properties not selling through some lack of whatevers "trendy" (which Aspies generally don't care about) or because the neighbouring properties are slums; this can change! I knew a friend of a friend who bought a mid-terrace in a "poor" area of London, who then persuaded various friends to move to adjacent properties, and, between them they "modernised" them with particular refference to improving the external appearence, and before the year was out the street had become "hot" and they all had houses worth(?) four times what they'd paid!
As for financial advisors, by all means go and see a few, but don't even bother trying to remember their advice; just grab the brochures and pamphlets, and go throught the details carfully, doing your own calculations. A finacial advisor's top priority is to sell you the deal which gives him the best kick-back, which may not be what's best for you. Having said that, it's a competetive market so it's really quite straightforward to miss the pit-falls provided you are prepared to do the home-work.
In fact, some of the characteristics those of us with AS have can put us at an advantage.
What characteristics? There doesn't seem to be any agreement as to what characteristics are integral to AS.
However, I'd strongly advise you take an NT male with you when dealing with the people you've mentioned.
How the hell am I going to manage that?
I knew a friend of a friend who bought a mid-terrace in a "poor" area of London, who then persuaded various friends to move to adjacent properties, and, between them they "modernised" them with particular reference to improving the external appearence, and before the year was out the street had become "hot" and they all had houses worth four times what they'd paid!
Bully for you if you've got loads of friends, but otherwise ...?
As for financial advisors, by all means go and see a few, but don't even bother trying to remember their advice; just grab the brochures and pamphlets, and go throught the details carefully, doing your own calculations.
What's the point of paying for advice and not bothering to remember it? I can't understand you at all. Perhaps you should translate this into French?!
Having said that, it's a competitive market so it's really quite straightforward to miss the pit-falls provided you are prepared to do the homework.
Competitive? Straightforward?
Hmm, yes, a taste of ingratitude (an Aspie characterisitic? Never heard of that one!).
Sjöjungfru
I don't have any friends now (and certainly none that could afford a house anywhere, let alone in London) but it's still possible to affect the value of houses in run-down areas, simply by making your own property attractive. Once that's done, others will see the possibilities and try to emulate you; it can have a knock on effect. It might be possible to attract Aspie neighbours in this way as a relevant "Aspie"characteristic here is the capacity to look at things rationally, and seeing the possibilities, rather dismissing a property out of hand because of, say, the visual impact (you'd be amased how most families buy based on spontaneous "gut-feelings"!).
You are right about a lack of agreement, but I know what I understand by the term Aspie and am trying to promote this (only to be staunchly opposed by emotional types who don't fit the bill).
If you have no male family member or neighbour or a church minister etc. who could help you out here, then that would be unusual, and Alan could not have been reasonably expected to assume this.
As for what is the point of paying for financial advice...well what is the point? Most people who are trying to sell you a mortgage (and this is where one usually goes to get financial advice) are only too happy to give their time for free; it's the potential fee they get for each sale that "pays" for it. Go to a bank or building society and tell them you're looking for a mortgage and you'll find them very helpfull. In the first instance you won't even need to talk to anyone, just have a look at the leaflets they provide.
The big lenders are in intense competition with each other, and the difference between the various offers are generally marginal. There are some dodgy deals out there, but if you study the details it isn't difficult to spot them and avoid them, but you've got to put in the time and effort. If you expect it all to be done for you then you have much to learn.
One gains experience by doing things. How about your Quaker aquaintences?
Well if you'd rather not buy a house that's fine, but it's a fact of life that if you want things done, you have to make at least some effort in that direction!