Rossendale

I am thinking of buying a house around there as its the only place that dosn't seem to be rough I can afford in the North West.

The problem is my business is in Manchester, but I can use my parents house as an office and commute.

I just wondered what people thought of the area.

 

I don't have a clue on the area, but what might be a better idea is how much you have to spend.

If you are looking to buy don't ever forget the cost of doing so, 500 quid to set up a mortgage, 500 quid (min) for the solicitor and 300 for land searches/environmental searches etc, then 600 for the survey (sometimes you can get this for free) then stamp duty at around 1% for the price of the house.

Typically a 150 grand house will cost around £3k to £4k to get there before anything else.

Do you have no idea on the area you are looking at?

I am not putting you off, owning your own house may appear to those that don't as a costly exercise. But it is a valuable resource and IMO better than plumbing into a pension each month.
Property in the UK will become more and more valuable because more and more people exist in the UK and there is not enough housing to put up with it.

If you can get on the ladder do so, but just except the fact that if the place is worth £40k or £400k chances are you will be struggling to afford it for the first few years.

Check out rightmove.co.uk for houses in the area you are looking at, there are around 200 properties right now.

 

One other thing, mortgage lenders will not even look at you unless you have at least 5-10% of the value of the house to stump up.

 

I am only looking at cheap 1-2 bed terraces around £50-£60k. I will have the deposit by Christmas if I keep saving at this rate.

 

Good on ya then mate, because once you are on the ladder you are sorted,

According to the wife I am talking bollocks and you can get 100% mortgages, not that I would say thats wise but they are out there.

Also check out moneysaver.com who has a lot of info on setting up mortgages and saving yourself some money.

 

The dilema is how much extra savings will make my mortage cheaper verse how much property prices will go up.

My idea is I could setup a similiar business up there too, then communute to south Manchester run my current business and perhaps still stay over at parents once or twice a week until I get a bit more money to commute all the time.

 

Forget about that for the time being. You'll have your hands full just taking care of the day-to-day living expenses and unexpected bills. Anyway, delaying the purchase might mean house prices have risen by more than you've saved - so in the long run you lose out by waiting longer.

Concentrate on finding the best house in the right area for your budget. Use your power as a first time buyer to negotiate the best deal possible on the house price. I really do mean it. Having no chain behind you is a fantastic bargaining chip. Make full use of it.

If you still want to cut your mortgage bill then get a mortgage that allows overpayment as and when you can afford.

Regards & good luck

 

My guesstimates included stamp duty but you don't pay that under a 100k I think so thats a saving.

However there are always costs you don;t think of, sill things. What about the kitchen? Fridge, freezer, washing machine, oven. Towels for the bathroom, a sofa...

Normally family help out significantly but there will be things you want. B&Q ain't cheap either far that paint.

I think you would want around 2k to play with to move into your first home, just for the things that you need and will be needed to be done.

 

TBH it's no better or worse than any other Lancashire mill town. How do you expect to get from Rossendale to Chorlton, it's about an hour and a half from centre to centre, and the car drive takes a fair while too.. What makes you say it's not rough?
You need to budget for £500 solicitors fees, about £500 for the survey, and then whatever the searches cost.
You might be better looking at other parts of north manchester where the trains go. Littleborough, Shaw, Royton, Oldham. Rossendale is a long way from your stomping ground, and I suspect not the idyll you presume it to be

 

One other thing Trade buying a house and the responsibility that goes with it can appear daunting. But there is safety in bricks and mortar. Housing in the UK is short. Areas which right now may not seem great areas will have renewal as the governement will have to make areas habitable.

saving money now is pointless, get on the Ladder ASAP because house prices are not going to fall. The banks reckon we can expect to see house prices rise for the next 10 years (as far as they can speculate) big bad house price crashes are not on the cards and waiting for one makes people poorer.

If you can afford a 60k house, do it and do it soon. The housing market is desperate for first timers so you will have a commanding position.

My wife and I are not speculators, we had a one bed flat in Watford now we have a 2 bed cottage and soon will be moving to a 3 bed house. Each time our mortgage is going up, but we have investment for the future. In 6 years we have made £90k. Obviously this does not mean a lot because if we cashed it in we would have no house. What I am saying is its a sound investment mate, just look for areas on the up. Any areas with housing developments going in is a fair bet as are towns with a new superstore coming etc.

Good luck, and don't back out do a a good check of your finances ask family friends and an IFA if needs be and feel free to ask questions for GENERAL ADVICE here, none of us here are the last word on anything, especially big money!

 

Yeah, buy buy buy! Houses can be great investments, and the sooner you get on the better IMO - no guarantees in anything but I still reckon they're a much safer bet than rip-off pensions. As long as you don't stretch your finances too thin (interest rates are sneaking up ever-so-slightly) you won't go too far wrong.

With respect to deposits etc......as far as I can remember (from two house/mortgage moves in the last 5 years) if you bring less than a 10% deposit to the table they WILL sting you on the interest rates, the bigger your deposit the better your rate will be. If you go for a 100% mortgage you're gonna pay through the nose, I think it's a seriously bad move. Whilst I'd go along with the opinion that waiting around trying to get a really big deposit may be counter productive, you need to bear in mind that about most of your payments on a repayment mortgage is interest in the early years, so an extra 1% on your rate makes a lot of difference every month.

Still, as garyi suggested, a visit to an IFA will tell you how it really is, I might be out of date......

 

Get one. Get one now. Bollocks to a new kitchen. Bollocks to major decorating. They can wait.
I would echo Lordsummit's words though. Its way out from Manchester and the commute would soon annoy.

 

Its about the cheapest place I an can afford thats not a deserted streat in Blackburn or Burnley. My mate lives in Rawtenstall and reckons its 40 mins on the bus to manc and 20 minutes by car, but then he is always late

There are the odd property that pops up in places like Stockport and Oldham etc which will be a lot more ideal.

The problem at the moment is even houses in areas like Miles Platting which is traditionaly one of the worst parts of Manchester are going for £60k. I would rather have a 1 bedroom flat in a better area than a house in chavsville.

 

keep an eye and pounce when you can. You need to be ready to go as soon as something comes up, cheap houses in reasonable areas are highly sought.

As a counter point here is what you can get in the south for 60k

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/search.r...100000&tr_t=buy&pa_n=3&eventsubmit_dosearch=1

 

Amazingtrade
I take your point and I wouldn't want to live in Longsight or Gorton but just remember areas can change. Example there are buildings in Moss Side off Lloyd Street that were built as embassies in the 19th C. Urban splash are making millions getting into 'sink' areas at the right time and helping turn them round.

 

Yep seen at all before with Hulme I wouldn't mind living some where like that because its my 'stomping ground' but even a 1 bed appartment is £100k.

 

Rossendale is a bloody big area or are we talking specifically of Rawtenstall?

Like most of the cotton towns it has its rough areas and quite frankly there are places within the town where i would defy you or anybody else to say they were not in the heart of Burnley or Blackburn.

As you move out of the town to places like Water, Waterfoot, Lumb, Crawshawbooth, Helmshore then the villages become "better" however transport does become problematic.

Trains are available from Rawtenstall into Victoria Station i think, so commuting should not be an issue.

 

I was just looking around to see what I could find AT...

This had me rolling on the floor:

 

Talking of certain Mill towns, it would have to be an area with no racial tensions if me and my lady freind who is Asian were seen together round some of them parts we would get firebombed by both whites and Asians.

My uncle was telling me that some of them places don't like outsiders either, and won't be kindly to somebody movign in who is not a Lancashire boy.

 

If you could afford, I'd say look at where I am... just in west yorks. All the benefits of saddleworth without the totally insane prices, 30 mins on the train to victoria, 30 mins on the train to Leeds (you can't drive to either in that time, let alone park for the money (£8.70 to manc, £2.35 to leeds, both return)). However, prices have been going up here too...