Risk losing your home

Is spending above your means a sensible way of lie? Lot's of people enjoy lavish lifestyles on behalf of their banks, but it can't go on forever. In my opinion the risks outweigh the benefits, especially when you take out a loan against your home and risk losing the roof over your head.

The end of the debt era?

Consumer spending in the UK could be over as far as credit is concerned, with Brits being nearly £1.5 trillion in the red.

Consumer must face up to the banks and not continue spending with their heads buried in the sand, with debt charities seeing a surge of people spiraling past the point of no return and ending up in a state of bankruptcy.

Consumers are stuggling with the ever increasing costs of staples like food and fuel, but for many people do they really need expensive gym membership, sky subscriptions and a flash new car? It is these types of things which many people feel they shouldn't have to sacrifice, but I'm sure their bank manager would disagree.

Homes sales in the UK are still on the rise

Whilst house sale have seen a recovering during 2010, they are still not a patch on the glory days of pre 2009. The number of home sale was up 21% in June compared to March according to HM revenue and customs.

This present a positive outlook as the sales figures are 15 higher than the equivalent period last year. Overall this means that sales during H1 were 21% than 2009's H1. Undoubtedly house sales are still sudued, but they're going in the right direction.

The lenders are a in the mindset that this is the peak for 2010, and they don't expect any further rises like this. The bank of england recently sent out a warning that mortgages might be difficult to obtain in the coming months, and this would echo the lenders concerns.

Let's hope this doesn't lead to a decline in house sales, although it's likely this will be the case.

First time buyers giving up hope

It's hardly surprising, but the National Association of Estate Agents recently posted the figures from a survey aimed at first time buyers which revealed that across the country, almost 7 in 10 people have given up hope of ever owning there own home. Quite a striking result, but I think 'ever' is a bit extreme.

I've also heard speculation that millions of Brits are looking for jobs abroad rather than sit and weather out the storm over here, but I don't know if there is any truth in that.

I think I'm doing the right thing in weathering out the storm here, and doing all I can do right now is build up a deposit for when things settle :) Judging from the contradictory news stories popping up all over the place at the moment, the housing market is extremely turbulent at the moment, and hopefully this will sink houses prices across the country!

House prices close to stabilising

Of course they're not!

Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, has said that he expects house prices to stabilise from the middle of this year. He also stated that the widely expected 45% overall decline in prices is overly-pessimistic, and that it is more likely to be around 20%.

What an idiot. Thank god we're not in the early phases of a recession, and facing rising unemployment. Oh wait, we are. Reading through an online article written on the subject of the above statement, one reader had this to say: "And in the latest news, turkeys state that Christmas is definitely not coming this year. Sorry, Cancelled... just like the House Price Crash." Couldn't have put it better myself :) Simon Rubinsohns job depends on houses selling, this is obvious, so why do the newspapers print this tosh?!

Like many people I'm a first time buyer trying to get my own home to settle in, and these fat cats are squandering everything with there lies. Who am I supposed to believe, and where am I supposed to obtain REAL advice? All I can do for now is keep saving a deposit up so I can get a mortgage if a time comes when I can actually feel confident that the prices are at there lowest!

A quick update...

I've just been reading through various mortgage article, and caugh a snippet talking about how Lloyds TSB has launched a mortgage product which allows first time buyers to borrow an otherwise impossibly hard to come by 95% of a property's value... providing a friend or relative locks away a further 20% of the value in a savings account for 42 months.
This is forward thinking in difficult times, and I applaud them for that, but surely the returns on this 20% would be a hell of a lot higher for the friend/family member if they simply put it down as a deposit for them. Aren't they effectively saying that they expect house prices to continue to fall for 42 months? If it was me I'd use the 20% for the deposit, unless I am missing the point?

Time to start saving!

I’ve decided its time to start making a serious attempt to put more money aside each month for a deposit. I really need to get a more substantial amount together if I am ever going to get myself a mortgage! I don’t want to approach family members for help with a deposit, even though it has been offered, until I can prove to them and to myself that I am completely on top of my finances.

As a small family, living in what could be considered hard times, we are actually living quite comfortably at the moment. So, there are a few ways we could quickly increase the amount of ‘available cash’ left in our accounts each month. I’m in the processes of working this out properly, but some examples of ways we could save fairly considerable chunks include cutting our Sky+ HD subscription, our mobile phone contracts and me and my fiancés gym membership. This amounts to around £140 a month, or £1680 a year. Quite a chunk on top of what we could save anyway! I really need to get my head around whether these ‘luxury’ items are more important to me than having my own home… I don’t think they are.

Wish me luck!