The prices can't keep going up on this scale.They are bound to slow down.In America,property prices have been coming down after a similar boom

In some places it is down as much as 16 percent in less than a year

Sorry  I forgot to  mention that  for Buy to let you need to find and put down 10%-15%  of the purchase price
If its a residential mortgage 0% - 5% of the purchase price  although I have see slightly hoger being asked.

For remortgages you may be able to remortgage as early as 12 months after taking out the mortgage it all depends on the type of mortgage  and the package, usually you can only remotgage up to a certain amount for instance if you purchased the property to 100k then 1 year later you want to remortgage  the lender will have to survey it to determine the market value if its say 110k you may be able to borrow 50-70k (if its a buy to let property  the rental income will be taken into consideration) it all sounds good but do not make the mistake of borrowing to the hilt as you'll still have to pay it back, you want your rental income to be able to cover the mortgage payments.


A very good way to keep your morgage low if to take out an intrest only mortgage but just make sure you sell it of  in 5-10 years time.

I dont want to wait too long to buy and then again I dont want to pay more for a house that will be worth less that what I paid for it in a few years!

God its so much easier just buliding an over sized mansion in nigeria.

first you find the land and pray you have not been the 8th person duped into buying the same piece of land.

second you find good builders

third if you live aboard you pray your brother you are sending the money to help finish your house is actually doing what you asked and is not spending your cash on his sh*t.

Fourth you go to Nigeria to see the progress and scream abuse at the builders for being slow.

thats it.

Another piece of advice I would give a first time buyer is when taking out your mortgage take a fixed interest rate deal.
It helps you to budget and provides you with the security of knowing that no matter how high interest rates rise you
will not be affected.

However, at the moment because rates are on the rise it is difficult to get a cheap one. For example the best two year deal
is about 4.95% and will cost you somewhere in the region of £1500 to arrange. When you take this arrangement fee into account
the overall cost will actually be in excess of 5.00%.

Since I bought my house I have for the majority of the time been on fixed rate deals. The last one I took out was for three years
just last year and it is fixed till 2009 at 4.64%. Hopefully by 2009 interest rates will be low and I can get into another favourable rate.

BTW I live in Croydon.

Lady T what in the way of property are you looking for?

Stamp duty payable in the UK. The more the property is worth, the higher the percentage you have to pay as stamp duty (tax).

up to £125,000 0%
£125,001 - £250,000 1%
£250,001 - £500,000 3%
£500,001 or more 4%

In an ideal world I would like three bedrooms at least if not four I like old houses hate the new bulids they are very weak! But at this stage we cant afford that. So some suggested we buy something small and rent it out to help pay for the mortgage and help fiance the buying of a bigger property!

LadyT:

In an ideal world I would like three bedrooms at least if not four I like old houses hate the new bulids they are very weak! But at this stage we can't afford that. So some suggested we buy something small and rent it out to help pay for the mortgage and help fiance the buying of a bigger property!

And what is your budget?

In Croydon 3 beds start from around the £230k mark, less if you are prepared to do work to bring it up to scratch.

We are looking for nothing more that £250,000 really. We still have a hell of a lot of saving to do if we want to put down a decent deposit. If we dont need to renovate much that would be a bonus!

My advise would be that you watch the trend for the next few months before buying.

Something is happening with the interest rates and if the Bank of England shocks the system, there'll be some real shaking. Though a burst is not likely, there may be a slump soon.

Sorry, I may not live in the UK, but I sure do know a couple things about real estate cuz my pops sells real estate here in the US. The truth of the matter is, if one is looking to buy a house for investment purposes, u are better off buying in areas that are just springing off rather than a place like London that got their prices off the hook (atleast so most of u said). By the way, I was just wondering how ur mortgage system works in the UK. Here in the US, u gotta have a good credit standing in order to apply for a loan, how do they determine the percentage that they charge in the UK? (Honestly, I wanna know) Moreover, what is the average percentage on a home loan in the UK? Wow, u guys said the average home in London costs 340k? That's freaking expensive. How much is one gonna make if one invested such money in a year? House prices do appreciate, but I don't believe they just jump from their initial values to some weird figures.
Hey u looking to buy a house in the UK, I think u gotta get ready to spend some $$$$$$$$$$ or is it GBP (I don't have the pound key on my computer lol)

£££££

How comes on the european keyboard we have the £ and the $ sign!

Hey why is it in America a lot of houses are built with wood (slighty off topic)

Hi Lady T,

Does Croydon grab u as a place to live?

I think I could do Croyden its in london well greater london. I would need to research the ara a bit more tho. But I prefer that to Kent

I am into property investment in UK with a modest portfolio. Firstly, you can not buy your first property on a "Buy-to-let" basis. You can only buy your first property as a first time buyer, then your second property on a buy to let basis.

I bought my first property, 3 Bedroom Maisonette in Camberwell last year for £170,000. I borrowed the 5% deposit (£8,500) from a bank to finance the transaction.I paid the broker £1,700, Solicitors £1,000 and stamp duty of 1% =£1,700. I had the property valued recently after 11 months at £190,000 (£28,500 positive equity).I pay a repayment mortgage of £956 per month while my rental income from my tenants is £1,200 per month, a profit of around £200 +.

I bought my second property recently in Southampton, a Brand new 2 bedroom apartment from Barratts for £183,000 on a Let-to-Buy mortgage. My 10% deposit (of £18,300) ,stamp duty of £1,830, legal fee's of £1,200,Valuation fee of £450 were all paid for by the broker/developer.My interest only mortgage is £880 per month; Rental income is £850 per month,estate mngt fee=£85 and Service charge is £50. So I only top-up £165 from my pocket to pay the mortgage.The property is now valued at £210,000 and dont forget my paid equity of £18,300.Thats a positive equity of £45,300 (ready for investment on my plot of land in Nigeria)

From my little experience. You can buy a brand new property without putting down any money of your own. Have a team of reliable Mortgage Brokers, Accountants, Solicitors and Handy-job men around you at all times. Approach your brokers for available property deals. Avoid shared ownership schemes-its not always what it seems. Buy outright. Visit Auctions and watch the proceedings, watch how the game is being played.Most people have 4 to 5 friends in the same Auction who outbid each other strategically to win certain property.You must put down 10% deposit before allowed to take part in Property Auctions and you need to complete the transaction within 28 days or you forfeit your deposit. Thats why its best to have a bridged loan in place from your Bankers or an approval in principle before commiting yourself.

Point of correction to an earlier post. Stamp duties are paid all over UK not only in London. The threshold is £125,000 and above for 1%.But, there are some areas designated Regenerated Areas that are exempted from Stamp duty tax only if the property is under £150,000. For instance nearly the whole of Newham Borough in London is classified as regeneration area. (Check the www.hmrc.gov.uk website to find out exempted areas).

The rule in property is that you make money when you buy property not when you sell it.

The average property buyer will not qualify for a mortgage based on salary income, hence most brokers arrange Self-Certification deals to by-pass the obstacle.

Property investment is not for the fainthearted,its nice reeling out the positive equity accrued, but it comes with a great price too.

With your property in Southampton is that run by an estate agent on your behalf? And if so what are their fees?

Lady T,

I did write that I pay £85 per month for the Estate management fee's. They charge 10% of the rental income to source for tenants, vet them and remit funds to my account-full property management service.

LadyT, most houses are built with wood in the US depending on the source(s) of bricks or woods. When one moves a lil' eastward from the midwest (Illinois, Missouri, etc), one is gonna find houses built with bricks cuz there's a huge supply of bricks from Missouri area. But in the upper midwest and some other states, timber (or whatever kinda wood it is that they use in building houses) is vastly available therefore, the predominance of "wooden" houses.
By the way, it is cheaper to build a house with wood rather than bricks, so putting cost into effect, it is wiser to build houses with wood rather than bricks. Another reason could be that most places that are not threatened by hurricanes or incessant tornadoes (we do have quite a few tornadoes but not hurricanes in the midwest) are in better positions to build houses with wood. Places like Florida or Texas and some other southern states that experience hurricanes don't stand a good chance with wooden houses compared to brick houses. Those in California won't stand a good chance of surviving in wooden houses cuz of the high rate of earthquakes or tremors there. Mind u though, the foundations of wooden houses are made with BRICKS! Does this in any way satisfy ur curiousity LadyT? Back to the topic, but why would one buy a house from an auction anyway? Don't ur realtors (I dunno what u call 'em in the UK) clean the houses they put in the market to attract buyers? I know that if u put a dirty house in the market here in the US, u just gonna wait forever to find a buyer.

Lady T,

Building an oversized mansion in Nigeria may not be a bad idea after all. It is better to buy land from the state govt, that way you don't get ripped off. Also don't even consider the idea of sending money to some pot-belled Uncle to supervise the building work on your behalf. You might as well give him your cashpoint card and pin number! Or better still a blank, signed cheque!!

You supervise all the building works whenever you go home on holidays, it might take longer, but at least you can keep tabs on everything and everyone. If you watch programmes such as 'location, location, location' or 'property ladder' it will give you a few tips on building works in general. (Although based on Uk properties, you will have the general idea of how to effectively manage your project by learning from other peoples mistakes. A lot of these experiences are cross transferable to Nigeria).

The advantages of building your own yard in Nigeria are so many, i.e. your own personalised design and a sense of achievement once it is completed. If you go home you have your own place to stay instead of having you style cramped at your parents/relatives pad.

Also the cost of properties and land is appreciating fast in Nigeria, so you can make a profit in a few years if you decide to sell it. It is better to buy 2 plots or more at the same location.

sorry

Anyone in the UK looking to get on the property ladder or re-mortgae may
be interested in the WHICH consumer magazine FREE guide. To get your
copy FOC all you have to do is call 0800 533 001 and quote the reference
PROPERTY3.

A good mortgage broker gets discounts on new built properties that can be passed on to buyers

DEAR AWOLUMATE
i am a Nigerian currently living in the UK .If u need further info about the mortgage feel free to contact

Hi,

I am new member to this forum. Getting a flexible loan is no more a difficult task for the residents of UK. There are innumerable loans available in the loan market, which are remarkable for their distinctiveness and provide solution during financial requirements. Homeowner loan UK is one of such loans which offer easy solution to people in quest of money.

To get homeowner loans UK, you need to place collateral for the loaned amount. This collateral acts on behalf of the borrower and comes in the form of home of the borrower. The lender takes full right to repossess the home if the borrower fails to repay the loaned amount on time. This is why it is always recommended that you should go for the loaned amount which you can repay easily.

Homeowner loans UK give you a chance to get a good amount of money which generally ranges from £5,000-£100,000. However it should be noted here that the amount of money largely depends upon the equity of your home. Equity implies the market value of borrower’s property in excess of all debts to which it is liable. Higher equity helps you to get maximum amount of money.

You can access homeowner loans UK to fulfill any of your requirements such as:

Purchasing a brand new car.

Improvement of your home.

Traveling a tourist spot.

Higher education of your son.

Jenita:

Hi,

I am new member to this forum. Getting a flexible loan is no more a difficult task for the residents of UK. There are innumerable loans available in the loan market, which are remarkable for their distinctiveness and provide solution during financial requirements. Homeowner loan UK is one of such loans which offer easy solution to people in quest of money.

To get homeowner loans UK, you need to place collateral for the loaned amount. This collateral acts on behalf of the borrower and comes in the form of home of the borrower. The lender takes full right to repossess the home if the borrower fails to repay the loaned amount on time. This is why it is always recommended that you should go for the loaned amount which you can repay easily.

Homeowner loans UK give you a chance to get a good amount of money which generally ranges from £5,000-£100,000. However it should be noted here that the amount of money largely depends upon the equity of your home. Equity implies the market value of borrower’s property in excess of all debts to which it is liable. Higher equity helps you to get maximum amount of money.

You can access homeowner loans UK to fulfill any of your requirements such as:

Purchasing a brand new car.

Improvement of your home.

Traveling a tourist spot.

Higher education of your son.

And I would bet my bottom dollar that the interest rate on such a loan would be much higher than the norm.

Hi Awolumate, (O mowun ara e ni).

I can assist having been in the UK property market (buy,sell, mortgage) in the last 10 years. Non-EU passport means you will have to come up with close to 25% deposit. You MUST have a UK current account. The amount of deposit you have will determine in what part of UK you can buy.

If you set up a UK limited company, you may circumvent some of the deposit requirement. If you plan to buy, refurbish and remortgage you must have ready cash of £20k upward. There are ways and means round some of the obstacles. Visit www.rightmove.co.uk, www.findaproperty.com for some price ideas for South of England.

If you email me at Naijaforward@yahoo.com, I will give you my UK phone number to answer more of your questions.

Cheers

@naijaforward.
I have been out of town. Sorry for my late response. Thanks for your info. Good that you are in the field. it would be great to have your professional advice.
I will send you an email later on. By the way. you mentione uk current account? can i operate a uk current account as a non uk resident.
Thanks.

@everyone.
Thanks for all your contributions. they are all very useful. Gratie tutti.

daprince:

. . . Another reason could be that most places that are not threatened by hurricanes or incessant tornadoes (we do have quite a few tornadoes but not hurricanes in the midwest) are in better positions to build houses with wood. . .

Nah mate, it is places that are threatened with tornadoes, earthquakes, and the likes that you find most properties built with wood because one has more chances of getting out alive compared to living in a property made of bricks. If the natural disaster don't kill you, the falling bricks could.

Hi everyone.

Just to let you know as foreigners you can get a mortgage up to 90% in the UK.

My company sells investment property to individuals in the UK as well as to Naijas not based in the UK.

Everything is above board and legal and the mortgage is arranged on your behalf by a specialist mortgage broker based over here in the UK.

It has proved to be a great way for quite a number of Naijas to invest over here!

Please check out my post. I am doing research so that I will soon give mortgage and real estate opportunities to people who want to buy a home in Nigeria, both abroad and in Nigeria. The rates and prices will be clear when I start it. But first I need to research the property market. this is only my preliminary research. I am trying to make a change!

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-55819.0.html

@Lady T

why not buy a property outright in Nigeria

They do sell fully - furnished houses in Nigeria

even opportunites of placing a 10% down payment exists e.g Legacy Realties