Buying a House

My house’s current value has gone up by $140,000 in two years. It’s insane. Makes me want to sell but then I’d have to buy another house at an inflated price so what’s the point lol.

Granted we did some reno but not even 1/4 of that.
 
What do you mean by "carrying costs"?
Problem is you still need a new place! Prices here haven't increased by that much, but rents certainly have.
I feel so fortunate to have been able to buy when I did. Of course maintenance costs will increase, it's an old house
I mean the costs to keep the old place going until it’s sold. That’s the term I’ve known it as. Mortgage payment if you still have one, insurance, taxes, possible HOA fees, most utilities, outside maintenance like lawn care, and security if you’re never there to check on it. Until it’s sold you’re basically paying for 2 residences.

Mine were close to $1000 a month for a house worth $50k. I worked all summer to pretty it up and fix little things. I chose to price it at just enough to pay it off, and cover realtor commissions etc. for quick sale. People said I might have been able to get a little more if I waited for the right buyer, but the carrying costs were eating up my savings fast. I made it but barely. Historically it was an area where houses sat on the market for a very long time.

That was 6 years ago. These days there’s no shortage of buyers for quick sale. Which makes it tough getting a new house, but once you got it, it’s easier than ever to unload your old one. At least around here and in most areas from what I hear.
 
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I mean the costs to keep the old place going until it’s sold. That’s the term I’ve known it as. Mortgage payment if you still have one, insurance, taxes, possible HOA fees, most utilities, outside maintenance like lawn care, and security if you’re never there to check on it. Until it’s sold you’re basically paying for 2 residences.

Mine were close to $1000 a month for a house worth $50k. I worked all summer to pretty it up and fix little things. I chose to price it at just enough to pay it off, and cover realtor commissions etc. for quick sale. People said I might have been able to get a little more if I waited for the right buyer, but the carrying costs were eating up my savings fast. I made it but barely. Historically it was an area where houses sat on the market for a very long time.

That was 6 years ago. These days there’s no shortage of buyers for quick sale. Which makes it tough getting a new house, but once you got it, it’s easier than ever to unload your old one. At least around here and in most areas from what I hear.
Ah, yeah. I would have never thought to purchase before selling, but, my last house I was so eager to move I let my son and a friend stay in the house to "fix it up" 🙄 to get a better selling price. That was a huge mistake!
Mine did appraise for a good bit more, not twice, but that just meant my property taxes increased.
 
What do you mean by "carrying costs"?
In our case, when we want to buy the new house first, then sell the old one, we need to finance the purchase. But it's not like we want to commit to a 25-year mortgage. (We don't have a mortgage right now.) As soon as we sell the old house, we pay back the loan. So we will only be paying interest ("carrying costs") for a short time.
 
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If I had somewhere to go, and moving my things twice plus finding storage wasn’t a problem, then I would have definitely sold first. But in addition to all my furniture I had a ton of things like my tools, parts, yard equipment, music gear, etc. Also it seems that getting the old place sold and getting into a new place never really coincide.
 
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I read that the house prices have dropped here for the first time in 2022 but that it is probably because of a summer lull. When I'm checking on Rightmove it seems like house prices are still higher than they were last year when we were house hunting.

The problem we had here was that we needed a house with a garden as we had two dogs last year and some of the buildings of the flats with gardens we saw had strict "no pets" rules. Our local estate agent in London said that was quite unusual as he had sold lots of flats to people with pets. I think it would be far easier to move when we don't have our pets. My cats are 17 and 14 and my dog is 11 this year. I'm still looking each week to see what streets I would like to live on. I would love a sea view, ideally!
 
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If I had somewhere to go, and moving my things twice plus finding storage wasn’t a problem, then I would have definitely sold first. But in addition to all my furniture I had a ton of things like my tools, parts, yard equipment, music gear, etc. Also it seems that getting the old place sold and getting into a new place never really coincide.
I was so lucky when we moved in 2020. My sister in law has an empty apartment on her second floor. It’s tiny, especially for three adults, three cats and five rats, lol, but we were able to sell our home, move in there for three months until we found this house.

My daughter also has a huge empty basement so the movers took all of our stuff there, except for the few items that we needed for the apartment like our beds and some clothing/personal items. When we moved into the new house, we rented a truck to move all of the other big stuff from daughter’s basement to our new house…she’s less than three miles away. Then we were able to take our time over the next few weeks and bring the boxed stuff over as we needed it. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect set up. I was/still am so grateful it worked out like that. I know how lucky I was.
 
Technically my older daughter can do the same thing. Sell the co-op and move in with my SIL/her aunt. But she’s resisting that for some reason. But it would also make the move so much easier. She will already have money from the sale so that she can jump on a new place here when she finds something.
 
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That isn't very expensive for such a large flat. I would convert the master bedroom into a sitting room.
I really like it. I have my eye on 4 similar flats in the area. I hope ones like that are available in a few years time.
 
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According to Rightmove.co.uk, here are listed the most popular towns where potential buyers wish to live:

Take a look at the most searched-for buyer locations of 2022:

RankArea
1London
2Cornwall
3Devon
4Bristol
5Glasgow
6Manchester
7Edinburgh
8Sheffield
9York
10Cambridge
 
Why is it that my three prefered towns to buy a flat are amongst the most expensive ones?

The article is from 2014 but I'm sure those areas are still quite expensive.

As for Oxford, I know there's been a lot of house building activity in other Oxfordshire towns in recent years.
 
Hmm. I am considering moving house again. I want to move to Kent, probably Margate/Broadstairs. It is dependent on my husband's job and whether he will retire soon. If he retires early it could be as soon as 2024, if not as early, then 2026. I do like where I am in Leigh-on-sea, but would prefer to move to Kent as I have family in Kent and London. The average house price is cheaper there as it is almost £500k here and only (ha!) £400k there.
 
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Hmm. I am considering moving house again. I want to move to Kent, probably Margate/Broadstairs. It is dependent on my husband's job and whether he will retire soon. If he retires early it could be as soon as 2024, if not as early, then 2026. I do like where I am in Leigh-on-sea, but would prefer to move to Kent as I have family in Kent and London. The average house price is cheaper there as it is almost £500k here and only (ha!) £400k there.

Margate is a nice area. I remember going to spend a day by the sea in Margate when I lived in Kent.
 
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