World Cups and House Hunting

I don't think the two are happy bedfellows. One involves a lot of shouting, drinking and moaning. The other is the biggest sporting tournament on the planet. The need to find somewhere that will provide me with a roof over my head for the next few years will have to play second fiddle to my need to watch a football fest. Holland to win it.

Leasehold law too complicated? What a surprise.

Just like nearly everything involved in the house buying process, it's either too expensive or too complicated. Leaseholds fall into both categories if this report is anything to go by.

Once again, it's an example of how the unscrupulous can use the housebuying process to make a quick buck at the expense of the homebuyer who doesn't want to wade through pages of dull legal waffle. As I've said before, there's just too much outdated, complicated crap involved in the housebuying process, and leaseholds are just another twist in the maze. It all needs looking at.

Google Streetview

Here's an invaluable tool for the modern day househunter. Streetview lets you check out the neighbourhood, see how dangerous it is, peer at your potential future neighbours, all without being seen.

You can see how far your target home is from that open prison, that busy mainline train station, or the silage works. You can check out the kind of cars people in the area drive to see if yours will stick out either cos it's half the size than the 4x4 rest, or if it's way too flash and likely to be key-scratched or taken off your hands altogether.

Now, if homeowners could overcome the obvious burglar fears, it would make my life a lot easier if vendors would let the nice Google cameras into their homes so I can see what it's like inside before I make my long trek to a viewing. Google Through The Keyhole would catch on methinks.

House prices falling?

That's what it says here. Splendid news for buyers like me who've been holding out until some common sense returns to the market. However, the fall is less than a half of one per cent, so it's not quite time for me to throw wads of money I haven't got up into the air in celebration. But as I've said all along, if every vendor knocked 20 grand off their initial asking price and allowed me to knock a further twenty off that, we'd be doing business.

Need to find an extra twenty grand I reckon...

That's how much more I reckon I need to up the quality of the house I'll be able to afford. My current budget offers only a limited selection of pretty similar houses. However, up it a bit and suddenly there's a whole new world of choice. Some with two bathrooms. Three bedrooms. A garage! A garden with room for trees. Now, if only money grew on trees...

A 25 Year Sentence

That's always been my view on mortgages. You tie yourself into a long term deal in which you have to pay back a certain amount every month. A certain amount that's certain to get higher methinks.

I can't help feeling I'm going to wish away that quarter of a century, until the day I owe the bank nothing, and own my house. But I'll be (calculator out) 65 by then. Youth and even middle-aged long gone. Hair as well probably. I hope that's not what life's all about, but I fear it might be...

Mortgage Press Ads

There's a fair few of them about now. But before I get all excited about the rates they offer, I'm quick to check out the LTV. That's loan to value, I believe. The percentage of the overall price of the house the banks are willing to lend you. Seems I'm picking up a lot of the lingo during this house search. Nearly all the ads are only relevant if you can pay at least a 30% deposit. That's 60 grand on the type of property I'm looking at. Loose change of course. Where do I sign?