Making a House into a Home
If you somehow manage to survive the credit crunch that is affecting the UK intact or even better, manage to buy yourself a house on the cheap, all you need to do then is make the house seem like a home. There is no point in simply staying within four walls and under a roof and calling it a home - you have to give add some personal touches to make it homely and comfortable for you. And it’s not necessary that only a woman’s touch can do that - although it does help a lot in that direction. Even if you are just a single guy or a bunch of guys then don’t fret, you can always accomplish that end yourself. Here’s how.
To start with, get rid of any thing around the house which you don’t have any use for, nor do you feel any such occasion will arrive in the near future. Store it in the attic, put it away or just dump it in the bin, but make sure it is kept out of your sight. Now pick up your Hoover and do a thorough cleaning. Next, get the walls painted in the colours of your choice, each room characterised by a colour.
The next step is to get good quality furniture for the house and space it out properly. The couches, chairs et al in the sitting room need to follow a uniform pattern and represent your true personality. For instance, adding a water bed to your bedroom can be a fun experience in itself. You have the freedom to pick and choose whatever you require and put it in place.
Then stack up the mantelpiece with photographs of your family and friends - helps to keep all your memories intact, giving a positive feel to the house. If you are a connoisseur of art, you might like to deck the walls with famous paintings. If you believe in superstitions, you might want to follow some guidelines like Feng shui to receive more positive vibes in your home.
In a household with kids, you might want to add some bright colours and provide a tiny playground. If you have pets, make special arrangements for them - whether it is a kennel in the yard, or a bird house beside the water fountain.
All in all, all you need to make a home out of a house is dedication and love. Once the house starts ringing with laughter and comes alive with people bustling around, it will transcend into your home - the perfect place for you to live, and love.
Investing in the UK Property Market
The United Kingdom may rank 79th in geographical size, but it happens to have the fifth largest GDP in the world. It doesn’t need a rocket scientist to tell you that the real estate and property market in the country are some of the most expensive in the world. The whole market is buoyed by the sheer about of people looking for homes to rent and buy.
External forces such as a strong pound sterling, governmental regulation, very high demand and lack of quality skilled labour and raw material have led to a crisis which has seen prices skyrocket. With
London being the financial capital of not only Great Britain, but the entire European Union as well, it is not surprising then that the UK and London in particular afford some of the most expensive property market prices in the world.
A major factor driving these price rises is low interest rates. As banks reduce interest rates, it becomes more and more prudent to invest in real estate, and this land grabbing has led to the current scenario of high prices but the demand is driven mostly by immigrants to UK. With other factors including divorce rates leading to less people living under one roof, it only compounds the problem. As well as this, lax regulations by the government have also made the situation worse.
It is but natural that the wealthy can afford these and any prices, but what about the majority? When it comes to investment, the best course of action to take would be to invest in real estate in second and third world countries, as the prices are still relatively very and the prospects for growth are very high. It is also seen that UK investors are actively wooed by many developing countries, most notably in the Middle East.
Investing overseas is ideal for the cash-strapped Briton and the trend of investing in real estate overseas is proven by the fact that today the majority of foreign-held real estate in the Philippines, for example, is held by British people.
But closer to home, there have been conflicting reports on the future of the UK property market. Some analysts claim that an increase of 7-9% is possible, while others insist that a decrease of 35% is on the cards. It is obvious that in the long run, real estate is bound to bounce back and the best bet would be to invest in the UK if the (usually volatile) prices are down, and to invest overseas depending on budgetary constraints if they are somewhat higher.
A House Market Downturn?
All the latest figures point to a fall in the housing market, with approval rates for mortgages down by thirty percent from the same period last year.
It appears that lending rate increases between banks, the exclusion of a range of bad credit loan products by several mortgage lenders and the fear of a recession have led to a shortage of confidence in the housing market.
Nonetheless, economists are of the opinion that the economy in the UK is in good shape with unparalleled continued growth for the last five years. They also state that a shortage of housing together with a large pool of prospective first time house buyers should help sustain the market, helping to prevent any major falls.
On the other hand, it may be argued that young first time house buyers are not able to take the first step onto the property ladder because of the sizeable differences between their income and the spiralling cost of mortgages. If this carries on, eventually property speculators will invest their funds elsewhere, creating a vacuum at the bottom of the market, in turn leading to a major fall in house prices.
When there was a crash in 1989, property values fell by more than thirty percent in just a few short months. Even though today’s interest rates are nowhere near the fifteen percent they reached during that crash, and the economy appears in a much healthier position, if a major correction was needed due to other circumstances, rising oil prices for example, would that be considered such a bad thing?
Soaring prices of homes for sale benefit property investors with hefty portfolios but in the long run couldn’t be sustained. A major fall together with a rise in inexpensive property would unlock the door for potential new buyers to come into the market - preparing it for the subsequent upward movement. For the time being, it could pay first time house buyers to hold off for a little while to see if the market further softens - there may be some valuable savings to be made during the next two or three years.
The current state of the UK housing market
So youre looking in to buying a house as a first time buyer. If you havent got a decent deposit, e.i. at least 10% minimum, you might as well forget it. 100% mortgages are a thing of the past and even 95% are hard to come by. Banks and building societies and not wanting to lend too much money at the moment so are being very choosey who they lend money to.
What can you do? Wait it out and rent is really your only option until the market stabilises.