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Estate agent fees

On one's own home? D'you know, I'd forgotten that and how it was administered/effected.

If you had a joint mortgage but were not married you got dual MIRAS - pissed of our Building society manager no end when we took out our mortgage, got tax relief on the whole £55000.

Buggers found out quick enough when we did get married though.
 
In my, admittedly limited, experience the system in Scotland seems to work better. We have sold two properties in the last 3 years. Our own house was straightforward. For my late mother's house we did have to sort out some boundary issues but we did that while we were getting they property ready for sale. Boundary issues are quite common in rural properties, the old deeds often are inaccurate when compared to aerial photos from Ordinance Survey. In the case of mum's house, the land had been bought from the family firm. The design of house changed due to unexpected ground conditions. The garage being built alongside instead of under the house. No one had ever compared the deed plans with reality. Luckily it was easy to arrange a swap of land to correct the errors.

If you are selling is always worth checking boundaries on the ground with deed plans in good time.
 
If you had a joint mortgage but were not married you got dual MIRAS - pissed of our Building society manager no end when we took out our mortgage, got tax relief on the whole £55000.

I wasn't married then but was a 4 years later. I really can't remember mortgage interest relief at source affecting me then or later. As I was doing my own tax returns, MIRAS never came up so I've no idea who benefitted or how. Where was 'the source'? Sounds like it should have been deducted from the mortgage payments.
 
A lady tennis colleague and her bee-keeping husband went ahead with their sale in the summer despite their purchase's owner whacking up the price by £20K because they hadn't found another to move to. This they refused and it fell apart. They rented local accommodation in a friend's boatyard for a few months but now are having to rent an Airbnb until a new venue goes though, hopefully. This has affected them a fair bit, understandably, but why they, or anyone, would want to move in the unpredictable climate of last and this year, except for pressing circumstances, I really don't know.

Conveyancing (as I know well) has been unusually protracted due to government interference in the housing market (as usual, dire consequences; why don't they learn?). My own straightforward flat disposal took 3 months and it was acknowledged that solicitors/conveyancers were only dealing with 'urgent' cases where large stamp duty amounts were involved. That my exchange happened just into October after the end of the s.d. 'holiday' endorses this.

Our housing market has its own problems without governments interfering. Supply and demand are sufficiently balanced bases for this ancient asset class exchange. Can't believe that my £8,250 first purchase of a thirties semi in a decent area of Canterbury in the lee of the uni was considered a struggle in 1975 and required me to be a saver with the Leek & Moorlands Build. Soc. for 6 months before I was considered eligible, despite having been a teacher for over a year. Times do change !

The housing market is broken, with much of the mess caused by govt intervention. I looked at a place today, pictures must have been taken 20 years ago, totally misrepresented. It was basically a wreck and needs gutting, yet they want the money it would be after having £250K spent on it. We really could do with a proper recession to flush out this nonsense. The more I look, the more I want to stay in my beautiful house.
 
Finally remembered ”Mortgage Interest Relief At Source”

At the the time I was living in a tied farm house, if I remember properly the benefit in kind was £700 per year. Not bad when all the bills were paid. The savings helped a lot when we had buy our own house in 1995.
 
The housing market is broken, with much of the mess caused by govt intervention. I looked at a place today, pictures must have been taken 20 years ago, totally misrepresented. It was basically a wreck and needs gutting, yet they want the money it would be after having £250K spent on it. We really could do with a proper recession to flush out this nonsense. The more I look, the more I want to stay in my beautiful house.
Reminds me of a house one of our neighbours was selling about four years ago. It went for £1.4m. One buyer viewed it then came back with an offer well short of the anticipated successful bid, saying that they wanted to knock a couple of walls through and move rooms around to make it to their liking and that would cost X which they deducted from their offer. The neighbour had to tell them it doesn’t work like that.

Someone else turned up who didn’t strike them as someone who would move to this sort of property. They spoke about their ambitions to make one room their office and other exciting plans and told the neighbour they were sure they had met before, though the neighbour couldn’t place them or imagine how they would have met socially . After they left the truth dawned - the prospective buyer had been up in front of them in court- on matters of financial dishonesty.
 
I really can't remember mortgage interest relief at source affecting me then or later. As I was doing my own tax returns, MIRAS never came up so I've no idea who benefitted or how. Where was 'the source'? Sounds like it should have been deducted from the mortgage payments.
It was.
Tax relief on interest paid.

Just to clarify, Bob, was the relief deducted by the building soc./bank before you paid it? Despite this being interpreted as 'at source', I can't recall any reductions from my payments and this certainly doesn't seem feasible in the financial world. If claimed as a tax relief, how was this mortgage known about for PAYE tax officials and why the 'at source' in its title? S'pose I'd find it on Google but I'm still nonplussed.

Finally remembered ”Mortgage Interest Relief At Source”
At the the time I was living in a tied farm house, if I remember properly the benefit in kind was £700 per year. Not bad when all the bills were paid. The savings helped a lot when we had buy our own house in 1995.

I thought tied cottages were rented, not bought with standard mortgages (not that I know about the farming world). Did you get MIRAS on your subsequent house as I wonder if it was restricted to first time buyers. I'm amazed, having lived, worked and bought/sold property during those times, that I have a gaping hole in my memory, despite always being financially aware.
 
I can’t remember how it worked, whether you claimed the interest off pre tax income or the building society reduced the payments but I remember the benefit for interest only mortgages eg endowment mortgages was that the tax relief stayed the same throughout the mortgage term whereas on a repayment mortgage it reduced as the capital outstanding and its consequent interest started to reduce.
Also it was not just for first time buyers.
I had it through three houses until it was abolished.
 
The building society reduced the payments - when we got married they very quickly requested an increased payment to reflect the fact that we were only then due relief on £30,000.
 
I thought tied cottages were rented, not bought with standard mortgages (not that I know about the farming world)

I only know about the situation in Scotland. The house is normally provided as part of the employment contract. The provision of accommodation for employees is still standard in the land based industries such as farming and game keeping.

It is often on the basis that your employment requires you to be on call. For example I would check any cows due to calve each night before going to bed, if necessary I set my alarm for 2-3 hours hence and would get up to check again and provide assistance to the cow if required. It also gives employers a bigger pool of staff when it comes to recruitment.

To make it clear, my first mortgage wasn't until 1996 by which time MIRAS was history.
 
Interesting day. Viewed a place, nice house. Only a year old but seeking a 25% price uplift after 12 months. Turns out they are selling due to divorce. She’s moved out, he won’t be granted the mortgage on his financial credentials alone. Told the agent I like the house but can’t justify the price uplift. Will sit on my hands, plenty of divorces are instigated after Christmas…
 
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Enquired about a place this week. 20 viewings booked for this weekend. It looks OK but nothing that special. Pointless bothering. There’s far too much easy money and leverage about. This is the consequence of not allowing recessions any more.
 


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