http://www.articletrader.com/ Articles at ArticleTrader en-us http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/mortgage-mates-property-pals-and-home-buying-friends.html http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/mortgage-mates-property-pals-and-home-buying-friends.html Fri, 15 Sep 2006 00:00:00 -0500
Now a new breed of buyer has begun to emerge, or maybe I should say ‘evolve’, because that’s what happens when nature finds a way around a problem, who have decided to tackle the issue of affordability head on, they are the co-buyers. If you’ve not been near your TV, radio or favorite newspaper recently you’d be excused for not having heard of this home buying movement. Put simply, co-buying is where two or more people buy a property together to join funds, divide of all the costs, and afford to buy years sooner than they could have done alone. Nothing new there, as friends and family have been doing that for an age now, what is new is the rise in the popularity of searching for your ideal mortgage mate on the internet.

Richard Cohn, Founding Director of Shared Spaces Limited, introduced us to the concept of co-buying with www.SharedSpaces.co.uk, launched in December 2005. He explains, “I flat shared for years before buying, and made some great friends along the way, and it was during this time that I came to the conclusion that was to lead to the creation of SharedSpaces. If you can flat-share with complete strangers with great success, why can’t people take it to the next level and buy together?”

Of course there is more to it than just that because buying is a far bigger financial commitment than renting, but Cohn suggests that with the correct legal framework (a document called a ‘Deed of Trust’ that costs only a few hundred pounds from any solicitor that protects your legal rights and provides a roadmap for the relationship), mortgage payment protection insurance (to protect you and your co-owners from hardship should you loose your jobs or are unable to work due to illness), and time (as much time as you need to get to know your potential co-buyer well enough to call them a friend or a business partner in the process), there is no reason why you cannot have a successful co-buying experience.

SharedSpaces.co.uk has over 2,500 registered members across the UK looking for someone else to buy a property with, joined by a common goal, to fight the affordability gap. Whether you are a key worker or a city high flyer if you’re looking for a mortgage mate, a property pal or a future friend to buy your first home with there seems to be plenty of people to choose from. I don’t know whether co-buying solves the long term problem of property prices rising faster than salaries, but it sure does seem to offer an option for those who have been left behind.

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Richard Cohn is the Founding Director of SharedSpaces.co.uk, the UK's co-buyer network website. "I have always had a passion for property, from my education as a Surveyor to my employment as a property consultant and the launch of SharedSpaces.co.uk to help anyone who could benefit from joining forces with someone else to realise their property dreams." Why not join the thousands already registered looking for someone to co-buy, co-invest or co-rent with

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/what-hope-for-the-first-time-home-buyer.html http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/what-hope-for-the-first-time-home-buyer.html Thu, 14 Sep 2006 00:00:00 -0500
Buying a home for a first time home buyer is now out of reach for all but those on the highest salaries. Unable to buy, the would be home owner’s only alternatives are to stay in the parental home, or move into a rental property. Many choose the home rental route, but of course this only goes to fuel the buy-to-let market encouraging those looking to buy investment property. The more homes that are bought as investment property, the fewer are available for sale to first time home buyers and through the wonders of demand and supply theory, property prices are pushed higher again and further out of reach.

For years some first time buyers have held back waiting for the property ‘bubble’ to burst. This being the favourite phrase of the post-millennium property expert. In the UK they were convinced it would burst in 2003, they were so sure it would pop in 2004, and if it didn’t explode in 2005 they would eat their hats! Well, many had to eat their own words as well as their headgear in 2006 as they had to admit that maybe they had got this whole bubble thing wrong all along as new theories emerged as to the way people buying homes bought, and the market reacted. No crash in the foreseeable future now say those same experts, just the possibility of a slight slowdown in the relentless tide of rises.

Other first timers have been waiting for their salaries to improve before buying, but they too have been disappointed as property prices have risen far faster than wages, and instead of being closer to their dream home, years on they find themselves still first time home buyers in waiting as many are now worse off than they were before.

It is important to note that this is not a problem limited to a few unfortunates who did not jump onto the property ladder when they could or should have. This has reached political and social issue status in the UK. The statistical average number of first time home buyers here is around 40% of the total home buying public. It is therefore rather worrying to see that in each of the last three years this has fallen into the high 20%’s equating to around 100,000 less first time home buyers each year than there should have been. Numbers that bring a tear of joy to the eye of any rental property owners, but for the first time home buyer things have not looked too good.

It’s not all bad news though there is a glimmer of hope for the beleaguered masses. In the 2006 budget, the UK Government promised £970m to help key workers into their first homes, a number of organisations are launching schemes to offer private shared ownership where they fund a percentage of the property for a rental income, and of course there is the blossoming co-buyer market, something we know quite a bit about as we launched the co-buyer network 10 months ago. Co-buying offers the thousands of potential first time home buyers an opportunity to join forces to help one another onto the property ladder. Through doing this they multiply their buying power, divide all their costs and can afford to own what they want, where they want to live years sooner than they could possibly have done so on their own. There are many innovative options that are launching to help the first time home buyer, and we are hoping to bring as many as possible to you.

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Richard Cohn is the Founding Director of SharedSpaces.co.uk, the UK's co-buyer network website. "I have always had a passion for property, from my education as a Surveyor to my employment as a property consultant and the launch of SharedSpaces.co.uk to help anyone who could benefit from joining forces with someone else to realise their property dreams." Why not join the thousands already registered looking for someone to co-buy, co-invest or co-rent with.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]>