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We had a similar experience.
Did you make a mis-selling claim?
We did and got the £1500 back that we had lost.



Bad investments. But that does not mean that you should never invest again....

You don't have to.
A pension is merely a wrapper (like a ISA).
What you invest in is up to you.
For example if you like property then you could invest in a property fund. You could also invest in...

Buying a house is a good idea long term.
Currently all indicators are downwards for prices, so you need to consider your timing. Public sector job losses have yet to kick in fully.

Overpayment is...

There are some pros to renting

1) If you move around a lot you save on the transactions costs (stamp duty, estate agents, legal fees etc.)
2) You don't have your capital tied up or at risk.
3)...

SF - have you started a pension yet?
I realise it's a little off topic, but it's really something you should look at whilst planning your finances especially if you haven't started and have lost 10...

I'm sure no-one is intending to be patronising.
You are perfectly entitled to make the lifestyle choices you want.
The point has already been made that not all comments were aimed at your...

+1

The comments are not necessarily all for your personal situation SF, but for all the other lurkers.

These type of schemes have been used fraudulently in the past so it's as well that people...

I don't think it has at all.
The comments have all been very relevant to the subject.

Do you mean it isn't what you wanted to hear?

Some people on here have done very well for themselves and...

Hi Ryan - You are doing absolutely the right thing.
A cash deposit not only reduces the amount you have to pay back but gives you access to better deals.
Lenders have some criteria for lending....

We also took an endowment mortgage in 1991 and were told it was the best thing since sliced bread and that whilst they were under an legal obligation to show us 6%, 9% and 12% returns, that in...

You won't get any arguments from me about being old-fashioned. Your summary that there aren't any clever shortcuts fits in with my thinking.

As I said we did a shared equity scheme in 1991 to...

We don't know whether the valuer has deliberately inflated the value to seal the deal (illegal) or whether it's a genuine discount from market value by a desperate seller (legal).

Like you I'm...

The surveyor cannot inflate the price above market value. If they do it's mortgage fraud.

It can however be sold at less than market value.
Provided you are not evading tax or deliberately...

So you don't think properties EVER sell below market value when people are desperate for some reason or other?
I think they do sometimes come up however I think they would normally be referred to...

If I were an FTB now, I'd wait for house prices to fall when public sector job losses kick in, although I know it's easy to speculate when your not actually in that position.

It cannot just be an agreement between buyer and vendor the lender/surveyor have to agree to the lending too.
In general you can't get a mortgage of £162K for a £170K value because that's higher...

If you don't have any spare income, then how will you afford the extra costs of ownership?

The basic point is that if you can't save for a deposit then can you afford the house?

Have you sat...

Dabz is right.

There is another problem with this scheme. The purpose of the deposit is to make you save.
Savings makes a massive difference to your wealth.
After 20 years or so you can own a...

I wish you all the best with your hopes and your housebuying but I'm afraid I think it's all a big con (possibly quite a legal one).

If properties are genuinely available below market value, they...

Back in 1991 we bought a house with no deposit (I was just out of uni so had little in savings), with an "equity share scheme" from the builder.
We bought 80% of the property with a mortgage.
The...

Gifted deposits are not fraudulent when disclosed and the real purchase price used. However, increasing the value of the property to hide the gift and recording that as the purchase price is...

Err no, complete fallcy.
If the best price it fetched on the open market was £170K then that's what it's worth.
It's not worth £180K just because someone says it is.

I am with Star on this....