'Variety of options' still open to FTBs

15-Nov-2007

First time buyers still have many options open to then in their quest to get onto the first rung of the property ladder, according to 1st Property Investment.

The firm has moved to diffuse some of the panic surrounding the plight of new buyers, as summed up by a report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) which this week revealed that new buyer enquiries were down for the 11th month in a row d ue to rising interest rates and house prices.

But suggestions that first time buyers are now finding it "impossible" to get onto the housing ladder should be viewed in the context of new buyer flexibility, the investment specialist advised.

The "impossibility" for many buyers was nothing more than an unwillingness to adapt to their situation and look further afield for their housing requirements, according to managing director Andy Smith.

Mr Smith also suggested that worried sellers would aid the cause of those looking for their first home and hence a first time buyer mortgage.

"There are more deals to be struck now than there have been at any time in the last three or four years because with the slow down, and particularly before Christmas, there are a lot of worried people out there and that puts first time buyers in a very strong position to go and buy something," said the MD.

"As far as the growth that has already occurred, I believe there are always ways of getting on the housing ladder if you want to. We deal a lot with developers that offer discounts.

"When people say they find it impossible to get on the housing ladder, what they tend to mean is they want to live in a certain area that they are inflexible on and they are not willing to move outside that," Mr Smith concluded.

Still better to buy than rent
http://www.firstrungnow.com/news/still-better-to-buy-3601.aspx

New buyers 'fighting back' despite slowdown
http://www.firstrungnow.com/news/new-buyers-fighting-3590.aspx

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