How dire is the situation really for first time buyers?

sugarpants_2

We are waiting till next summer to become FTB. But I think if you REALLY love the place then go for it. Prices will rise again in ten years and you will still be there.

Good luck whatever you decide.

mpsavuk

sugarpants wrote: »

We are waiting till next summer to become FTB. But I think if you REALLY love the place then go for it. Prices will rise again in ten years and you will still be there.

Good luck whatever you decide.

Prices may well rise in ten years but the OP will still be stuck with the mortgage debt they took out this year.That doesn't go away.It still has to be paid back with interest.

Imagine how hacked off they'll be when they realise that if they had waited just a year or 2 they could have got an even better place for 50k+ less.

danrees

I am quite happy renting for the next 3 years as a would-be first time buyer.

Moving into a new flat that the BTL landlord paid £250k for in February. He has built an extension (£10k-£20k?).

I am going to be paying £1,250pcm. An interest-only mortgage with a 5% deposit at 6.5% on £270k is £1,460pcm. And I don't have any maintainance/repairs costs.

When an interest only mortgage is cheaper than the equivalent rent, I may consider buying. Not until then - especially when any sane person expects at least a 20% fall in house prices. After all, an interest-only mortgage is just paying rent to the bank and gambling on the value of a property.

shelovestobuystuff

If you can take advantage of the drop in the market then well done.
FTB,s are at last in a good position,about time too.
The house I want has dropped by 200k already but the valuation is another 60k below that so I am holding out for a bit more of a discount.

Incisor

RHYSDAD wrote: »

... We're buying now but ours is a shared ownership place. We're buying to live there, possibly til we snuff it. We are in a !!!!!! HA flat with no garden and one very lively two year old and a soon to be running round baby. We need the space and a garden. If our new place drops massively in value, we'll just get it revalued at it's (at a guess) lowest value and buy more of a share at a lower price. If we were buying outright on the open market i wouldn't even consider it but we're not in a position to be fussy!! We're not living any longer than we have to in our current shytehole what with the druggy scum and thugs that pervade our area.

So you have your sales pitch worked out for when you come to move on then?

Gazman07

Thanks for all the advice so far guys & girls, really helpful. For the past week I’ve been torn between my heart & my head & I must say you’ve all confirmed what my head was telling me.

On the one hand (heart) I have been telling myself I could ride out the storm, I’d have my own home & be on the property ladder & I was sort of pleased I got it for £12K less than it was sold for in March. But on the other I wouldn’t say it was my dream house & I’d probably have to sell it in 5 years or so as it only had 2 bedrooms. It just doesn’t make sense buying a property now knowing it’s going to be in negative equity almost straight away & I keep telling myself that better properties are going to be within my budget if I just wait another year or so.

I think I’m gonna keep a very close eye on the housing market over the next year or so. In the mean time keep adding to the deposit I’ve already saved.

On moral grounds I feel really bad for the vendors as they have had a sold sign up for the past week & must have felt relieved that they had “sold” the place. Will they have incurred any costs because they accepted our offer? other than possibly missing out on other prospective buyers (although they hadn’t had any viewings since March) That I could over pay to compensate them for messing them about like this?

dmaudsley

I'm in a similar boat. Renting at the mo and have found a place a nice 1 bed in a much nicer area with a garden and a loft we can expand into. Perfect.

The flat was tenanted until recently but every room is dated and now needs a copmplete refurb and so can't be let out by the owner in its current state. The owner lives in Luxemburg and so isn't really in a position to do the work and so needs to sell. Again, perfect.

The flat was originally on at £299k and then came down to £265k. We offered £225k and were delighted to have the offer accepted. We're now a few weeks down the line and on the verge of getting our mortgage in place. Lots of people think we've got a great deal but the news on the property market is getting worse everyday and many are saying we should drop our offer just on the basis of the strength of our position - or pull out and wait for prices to keep tumbling.

Trouble is we don't want to stay renting where we are and my wife's desperate to finally have a place of our own we can decorate.

What's a FTB to do?

geoffky

Making the wrong financial decision now will cost more than you can realize now ..it took me ten years to sort my mess out...

RHYSDAD

Incisor wrote: »

So you have your sales pitch worked out for when you come to move on then?

Do you know what HA means?
It means Housing Association. We aren't selling , just giving notice so your sarcasm is plainly irrelevant seeing as you don't even know what you're talking about. far canal......

phil_b_2

Hi gazman,

I was in your exact position a few months ago. Was proceeding on a property which initially I was happy enough with the price of. Doubts quickly set in and it became very apparant it wasnt actually a good deal after all. Sleepless nights were had due to the worrying and uncertainty as the completion date got closer. When me and my girlfriend finally decided we should pull out once and for all a HUGE weight lifted and I felt happy again for the first time in ages!

The same house is back on the market obviously, but has been reduced twice and I consider it still over valued by about 15-20k. A lucky escape...

I would recommend pulling out and waiting. I'm starting to sniff many bargains round my area as developers are trying their best to get rid of part-ex's they have taken on new builds. I suspect 20% reductions in asking price are perfectly realistic with those properties.