talk us out of going for viewings

lynzpower

now ive slept on it, Im going to leave it for now.

Cant see this getting particularly "snapped" especially if it is not on rightmove.

I read that quite a lot of agents have ceased using RM, and as a result houses will sit around for longer.

Im fairly sure it was a jerky reaction to "the lure of the bargain".

Think ive managed to talk myself out of it

lostinrates

Lynz,

I'm in a similar position,but I've viewed. Now ts YOUR turn to see if you can talk us out of a second viewing because I'm now in the unenviable, to buy or not to buy situation.

Whatever and whenever we buy the financial change will be a shock. As FTB we have been good about putting a lot away, but now find we are no longer saving. (inflation, car problems and saving the economy with mood enhancing splurges...to top it all off we got a takeaway last night ). On top of that our lifestyle choices are not small and we are not looking at aras we know well, so each possible property involves serious research of area as well as the normal ones for the house.

We've been making pro and con lists of particular house and of buying at all. The thing stopping us really is not money now I think, but fear of the instabilty in the market and the unknown. I have clung to the belief that it was money preventing us buying for a long time, and indeed it was, only recently have we had reliable income to match our savings, and been in the same country for the longterm!, but now its fear and indecision.

lynzpower

Ok shall I talk you out of it ? ( tongue somewhat in cheek)

Are you seriously thinking of going for a second viewing in an area that you have not already lived in or have a lot of prior knowledge of ( ie used to work there have F&F there etc?)

The other thing that crossed my mind is that
a) most of us here like a bargain or want something at the lowest cost without compromising too heavily ( the old MSE mantra)
b) we dont want to buy something now that will end up being cheaper tomorrow,
c) most of us MSErs are either a) already restrained/ conservative spenders raised that way by careful parents b) have learnt how to be this way / yet sometimes struggle in the face of a bargain - (this is definately me)
d) for hardenened MSErs every spend is examined for can i get it cheaper elsewhere/ do I want or need it. If you buy holidays/petrol/ loaf of bread/ second hand car in this way then why is a pile of bricks any diferent? Buying houses/property whatever you want to call it IS allegedly different in the way that its meant to be an emotional purchase "I fell in love with it" Are you thinking in that way? .Im more of the assessment based response. Is it that you really NEED that home or do you only WANT it? Ol DFW/MSE mantra IF YOU DONT NEED IT PUT IT BACK ON THAT SHELF

In the case of the above house we saw - will it be there tomorrow - probably yes.
if its not will there be others like it ( definately yes, when this one eventually sells it will set the new value for that rd and its surrounding roads- this is a major plus for me)
Is it unique- no I dont think this house we saw in the window was particualrly unique- there are many streets similar in the area.

Put it this way, the diff between rent & mortgage ( plus insurance/ maintainence/ policies etc) for us is huge, will be looking at around 700pcm more than what we pay right now, plus losing the interest we are making - call that the opportunity cost.

We are now in the very fortunate position where we can- due to the amount we are saving- just book a holiday if we want/ buy clothes when we want/ buy food at waitrose / take cabs. I dont think OH and I are really ready just yet to be tightening our belts- weve had years of being skint

Theres a lot to be said for being relaxed and happy with what youve got.

lostinrates

lynzpower wrote: »

Ok shall I talk you out of it ? ( tongue somewhat in cheek)

Are you seriously thinking of going for a second viewing in an area that you have not already lived in or have a lot of prior knowledge of ( ie used to work there have F&F there etc?) Yes, where ever we buy will fall into that category...we don't expect to ever be able to afford in areas that we know well in London, nor outside London where I live as is simply too far away. But we both come from families that worked abroad a lot, and have done so ourselves, its not fear of the unknown or fear of commitment but fear of commitment to the unknown!

The other thing that crossed my mind is that
a) most of us here like a bargain or want something at the lowest cost without compromising too heavily ( the old MSE mantra) Yes, thats true
b) we dont want to buy something now that will end up being cheaper tomorrow, and that, thats the biggy really isn't it?:o
c) most of us MSErs are either a) already restrained/ conservative spenders raised that way by careful parents b) have learnt how to be this way / yet sometimes struggle in the face of a bargain - (this is definately me) I'd say I'm a differently prioritsed spender than my parents rather than lessor or greater. I also think I probably work out at about an average spender to income but with non-average distribution of spend.
d) for hardenened MSErs every spend is examined for can i get it cheaper elsewhere/ do I want or need it. If you buy holidays/petrol/ loaf of bread/ second hand car in this way then why is a pile of bricks any diferent? Buying houses/property whatever you want to call it IS allegedly different in the way that its meant to be an emotional purchase "I fell in love with it" Are you thinking in that way? .Im more of the assessment based response. Is it that you really NEED that home or do you only WANT it? Ol DFW/MSE mantra IF YOU DONT NEED IT PUT IT BACK ON THAT SHELF I'm not in love with anything we are currently considering. Its more a question of missing the boat and accpting that maybe holding out for somthing I am in lov with is not going to be th answer either. DH is very smitten with one of the houses we looked at this weekend, and is proving quite difficult to keep level headed.:mad:

In the case of the above house we saw - will it be there tomorrow - probably yes.
if its not will there be others like it ( definately yes, when this one eventually sells it will set the new value for that rd and its surrounding roads- this is a major plus for me)
Is it unique- no I dont think this house we saw in the window was particualrly unique- there are many streets similar in the area. I think the house dh loves pobably is fairly unique.

Put it this way, the diff between rent & mortgage ( plus insurance/ maintainence/ policies etc) for us is huge, will be looking at around 700pcm more than what we pay right now, plus losing the interest we are making - call that the opportunity cost. Mortgage will be a lot higher, but will be whatver, we are not renting comparably or to any desired standard.

We are now in the very fortunate position where we can- due to the amount we are saving- just book a holiday if we want/ buy clothes when we want/ buy food at waitrose / take cabs. I dont think OH and I are really ready just yet to be tightening our belts- weve had years of being skint You've really convincd yourslf, haven't you? Well done. Not buying won't increase our quality of life I don't think, just be different.


Theres a lot to be said for being relaxed and happy with what youve got.[/quote]

Thanks lynz....

lynzpower

OOoh go on

Do you have a link? I need to see this place

You can pm it me if you like

lostinrates

I'll show you mine if you show me yours?:p

mr.broderick

Pobby wrote: »

Well have to admit that I posted in a sarky way but in all seriousness if I was in the loverly Lynzs position I would be fairly cautious right now. OK it`s fine if you are just looking at an affordable home but imho they are going to get a lot more affordable over the next year or so. It`s clear that I cannot be certain but it is looking far more likely that prices will come down a lot further.

Brodders old buddy, I have to admit that if I was in my late 20`s/ early 30`s there is no way I would now. If I was in a decent paying job and had a decent rented property I would be waiting right now.

For you to say that `These are the people who will never buy a home, they are too scared, they will definitely miss the bottom that is for sure.`` I fear that is a huge assumption on your part.

Just thought i'd add to the rest of the assumptions on here.

mr.broderick

mewbie wrote: »

Hope that's not me, sure you know I was joking. For once I didn't feel like trotting out the "if it suits your situation and you are happy about then its your decision". Partly because I reckon Lynzpower is pretty switched on anyway, and partly.. err.. because I wanted to have a laff.

No was not referring to you mewbie.

mr.broderick

ad9898 wrote: »

I'm not sure many are going to miss 'the bottom', generally in houseprice crashes the bottom normally lasts about 4 years, I don't see anything special about this crash thats going to make it any shorter.

And 'scared', what does that mean ?, I've owned 3 houses over the past 12 years and didn't find anything scary about purchasing or owning any of them, I'm not sure anyone else would either.

I found the purchases scary, maybe it is just me.
I would envisage anybody buying at the moment would have a tinge of fright as they signed their life away.
I find the bottom lasting 4 years absolutely bonkers, sorry.

mewbie_2

mr.broderick wrote: »

I found the purchases scary, maybe it is just me.

Me too...

mr.broderick wrote: »

I find the bottom lasting 4 years absolutely bonkers, sorry.

Think Japan had 16 years of drops. Imagine that.