Decisions Decisions

carefullycautious

Hi I am a newbie here and find the site thoroughly addictive.

Right a brief synopsis, we are a middle aged couple who have until now rented and saved like mad. We would love to be able to buy a property outright and be mortgage and rent free. We are debt free from living within our means. At the present prices we would have to use all our savings and then have none for a rainy day which is scary. We hope that property will drop to allow us to keep some backup savings. What timescale are we looking at for the prices to crash 1yr 2yr. Any thoughts please. We are unsure whether to go for a newer build with less maintainence or an older property in an area we love. The frustrating thing is that there is not a lot of smaller easily manageble properties about and we certainly do not want anything to large to upkeep. We live in a flat at present but would love a bungalow

Do you think it is feasible that we will be able to obtain our dream

monkeymaster

carefullycautious wrote: »

Hi I am a newbie here and find the site thoroughly addictive.

Right a brief synopsis, we are a middle aged couple who have until now rented and saved like mad. We would love to be able to buy a property outright and be mortgage and rent free. We are debt free from living within our means. At the present prices we would have to use all our savings and then have none for a rainy day which is scary. We hope that property will drop to allow us to keep some backup savings. What timescale are we looking at for the prices to crash 1yr 2yr. Any thoughts please. We are unsure whether to go for a newer build with less maintainence or an older property in an area we love. The frustrating thing is that there is not a lot of smaller easily manageble properties about and we certainly do not want anything to large to upkeep. We live in a flat at present but would love a bungalow

Do you think it is feasible that we will be able to obtain our dream

I reckon a minimum of another 10% next year is pretty much guaranteed. Going further ahead there are a lot of uncertainties which make it hard to predict (such as Government money printing) but I don't expect to see house prices bottoming out for at least 2 years. Give it 10 - 12 months and then see what the outlook is would be my advice, you're in a great position.

Running_Horse

carefullycautious wrote: »

What timescale are we looking at for the prices to crash 1yr 2yr. Any thoughts please.

If it were that easy, everybody would have used a crystal ball and not bought in 2007.

carefullycautious wrote: »

Do you think it is feasible that we will be able to obtain our dream

Yes.

carefullycautious

Sorry Running Horse, of course we havent got crystal balls. I think we are just a little anxious to make a good decision for our long term future. We are prepared to sit it out for the next few months. It is difficult when we see a home we would like but it is overpriced for our budget yet they still seem to be selling in our area at present. In fact I was reading in our local paper an estate agent proclaiming to everone to 'buy now as you will not get the chance to buy at these prices again' which is a laugh really as what he is saying is true in that they are going to go down, but he makes people think they are onto a bargain. Feel sorry for the young people who will inevitable fall for this.

Bone_Idle

carefullycautious wrote: »

In fact I was reading in our local paper an estate agent proclaiming to everone to 'buy now as you will not get the chance to buy at these prices again' which is a laugh really as what he is saying is true in that they are going to go down, but he makes people think they are onto a bargain. Feel sorry for the young people who will inevitable fall for this.

They probably won't be able to get a mortgage anyway so hopefully will be protected from this gimmick!

Well done on reaching the position you're in - I wish we could be in the same situation, but there's a long way to go! We're concentrating on living within our means and saving like crazy too - it seems natural to me to do this but I've long suspected I'm in the minority on this one.

edit: my crystal ball is on the blink at the moment (think it needs new batteries) but I'd guess there's still plenty of time for prices to drop further and give you that cushion that you want.

Kez100

carefullycautious wrote: »

Sorry Running Horse, of course we havent got crystal balls. I think we are just a little anxious to make a good decision for our long term future. We are prepared to sit it out for the next few months. It is difficult when we see a home we would like but it is overpriced for our budget yet they still seem to be selling in our area at present. In fact I was reading in our local paper an estate agent proclaiming to everone to 'buy now as you will not get the chance to buy at these prices again' which is a laugh really as what he is saying is true in that they are going to go down, but he makes people think they are onto a bargain. Feel sorry for the young people who will inevitable fall for this.

With the benefit of hindsight, we bought right at the bottom of the last crash. However, that was our second house! The first one we bought when we thought the crash was over and prices rose (a little) for a while and then lost 10% again!

monkeymaster

carefullycautious wrote: »

In fact I was reading in our local paper an estate agent proclaiming to everone to 'buy now as you will not get the chance to buy at these prices again' which is a laugh really as what he is saying is true in that they are going to go down, but he makes people think they are onto a bargain. Feel sorry for the young people who will inevitable fall for this.

Indeed, they shouldn't be allowed to get away with it as some people believe them to be 'experts'. Sadly though some people genuinely believe it. I was talking to someone who is selling and she was telling me I should buy now because prices will start going back up very soon! Her logic for this? She's already dropped 15k of her asking price and they can't go much lower. Bizarre.

besonders1

The prices will come down because of lack of mortgages and unemployment, unless this is sorted out I can't see prices ever going up. I know that many estate agents often want to know if you are a cash buyer as people like yourself are in an advantaged position to negotiate. Many of my friends have rushed out to make offers on houses that have been reduced, only to be turned away by the bank.

I would love to buy a house now but I would have to say goodbye to my car, savings etc and be faced with possible instant negative equity unless you could get the house really cheap like a re-pocession or a person going into a nursing home.

carefullycautious

Thank you all for replying. I do sympathise with all who are trying to save at present not easy with rents being so high. My only advice is dont be sucked into buying what you dont need. It may mean you having to live frugally for some time but if the housing market does go down you will need every penny to start your lives together. It is far more important to keep a roof over your heads than live a hedonistic lifestyle and loose your home. Yes it is hard, I have never taken a foreign holiday or been frivolous, some may say I havent lived. But I have always lived with the thought 'be grateful for what you have got, not ungrateful for what you havent got' plus ' Chabby chic rules. You can pick up bargains nowadays especially furniture etc. If you stand firm and refuse to play keeping up with the jones you will come out on top.

Want and need =Discard want and closely monitor need.
We have far too much nowadays
Dont be a lemming-they jump off the cliff and what do they find themselves in......Deep Water. so dont try to follow the crowd.

Good luck everybody who are trying to get their own home

Incisor

carefullycautious wrote: »

Sorry Running Horse, of course we havent got crystal balls. I think we are just a little anxious to make a good decision for our long term future. We are prepared to sit it out for the next few months. It is difficult when we see a home we would like but it is overpriced for our budget yet they still seem to be selling in our area at present. In fact I was reading in our local paper an estate agent proclaiming to everone to 'buy now as you will not get the chance to buy at these prices again' which is a laugh really as what he is saying is true in that they are going to go down, but he makes people think they are onto a bargain. Feel sorry for the young people who will inevitable fall for this.

I am an avid reader of what EA's say in our local property supplement. Not for the face value, but to see what their thinking might be behind their spin.

Even if asking prices hold up, the selling prices at which the deals are struck are lower than the asking price by a much bigger margin than they were just a year ago. If you know some houses which sold about 3 months ago and you know the asking prices, you can see the actual selling prices here: http://www.houseprices.co.uk/ - takes about 3 months to update.

Davesnave

I was going to suggest you use the waiting time researching sold prices in your area, as well as following this forum, but Incisor beat me to it!

You don't say where you are, but certain regions have many more bungalows than others, while new builds often don't have the space/gardens we 'mature' people tend to expect from prior experience of growing up in the 50s/60s. I take your point about new builds needing less maintenance, but older houses were often built substantially, and an established housing estate will have a 'track record' of crime, general levels of civility etc which is researchable.
You are also able to check out the immediate potential neighbours and how they look after their homes too.

You could spend time working out if there's somewhere in your region that's particularly favourable for your needs. For example, DW and I wanted a very large garden, which more or less dictated where we had to go in our town, where outdoor space usually comes with a prohibitive price tag. My Dad & Mum didn't do that when they made their last move, so they ended up with the right house in the wrong location, with all the doctors, clubs & services about as far away as they could be!

In other words, there's plenty to occupy you while you wait for another 10% of price reductions during 2009. Personally, I think the falls will be larger than that - indeed I'm betting on it - but I'm taking a conservative line in the interests of avoiding controversy.

I'm sure you dream home is out there.....and mine too!