Should we move or just rent? What is best?

crob83

My husband owns our property. It is a 1-bed and we are in fixed term until september. We are due our first baby in 4 months.

We had thought about moving but we only have a 10-15% deposit at the moment. Do you think we would be better renting for a couple of years and saving up more of a deposit or just bite the bullet and move taking on a bigger mortgage and higher interest rate?

QTPie

6 of one and half a dozen of the other?

We have, hopefully, just sold (hoping to exchange contracts with a cash buyer this week - fingers crossed!) and will rent for a while - 6/12/18 months. We don't have a fixed time period in mind, we are just not wanting to rush buying AND want to buy the right place at the right price (there aren't many properties that we like on the market at the moment and the sellers of those are still very "optimistic" (i.e. "peak 2007 prices and a bit" :rolleyes: )). When we find the right place, we will be in a good position to buy (no chain). We will have a very sizeable deposit (i.e. 40%), so that isn't an issue with us.

Our reasons for wanting to move are similar to yours: although I am not pregnant yet (not through lack of trying ), we want to start a family. Ideally I want to be all settled in a new house before the baby comes, BUT - at the least - I don't want the stress of having a house to sell (and keep tidy) with a "bundle of joy" causing havoc...

HOWEVER, we acknowledge that there are the following risks:
- nobody can accurately predict when the housing market recovery will come and how it will happen: although unlikely, prices could start rising madly and - being off of the housing ladder - we could face an uphill struggle to buy...
- interest rates are likely to rise again. Although you may have a low LTV at the moment (at least 25% deposit is preferable), interest rates are STILL generally very reasonable. If they suddenly start rising rapidly, the monthly cost of any mortgage would get a lot more painful (when we do buy, we would be fixing for 5/10 years).
- if the housing market continues to fall, the housing stock available for sale will also fall: you are left with "distress sales" only (repossessions, deaths, some divorces etc). Generally the "dregs" of the property market: anything half reasonable you will probably have a bitter fight for. Apparently this happened in the last recession. So you MAY have limited opportunities to buy (a good property) for a few years...
- depending very much on the property and your LL, renting will never give you the freedom or control that owning has.

Those are the immediate risks I can think of... but we are accepting them and giving it a go. We do not intend to buy "at the bottom", we just want to buy a good "family home" (i.e. next 20/30 years) at a reasonable price and want to be in a good position to do that now we are trying to start a family.

Everyone is different: their circumstance and the risks that they are willing/able/happy to take.

Good luck, whatever you decide (and congratulations for the pregnancy )

QT