A question for the regulars planning to buy houses

Conrad

Harry_Powell wrote: »

I simply cannot wait to move in with my GF and start living our new life . As the old saying goes, "Some people know the price of everything and the value of nothing", I used to be one of these people, but not for much longer.

Ha, what I've been saying for a long time. In the end most people simply buy, come what may and don't have this anal obssesion with money preservation. A lot of uber-bears just can't seem to come to terms with, well, life!

the_ash_and_the_oak

IveSeenTheLight wrote: »

It's could be a never ending circle unless peoples attitudes change

I said
I personally agree, the problem is that there are a lot of people out there who have bought the city centre new builds, thinking it is great they are getting a brand new home.

These will be replaced by the next circulation of lots of people out there who have bought the city centre new builds, thinking it is great they are getting a brand new home.

And on

And on [/I]

Expanded in red

I know where you are coming from on this but the people who may buy shiny new city centre flats in the future won't be buying the now not so shiny new city centre flats that the current owners will be selling to move up the ladder imo.

pretty sure there's been a massive explosion in city centre apartment building over the last decade thats been a contributory factor to the bubble - not really sure we're going to see continued city centre apartment construction in the same way over the next decade

Harry_Powell

Conrad wrote: »

Ha, what I've been saying for a long time. In the end most people simply buy, come what may and don't have this anal obssesion with money preservation. A lot of uber-bears just can't seem to come to terms with, well, life!

I certainly don't want to lose money on our house purchase, but I do agree with the excellent post that Sunny Suzie made about getting stressed waiting for the optimal deal that may or may not happen. We're staying put in our first home for at least 5 years, come what may, and I'm convinced that we'll at least sell it for what we paid for it. I expect to lose more in depreciation on cars than I will on houses. That said, even if the market continues to fall after we buy, it's only money. Some people are happy to put their lives on hold for years, living in other people's homes (i.e. renting), but we're not. For us, the loss of a bit of money is secondary to enjoying our lives.

SunnySusie wrote: »

Chasing that optimal deal must get you down over time, always waiting, always wondering, is now right, or should I wait, what if you wait and get it wrong? There must be some people who held off buying in 2004 thinking prices were about to drop - half a decade later...

Yakubu22

Conrad wrote: »

Ha, what I've been saying for a long time. In the end most people simply buy, come what may and don't have this anal obssesion with money preservation. A lot of uber-bears just can't seem to come to terms with, well, life!

Granted...but if you dont have any kids (and dont intend to for a few years) and your happy renting somewhere cheap and cheerful. How is doing that, saving money and holding on for the right deal not coming to terms with life? Surely it would be irresponsible to plunge into a world of debt without serious research first.

penguine

IveSeenTheLight wrote: »

Mewbie, no offence meant, however it's getting to the point where I'm finding it not worth reading your posts.

You seem far more interested in trying to make funny comments than seriously contributing to the discussion / debate.

I can't tell if it's worth responding to or let you have your relief by babbling on.

It would be nice to discuss properly instead of having the comic butting in all the time from the back of the class

Personally I think Mewbie is one of the most valuable posters on here. He keeps us from taking ourselves too seriously.

It's not like any of us are going to have to sit an exam on this stuff.

IveSeenTheLight

penguine wrote: »

Personally I think Mewbie is one of the most valuable posters on here. He keeps us from taking ourselves too seriously.

It's not like any of us are going to have to sit an exam on this stuff.

No, was just making a comment on how much genuine inout he has.
It's like looking for the needle in a haystack in more and more of his posts.

Not a personal attack and maybe I just don't get his comedy (maybe it's and age thing) but his comedy posts far outweigh his topical discussion posts.

IveSeenTheLight

the_ash_and_the_oak wrote: »

I know where you are coming from on this but the people who may buy shiny new city centre flats in the future won't be buying the now not so shiny new city centre flats that the current owners will be selling to move up the ladder imo.

pretty sure there's been a massive explosion in city centre apartment building over the last decade thats been a contributory factor to the bubble - not really sure we're going to see continued city centre apartment construction in the same way over the next decade

Possibly, but again the market will be set by the conditions.

These properties will still sell, they have re-sold so far haven't they.

It may be that they lose a little of their shine and will not be worth as much as the new new-build apartments, but they will be worth something and someone will find that is their affordability.

Jonbvn

PasturesNew wrote: »

Well, that's you crossed off my "Mr Eligible" list then. I thought you had a shiny new flat from a couple of years back.

Pfft.... can't be having paupers on my "Mr Eligible" list, whatever next!

Typical renting scum.

PN I hope this article is not applicable to you!;);)

She was looking for a guy who is (just) tall enough. And (just about) good-looking enough (but not too good-looking so that she'd play second fiddle).

He needs to be successful, solvent and driven. He must also be long on genuinely good jokes, with a decent sideline in bad ones that only she finds funny. He needs to 'speak good restaurant', to have no special dietary requirements and to always be discerning without ever being fussy.

He needs to be clever without ever making her feel stupid. He needs to 'get' but not 'know' fashion...and so the list went on.

She concluded that she would rather eat wasps than share her Sunday with anyone who fails to measure up to her idea of Mr Perfect.

Mr_Matey

Cleaver wrote: »

For the regulars on the board who are saving a deposit and waiting for their time to pounce (Graham? Ad? Mgpfgna9? Brit? Mr Matey? Dunno if they are correct, apologies if not) do you have a trigger point as to when to buy? I.e., a certain price in your head? Or a percentage drop? Or when you perceive house prices have bottomed?

Ok I'll try to give it some analysis on what would "feel right" to me.


I'm planning on buying when a few criteria are met:

1. I can afford the mortgage repayments.
2. I'm happy to live in a place for at least 3-5 years. Or it's in an area I can easily let out should my plans change.
3. Prices are reasonable based on normal rent. The rough rules I use are P/E 20 or lower, or price should be below (weekly rent x 1000).
4. Nothing's being planned that would really negatively affect the area e.g. new airport down the road.

So I think your question's best answered by point 3. If prices were a lot cheaper than 3. I'd be flexible on 2.

I'm currently living overseas and may head back to Aus (undecided if/when) and I'd like to be able to move if a great job opportunity came up. So point 2 isn't really met and I wouldn't lock in to property unless it was a really good deal.

Of course the criteria may well change in the future if we have kids etc, but that's it for now and I'm happy renting at a yield close to 3.5% whilst my deposit grows.

For what it's worth, I almost bought a flat in Sydney a few years ago. I decided to rent first to make sure I'd liked the area and to get to know it better. It could've been a good investment, but may have restricted me from moving here and investing in other things, so no regrets.

IveSeenTheLight

Yakubu22 wrote: »

Granted...but if you dont have any kids (and dont intend to for a few years) and your happy renting somewhere cheap and cheerful. How is doing that, saving money and holding on for the right deal not coming to terms with life? Surely it would be irresponsible to plunge into a world of debt without serious research first.

I rented a 1 bed flat.
When I bought my first 2 bed flat on the same street, I was paying less in C&I payments than I was in rent on the smaller flat.

Not all areas see mortgage interest as more than the rent.

My wife and I did this before kids, moved on to a 4 bed place again before kids and substantially reduce the mortgage.
We then were at a point where we were happy that we had a home that we could bring up children at an affordable monthly payment without having the worry to move on.

My personal opinion, but it was better to get the family home in place and then have kids rather than the other way round.