FTB advice - House Price Crash or Stagnation???

lynzpower

LIghtspeed, Im inclined to agree with your thinking.

lightspeed

Gorgeous_George wrote:

If I was the OP I'd buy and give my parents a break. Let them enjoy their own space.

House prices go up and down. There is a big risk that they could crash by 50% or more in some areas. But they might not. Life's too short to worry about things you cannot control.

As for the debt problem, the saddest thing is kids who run up huge debt on credit cards, loans etc., buying cars, mobile phones and all sorts of electronic gizmos. I'd rather be in a manageable debt that I can live in.



GG

I think you read my mind. Thanks George, that is exactly how i feel. I am sick of worrying about what might happen which has, at times, stopped me from enjoying the present.

I feel a bit more confident now.

Mr_Proctalgia

I have a lot of symapthy for the situation you are in.

You are damned if you do and damned if you don't. If you wait and they rise - You lose out. If you buy now and they fall - You lose. If you wait and they fall - You win. If IR go up you lose and could lose twice.

I would suggest you buy a home to live in and forget all the arguments. I battened down the hatches and weathered the last "Crash" but then again I was keeping my home it wasn't ever seen as an investment.

HTH

tomstickland

I've just bought a nice flat after thinking about all of this for ages. I've not stretched myself excessively and my mortgage is not much more than rent would be. Now that I've exchanged and I'm getting on with sorting things out I'm starting to really feel that I made the right decision. I'm not having to deal with some slackarsed landlord and I've got my own home (on paper).

I don't think the economic outlook is too rosey, but I don't see a massive crash either. I think prices might fall in real terms, but I can weather that out.

lightspeed

tomstickland wrote:

I've just bought a nice flat after thinking about all of this for ages. I've not stretched myself excessively and my mortgage is not much more than rent would be. Now that I've exchanged and I'm getting on with sorting things out I'm starting to really feel that I made the right decision. I'm not having to deal with some slackarsed landlord and I've got my own home (on paper).

I don't think the economic outlook is too rosey, but I don't see a massive crash either. I think prices might fall in real terms, but I can weather that out.

good luck in you new home Tom,

lightspeed

Mr_Proctalgia wrote:

I have a lot of symapthy for the situation you are in.

You are damned if you do and damned if you don't. If you wait and they rise - You lose out. If you buy now and they fall - You lose. If you wait and they fall - You win. If IR go up you lose and could lose twice.

I would suggest you buy a home to live in and forget all the arguments. I battened down the hatches and weathered the last "Crash" but then again I was keeping my home it wasn't ever seen as an investment.

HTH

Thanks for that. It is the exact same attitude that i have currently got.

tomstickland

Having just crossed the line into home ownership I feel that the pondering has been worth it and I urge you to make sure that you feel happy with your decision if you do want to buy.

In my case, I would have dearly loved a crash in FTB properties to happen, but after years of waiting I had a lightbulb moment when I realised that the average consumer will spend all of the money that they can be lent, regardless of the long term consequences. Hence I thought that house prices probably wouldn't shift until a major economic disaster happened. I was lying in bed one night and I realised that in just over 15 years I'd be 50years old. No longer young. I suddenly realised how short a lifetime is, so an extra bit of "getting on with it" was added to my personal equation. Coupling that with a lowish mortgage which means that I could weather a doubling in monthly payments and buying to live in, so I could tolerate a 40% drop in value means that I decided that, for me, buying was the correct answer. I still think it is the correct answer.

TBH, every time I go round to my flat I have a small apprehension that I might have second thoughts, but every time I decide that it was the right decision.

Joe_Bloggs

@Lightspeed
Have you got a succesful, proven credit history ? Not borrowing anything may count against you in a credit score situation. Having tens of thousands in deposit accounts will not help your credit record if you have never borrowed money and had to pay it back on time. These are just my views but you can check your credit reports yourself for a £2.00 statutory fee per reference agency. These are useful bits of paper to hand to a broker or a mortgage underwriter. If there is very little on them then they are a waste of paper
Who knows if June will bring an interest rate rise ?
J_B.

I am lucky to witness the slowest building of a huge sweeping block of flats in history. Looks like the architect was influenced by the 70s Moss Side council flat movement in the scale and design. I think the builders have lost the will to carry on.

tomstickland

Check your credit files for nothing - I did it via Martin's article here on MSE. Basically you join the £8 per month Premium Gold Deluxe Enhanced Credit Monitor Plus service and then cancel after 2 weeks. You can also earn £5 cashback via Quidco or Topcashback when you join Creditexpert (which is the front end for Experian or Equifax, I forget which one). ie: earn £5 for looking at your credit file.

lightspeed

Hi Joe

The mortgage offer has already being confirmed. I must have got a credit score from somewhere e.g. mobile phones, i did once own a credit card etc...

thank you for the info. anyway.