Is it the right time to climb the property ladder?

thriftytiger

There seems to be a lot of advice around for first time buyers, but little for those both buying and selling.

We are looking to move to a bigger house in a nicer area. We are able to borrow the extra money and have seen houses in our price range. However, I'm a bit confused as to whether its the right time to move on. Articles and news reports seem to suggest that it is a bad time to sell, but surely this depends on what you are buying.

We speculate that our house may have dropped in price up to 10,000, (we bought two years ago for £150,000) but prices in the area we want to buy in have also dropped and looking at houses currently on the market we could afford what we want.

If houses prices have dropped by a certain percent across the board, surely now is a better time to buy something bigger than waiting until property prices go back up?

We don't have to move immediately we could wait a few years so any advice would be greatly received.

new_home_owner_3

You are right houses do drop and it shouldnt make any difference, the problem is selling your own property, you say its lost 10,000 pound in the last 2 years, try and sell it and see what happens, people will only pay what they think its worth, could you still afford to buy another house if a buyer offered you 30,000 pound below what you think its worth?

If i was you i would try and sell your house and see what response you get, then when you find a buyer make your move, you have nothing to lose then..

goRt

There's no such thing as 'the property ladder' - there is the property market i.e. prices can rise as well as fall

missile

As you say what you might loose on one you sell, you may save more on the one you buy. It is swings and roundabouts.

I do not regard my house as an investment. I really don't care what the "experts" may say about it's value, it is my home. I would suggest, do not be one of the herd, move on when the time is right for you.

thriftytiger

thanks for your replies,

goRt wrote: »

There's no such thing as 'the property ladder' - there is the property market i.e. prices can rise as well as fall

I just mean't that we want to move up, to a better house for us, aspiration wise. I don't really understand what you are saying? Do you mean that you don't necessarily agree with my point about percentages?

Our next move will be to get the house valued and go from there, we wouldn't sell if we got very low offers (more than £10,000 lower).

Bufger

to be perfectly honest its all relative, if you want to move as its a nicer area/better school choices etc etc then just do it. There will be no right and wrong time if its a residential property for you and your family.

The only time it really matters is if you're developing. Most residentials are all relative once you're already on 'the ladder'.

If you feel like a change then go for it

TOBRUK

thriftytiger wrote: »

We are looking to move to a bigger house in a nicer area. We are able to borrow the extra money and have seen houses in our price range. However, I'm a bit confused as to whether its the right time to move on. Articles and news reports seem to suggest that it is a bad time to sell, but surely this depends on what you are buying.

We speculate that our house may have dropped in price up to 10,000, (we bought two years ago for £150,000) but prices in the area we want to buy in have also dropped and looking at houses currently on the market we could afford what we want.

If houses prices have dropped by a certain percent across the board, surely now is a better time to buy something bigger than waiting until property prices go back up?

We don't have to move immediately we could wait a few years so any advice would be greatly received.

Rather than speculating how much your house is now worth why don't you get a free valuation (2 or three) to get a good idea of how much you may get for it if you were to sell. Then take into account the cost of selling, fees, stamp duty etc. You will be able to have a good idea of what you can afford and how much you will want to borrow, then go and see a few houses.

If you are looking to move to a bigger house, move area etc then, as you say, whether house prices go up or down across the board are irrevelant when you are looking for a nicer home.

goRt

thriftytiger wrote: »

thanks for your replies,



I just mean't that we want to move up, to a better house for us, aspiration wise. I don't really understand what you are saying? Do you mean that you don't necessarily agree with my point about percentages?

Our next move will be to get the house valued and go from there, we wouldn't sell if we got very low offers (more than £10,000 lower).

The point I was making is this is an asset just like stocks and shares.
Interest rates are at historic lows, there's only one way for them to go, what impact will that have on prices.

You're point on percentages is valid, I believe houses have a lot more to fall in value and act according to my beliefs, but it's my money and my risk

mbga9pgf

OP, depends on your outlook and equity.

I believe that prices have a way to fall still. Bearing this in mind, if prices do fall and you have little equity, you cant get a mortgage and are stuck. If you have a home with lots of equity, waiting may mean the cost of moving drops as more expensive home values will typically fall more than cheaper ones.

The market is currently screwed up. Until people can once again afford a home, it will remain screwed up.

thriftytiger

mbga9pgf wrote: »

OP, depends on your outlook and equity.

I believe that prices have a way to fall still. Bearing this in mind, if prices do fall and you have little equity, you cant get a mortgage and are stuck. If you have a home with lots of equity, waiting may mean the cost of moving drops as more expensive home values will typically fall more than cheaper ones.

The market is currently screwed up. Until people can once again afford a home, it will remain screwed up.

This is spot on, we have a reasonable amount of equity considering we only bought 2 years ago. But this would get eaten up if the value went down too much and we wouldn't be able to borrow more. The area we want to move to is popular and people don't seem to want to move away very often, in the past this has caused bidding wars, but due to the current market conditions prices are being dropped, and houses seem to be on the market a lot longer.

mbga9pgf

This is spot on, we have a reasonable amount of equity considering we only bought 2 years ago.

You do know there was a 20% fall in values on average in the UK in 2008 right?