Could this be my worst decision......FTB Exchanging Contracts on Monday

Tunstallstoven

Yep, that's right! My partner and I saved and saved over the last few years and waited for house prices to come down to a price we can afford. When they got there - over a year ago - we started looking. A couple of purchases fell through, time flew by, and now here we are with a house to buy and ready to exchange on Monday.

Seems terrible timing what with all the uncertainty with the election, problems in Europe, etc.

We do like the house and it is affordable to us. But I hate the idea of looking back in ??? months/years and thinking "crickey, if we had waited we would have saved $$$$$".

I guess in a sense this post is pointless because no-one really knows what the future holds. But I'd still be interested to hear whether people think we are doing the right thing, are bonkers, etc.

BTW, we really wanted security and so have fixed to a 10 year mortgage at 6.09% but with unlimited overpayments (and all being well, although the term is 25 years we hope to be mortgage free in 10 years through the overpayments).

So, if you can pull yourself away from the election chatter, please share your views!

Cheers
:beer:

LilacPixie

Is it a home you can be happy in and suits the needs of your family??

lostinrates

I've been reading the forums and nodding along for, um, a while now. I've always agreed wth points made by both sides, but always sai if th right property at the right time and right price came up we would move. We, like yu had a few false starts. Some that fell through, were out bid on, or just...changed our minds about.

We offered on one today.

Do your maths over and over. Have a contingency plan and the ability to pay the mortgage a bit from funds/arrangements should trouble happen...and if it all adds up...what can we do? Life goes on. But I still think maths, job status and area are important. Bea little pessimistic.

kai666

doesn't matter when you buy, there will always be 'what if's' and risks involved. You either take the risk at some point, or you rent for the rest of your life. The choice is yours.

PasturesNew

You've done the right thing. It's natural to get nervous/scared about now. Just do it, stand by your decision.

So what if they drop a bit - THAT house might never have dropped ... and you might not like the subsequent ones. And, it'll be your home, where you can snuggle up with a takeaway and really relax and be happy.

lola34

Its natural to be nervous, its such a big step, think the problem today is everyone looks at houses as what they are worth, this is partly true but if its a house you love, can grow old together, raise a family then thats worth more then anything. Houses prices go up and down its swings and roundabouts - I should know I took out a fixed 5.99% mortgage then the interest rates came down- doh!!!

Be happy and don't think - what if....

wymondham

Buy it and don't look back! Only a problem if/when you think about selling.....

Cleaver

Max_Dread wrote: »

We do like the house and it is affordable to us. But I hate the idea of looking back in ??? months/years and thinking "crickey, if we had waited we would have saved $$$$$".

I guess in a sense this post is pointless because no-one really knows what the future holds. But I'd still be interested to hear whether people think we are doing the right thing, are bonkers, etc.

I think that ensuring you get a house at a price you're happy with and, more importantly, one you can afford comfortably is important so it's sensible to think hard about the decision.

But at the same time, if you think you're always going to be fretting about price drops in the future then maybe buying a house isn't for you.

As a direct question, what percentage of your joint net pay will be required to pay the mortgage?

morg_monster

I was the same as you when we put an offer in. was it the right time, etc etc. but the house really was 100% perfect for us so that let me put the worries to one side. Now we've been here 5 months I just don't even really think about it anymore, which is odd as while we were looking / researching into buying a house, price rises and falls and propertybee were all I could think of. prices have risen here but they could drop again any day and plus we bought at 250k so issues there too. I just am not thinking about it and won't until we want to move which I don't think will be sooner than 5 years away.

AbbieCadabra

if you've bought it as a home with the intention of living there for a reasonable length of time (7-10 years perhaps), sit back & enjoy. now you've done it, don't spend time constantly checking what if/but & maybe as you'll drive yourself silly!

i think you'll be a great deal happier than someone i know who has just bought their 1st house - new build, 100% mortgage, fixed rate of 5.99% over 3 years & the remaining properties like there's (which were supposedly all 'sold', hmmm) are now being sold for £5k less than they paid...oh, & they only want to stay there 2-3 years before they move 'to something bigger & better'.

Blacklight

Despite what some jealous or plain greedy doom mongers who want to get on the BTL ladder but can't afford it would have you believe, house prices really do only go one way in the long run.

Provided your debt doesn't increase by borrowing against the value of the house as time goes by, you'll be home and dry.