Would you buy now?

Imelda

Hi all,

My husband and I are currently renting a flat, having sold our properties in 2007. The plan was to rent for 1 yr max (!) and then buy- but of course the economic environment changed and we have stayed put.

However I have very itchy feet. Although I like the flat it does not feel permanent, we don't want to buy furniture for it as we don't know how long we will be here (LL could evict us with 2mths notice) and our wedding presents remain in boxes as we can't store them anywhere else (cupboards in kitchen too small for our dinner service!)

I am at the point where I just want a HOME and have been researching areas, sorting finances (have MIP) etc and up to a point my husband is on board. BUT he is extremely cautious with money. We have approx 50% deposit and would be taking a mortgage over 15yrs just based on his salary (so we are in no way stretching ourselves).

I have booked some viewings for the next few evenings, this morning I received a text telling me to look at the news regarding the double dip recession. I think he is going to change his mind about buying

What are your views? I think I am v. blinkered about having our own house

NyimaR

If you're getting fed up of renting I'd say go for it. Just don't expect to make any money on the place in the short term. I think the key at the moment is to find a place that you'll be happy in for about 10 years, over which time you should get your money's worth (even if the market stays stagnant overall - as you've avoided paying rent over that period).

Imelda

I agree with that, we spend a huge amount on rent- which in 2007 was covered by the interest on our savings (not even close now).

Also, I am concerned that our LL could just give us notice and we would have to move into another rental- we have no control where we are now.:(

garbaldisham

If you take the attitude that rent is dead money, that you presently have no real security, and can't even put your dinner service in a cupboard, then it's a no-brainer. Go and buy somewhere, and do it now.

Point being, even if prices do slide somewhat subsequently, you won't be losing the money you currently do by renting, and if you intend staying in the home that you buy its value is actually irrelevant. You can just live in it, and have as many cupboards as you want, and they'll be yours!

I do wish this mindset of property values among home-owners would pipe down a bit. I don't care what my house is worth, I'm too busy living in it .

marlasinger

Yes, we are buying now (just due to exchange and complete). We don't really care one way or another whether house prices may fall. We found a house which was at a good price for us, and we have bought it with the view to living there long-term, so any fluctuation in prices really won't affect us. If you are looking to buy for purely an investment purpose, then it's understandable to be more cautious.

Sounds like your husband is the kind of chap for whom there will always be a better time in the future to buy. I think you just have to bite the bullet, and do it, especially if you are not happy in rented accommodation.

Imelda

garibaldisham- my thoughts exactly! I am so pished off with people saying things (to my husband!) about not buying now, prices going down, recession etc etc. To me house prices only matter when you're buying/ selling- not when you're planning on living there long term.

Fair enough, people said that in 2007 when we sold our flats (they were both one bed and too small for us to live comfortably in them for any length of time) and yes we were glad a year or two later that we had sold at that time.

I just want a home, a life- not an investment.

Now to convince the husband..... I can see the conversation this evening in my head :-(

garbaldisham

Imelda wrote: »

..Now to convince the husband..... I can see the conversation this evening in my head :-(

Try this - divide your annual rent by 365.

Point out to your husband that he's wasted that amount of money every day he spends umming and ahhing in the hope that a new home will cost less, which furthermore will be probably more than the (anyway debateable) rate at which prices are falling.

Failing that resort to threats (works on me .)

Davesnave

If you sold in 2007 then you did well, but you then missed the chance to buy 'at the bottom' in 2009, presumably because you were not in tune with what prices were doing. Until that point - about April 2009 - you could have been receiving up to 6% or so interest on reasonably liquid cash savings, but as you point out, that's no longer possible and you're probably no longer covering your rental costs. With current low interest rates, you have been missing out on some good mortgage deals for people like yourselves.

Hindsight is easy, but these facts might help you to persuade your husband that his strategy of being cautious hasn't paid off too well so far.

He may well counter that there is a good chance house prices will fall back in the winter, and I'd agree. They may well continue to fall next year.

However, what you are after is a home, not a blooming investment and, as renting doesn't give you any sense of security, you're not getting 'value for money' there either!

I don't know where in the country you are, but there are always good deals out there for people well-placed like yourselves. If you start looking now, it may take some time to find exactly what you want anyway, because you should be focusing on that, rather than worrying too much about playing the market. If you buy well, you won't need to change for a long time, and then you'll be able to get on with the rest of your lives.

Best of luck. We all need a bit of that too!

NEH

Imelda wrote: »

garibaldisham- my thoughts exactly! I am so pished off with people saying things (to my husband!) about not buying now, prices going down, recession etc etc. To me house prices only matter when you're buying/ selling- not when you're planning on living there long term.

Fair enough, people said that in 2007 when we sold our flats (they were both one bed and too small for us to live comfortably in them for any length of time) and yes we were glad a year or two later that we had sold at that time.

I just want a home, a life- not an investment.

Now to convince the husband..... I can see the conversation this evening in my head :-(

I can understand fully where you're coming from...Renting isn't great, we're just in the process of being evicted after only a year, landlord has to sell this property. We've found somewhere else but we've had to ask the landlord for another month as our next property won't be available until early September. When we move we face being moved on again in 6 months if our new landlord's circumstances change...

Go and view properties with your hubby, see what's out there and take it from there.

QTPie

We just bought - completed a week ago (were chain free with a 60% deposit).

Personally I wouldn't have bought now, but we have a baby (born end if Jan) and our current house is just not suitable...

Also I am not convinced that the sector
we are looking at (larger family homes) in our area (Bath) actually gets affected by the recession. All that happens is the reasonable houses just don't go onto the Market during a recession: they slowly come back on during a recovery and get snapped up at 10/20% above peak prices...

99% of what is for sale during a recession here is complete overpriced rubbish (master bedroom connecting through the garage to the ensuite... and alike). The other 1% is faught over tooth and nail...

garbaldisham

QTPie wrote: »

Also I am not convinced that the sector
we are looking at (larger family homes) in our area (Bath) actually gets affected by the recession...

Bath's got its own sort of bubble though - my mum lives there, and when we sold her house at the beginning of last year it had only depreciated by about 5% compared to what similar houses in the same street had been worth before the crash. In fact the estate agent said that in Bath and NE Somerset as a whole they tend to appreciate and depreciate slower and rather less than in Bristol.