to buy or not to buy...

Procrastinator333

I will now move away from my usual ramblings to pose a seperate question.

Often people talk about the "dream house". That is not something I really subscribe to. I can see the point if you are looking to buy in a specifice village or very small area, but after that, it is what you do with the house that makes it a dream home surely?

E.g. My current search area is only a 5 mile diameter. There are 400+ houses that meet our basic criteria.

One of the main attractions of buying is being able to craft the house as you want to. So when we step up the house search, even then it will be a reasonably short list of requirements, such as:

Is there enough floor space, is the basic layout ok, could we change that wall if we wanted to, is the garden a reasonable size, does it have ok access to a station. After that, just about everything else can be changed.

Our home will only become a dream home after several years of living there and shaping the property exactly how we want it.

My guess is when we come to buy, we will find 50+ properties that tick the basic requirements. After that it is just a question of getting the one that offers the best value.

ruggedtoast

I am buying now and am aware that this time next year my house will have a market value of less than I paid for it. If prices drop considerably and rates go up we may have trouble when remortgaging and if either of us lose our jobs we will have a big problem very quickly.

However:

• The house is a good price.
• I have a good mortgage offer which is fixed for several years. In fact my monthly payments will be less than my rent.
• The house I'm buying is in a good area. Historically these are the last to fall significantly and the first to recover.
• Its the perfect place for my family, we can afford it and plan to live there for many years.
• We could spend another year renting, which will be another £12k down the drain, and still not find anywhere we like as much.
• If I lost my job I'd still be using up all my savings paying my rent.

Its swings and roundabouts. When we were looking we immediately discounted all the crashtastic distressed seller, 2004 price so so areas due to the high potential for them to become unsellable, just like they were in the 90s. Ironically this led to us taking on more debt than we initially intended. But overall I think its a better hedge.

michaels

I think I agree with you - I can see what a dream house is but at the end of the day it is the people living in the house that matter not the bricks and mortar - bit like cars, they get you from a to B so cheaper the better as far as I am concerned, don't care what others think of it if they are the sort base their opinions on the car I drive or house I live in.

However having moved recently I can see the arguments for a 'forever' house!

Procrastinator333 wrote: »

I will now move away from my usual ramblings to pose a separate question.

Often people talk about the "dream house". That is not something I really subscribe to. I can see the point if you are looking to buy in a specific village or very small area, but after that, it is what you do with the house that makes it a dream home surely?

E.g. My current search area is only a 5 mile diameter. There are 400+ houses that meet our basic criteria.

One of the main attractions of buying is being able to craft the house as you want to. So when we step up the house search, even then it will be a reasonably short list of requirements, such as:

Is there enough floor space, is the basic layout ok, could we change that wall if we wanted to, is the garden a reasonable size, does it have ok access to a station. After that, just about everything else can be changed.

Our home will only become a dream home after several years of living there and shaping the property exactly how we want it.

My guess is when we come to buy, we will find 50+ properties that tick the basic requirements. After that it is just a question of getting the one that offers the best value.

chucknorris

vivatifosi wrote: »

My house hunting techniques are different to the ones above.

Have I found "the one"? If yes buy, if not wait.

If you particularly want to live in a specific house or specific place then what the market is doing doesn't come into it. But then to me its about buying a home, not a house.

When I bought our house obviously I really liked it, but it wasn't until we got our dog that I realised how special it was. It is at the end of a cul de sac with a footpath (traffic free) leading down to a sportsfield where I can go walking/jogging/cycling with my dog.

So when a developer tried to buy my (and the adjacent 3 houses) for 100k over the market value I (and my neighbours) refused. It sounds a lot but I do not think it would be easy to buy a house as good as this one without spending a lot more, plus moving is just hassle.

Procrastinator333

michaels wrote: »

I think I agree with you - I can see what a dream house is but at the end of the day it is the people living in the house that matter not the bricks and mortar - bit like cars, they get you from a to B so cheaper the better as far as I am concerned, don't care what others think of it if they are the sort base their opinions on the car I drive or house I live in.

However having moved recently I can see the arguments for a 'forever' house!

I'm not saying the house doesn't matter, just that at the end of the day, if you are aiming for aiming for a 3 bed detached and get the basics right, floorsize, layout, gardem size, after that, you will change everything else to create the dream house.

Over time, decorate the whole thing, new kitchen, bathroom etc, landscape the garden as you want it, re-do the drive, whatever. The house itsefl is more like a shell to start from and unless you are after a very specific location, one shell is as good as many others.

1984ReturnsForReal_2

Buy now at 5-10% below the REAL current value

ruggedtoast

Procrastinator333 wrote: »

I will now move away from my usual ramblings to pose a seperate question.

Often people talk about the "dream house". That is not something I really subscribe to. I can see the point if you are looking to buy in a specifice village or very small area, but after that, it is what you do with the house that makes it a dream home surely?

E.g. My current search area is only a 5 mile diameter. There are 400+ houses that meet our basic criteria.

One of the main attractions of buying is being able to craft the house as you want to. So when we step up the house search, even then it will be a reasonably short list of requirements, such as:

Is there enough floor space, is the basic layout ok, could we change that wall if we wanted to, is the garden a reasonable size, does it have ok access to a station. After that, just about everything else can be changed.

Our home will only become a dream home after several years of living there and shaping the property exactly how we want it.

My guess is when we come to buy, we will find 50+ properties that tick the basic requirements. After that it is just a question of getting the one that offers the best value.

You havent had any viewings yet have you.

LilacPixie

Procrastinator333 wrote: »

I will now move away from my usual ramblings to pose a seperate question.

Often people talk about the "dream house". That is not something I really subscribe to. I can see the point if you are looking to buy in a specifice village or very small area, but after that, it is what you do with the house that makes it a dream home surely?

E.g. My current search area is only a 5 mile diameter. There are 400+ houses that meet our basic criteria.

One of the main attractions of buying is being able to craft the house as you want to. So when we step up the house search, even then it will be a reasonably short list of requirements, such as:

Is there enough floor space, is the basic layout ok, could we change that wall if we wanted to, is the garden a reasonable size, does it have ok access to a station. After that, just about everything else can be changed.

Our home will only become a dream home after several years of living there and shaping the property exactly how we want it.

My guess is when we come to buy, we will find 50+ properties that tick the basic requirements. After that it is just a question of getting the one that offers the best value.

We are sort of the same but sort of different. In the area we are looking there is probably 30 that meet our needs for size and area plus price becaause I'm very very risk adverse and 2.5 joint income is the maximum I want to mortgage. We have 3 we really like but none are 'dream houses'

House 1 - 3 bed semi, about 15 years old. large corner plot at top of small cul-de-sac and current decor similar to our tastes so it wold be a case of move right in and then look at doing things next summer when i'm not pregnant. Realistically we would outgrow that place in 10 years but large plot offers option to extend. Off sterrt parking for 3 cars ( we have 2)

House 2 - midterrace 4 bed cottage type thing. It was built in 1880's and is huge and solid, work needing done, electrics and heating plus its old zinc and cast iron guttering that is needing replaced urgently. Internally last updated 1950-60's time so its a project and a half but 75% more floor area. Gardens trees and bushes so would need some work too plus pond which would need fenced off before spring. No off street parking and in conservation area so not likely to be granted permissions either.

House 3 1930's 4 bed semi, bigger than house 2 but on a main road, well set back slightly but still overlooking it. Its actually the main arterial route through Dundee if heading from Perth to Aberdeen. Lovely long driveway and huge gardens to the rear. Also needs upgrading but not as much as house 2. House 2 needs work to make it livable for us all but house 3 is just cosmetic like kitchen old but does the job type thing.

On paper house 3 offers the best value on a cost per sq M basis but house 1 is the cheapest mortgage wise because would could use all deposit as a deposit and have a lower LTV, with 2 and 3 we would need to keep some back for work. I am swaying to house 2 because i think it is giving the best balance of size vs location and quietness. I have never lived near a main road ever and I would worry about noise.

michaels

I'd say house one sounds a better bet financially because in general with extending you should get back £ for £ what you put in.

I would definitely be put off by the lack of parking (especially with small kids, been there, done that, moved!

And the main road would also always be a factor, especially as the kids start getting a bit bigger and venturing out 'independently'.

But of course we all have our own priorities.

Procrastinator333

ruggedtoast wrote: »

You havent had any viewings yet have you.

Very true and maybe i'm being slightly naive. But I just don't get this "dream house" notion.

There are plenty of house the same size, similar layout, similar type street, similar location. The rest can and will be changed.

But we will see! Whatever happens to prices, our procrastinating days will be coming to an end in at most about 18 months and maybe less.