1st time buying a flat - and so so sorry for this!!!

jumperabv3

SternMusik wrote: »

But then I don't get it. You have the GBP sitting in the bank. Is it enough to cover the purchase price, stamp duty and legal costs? If so why do you want to exchange it back? Do you want to gamble on getting a better exchange rate three months down the line? All of this is going to cost you more money in comission (or bid/ask differential), option costs etc. You seem to be quite risk averse, so why risking even more? I hope your BGP bank account pays interest btw.

It's in Barclays, I am having doubts if I should fix the money to a 3 months deposit and get like £1300 interest on it and that's it ... if I knew the GBP-USD wouldn't move I would do it without hesitating but I know it's not like that ... I love Saturdays-Sundays (Weekends) because there is no trade at these days, you just really RELAX at these days ... the problem is that I turned this Monday-Friday time into hell instead of living life properly.

jumperabv3

SternMusik wrote: »

But then I don't get it. You have the GBP sitting in the bank. Is it enough to cover the purchase price, stamp duty and legal costs? If so why do you want to exchange it back? Do you want to gamble on getting a better exchange rate three months down the line? All of this is going to cost you more money in comission (or bid/ask differential), option costs etc. You seem to be quite risk averse, so why risking even more? I hope your BGP bank account pays interest btw.

Yes, I have the exact amount - maybe £1000 - £2000 less to cover all but I have around £25,000 in my bank here (equivalent) so if I need to pay extra to cover the fees no problems, so yes, I have the amount sitting in Barclays.
I just hope Barclays won't go bust during these 3 months, who knows what's going to happen with this crazy stuff in Europe ... I wish it was over already.

jumperabv3

Chimpofdoom wrote: »

Hmmm.. well if he's true... 3 months 26 days to see if he was right.. about millions of peoples savings vanishing.

The current problem with the market is... no one knows what's going to happen, for all we know.. this may end next week and profitability returns and everyone's making money again.

Risk is an essential yet precarious element of investing.

As it has been said.. you've exchanged, you've bought the property, you'll lose more if you pull out.

Rent it out for a few years, keep some cash aside incase it needs to be renovated, hopefully you can sell it on and make some cash back.

It sounds like the best advice ..
By the way ....

The money is sitting in Barclays - what if fthey go bust? I don't know if HSBC or Barclays is better ... or perhaps treasury bonds or UK gilts .... I'm scared fixing to fixed deposit and get 1.4% interest on this from Barclays because they can go bust ... (It's barclays wealth, Isle of Man, as I'm not a UK resident) ....

Dunno, I'm so scared of everything now!!!

pinkteapot

Are you saying you've exchanged contracts on the purchase but completion isn't for 3 months?

DRP

jumperabv3 wrote: »

It sounds like the best advice ..
By the way ....

The money is sitting in Barclays - what if fthey go bust? I don't know if HSBC or Barclays is better ... or perhaps treasury bonds or UK gilts .... I'm scared fixing to fixed deposit and get 1.4% interest on this from Barclays because they can go bust ... (It's barclays wealth, Isle of Man, as I'm not a UK resident) ....

Dunno, I'm so scared of everything now!!!

seriously? :rotfl:

jumperabv3

googler wrote: »

So what happens if the OP doesn't proceed, having exchanged contracts?

Is the seller really going to sue someone in the USA for completion? How likely are they to succeed? Would their legal costs wipe out their profit margin, or even the whole purchase price?

I will lose 10% deposit (£37,000) and I don't want to be in that position ...

jumperabv3

pinkteapot wrote: »

Are you saying you've exchanged contracts on the purchase but completion isn't for 3 months?

YES, why are you asking? Does it matter??

ILW

jumperabv3 wrote: »

YES, why are you asking? Does it matter??

It's not a new build is it?

SternMusik

jumperabv3 wrote: »

It's in Barclays, I am having doubts if I should fix the money to a 3 months deposit and get like £1300 interest on it and that's it ... if I knew the GBP-USD wouldn't move I would do it without hesitating but I know it's not like that ...

Your money is in GBP and your purchase is in GBP. You can get £1300 by just letting the money sit there until completion. What's the problem? What does that have to do with GBP-USD exchange rate?

You are committed to the purchase, so stop fretting about the exchange rate.

jumperabv3 wrote: »

I love Saturdays-Sundays (Weekends) because there is no trade at these days, you just really RELAX at these days ... the problem is that I turned this Monday-Friday time into hell instead of living life properly.

This is not healthy behaviour, you said so yourself. Try and address it. Get help if necessary. Your quality of life will improve tremendously if you lose this obsession of monitoring investments you don't even want to cash in every single minute of every single day.

Also, hire a good asset manager.

pinkteapot

It only matters because I would assume that it's a new-build property, not a second hand place, based on the amount of time between exchange and completion?

Builders do pursue people who pull out after exchange. You would definitely lose the deposit and any costs you've incurred so far. The builder could then also sue you for the costs of re-marketing the property AND any shortfall if it subsequently sells for less than you agreed to pay.

See this thread if you're buying a new-build:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1966021

If anything, the builder of a new-build is more likely to sue if you pull out after exchange than the seller of a private property.