Any other home buyers in NI?

marathonic

As I advised before on this thread, potential purchasers should do their own numbers for their own area and circumstances to see whether purchasing now makes sense for them. This will allow them to make a more informed decision than simply listening to the bears, or the bulls, on any internet forum.

They should remember that a recent property owner, like myself, is likely to talk up the market because my opinion is obviously that the market will go up - otherwise, I wouldn't have bought.


They should also remember that someone who is not a property owner is likely to talk down the market until the day they sign the contracts for their own purchase. There are multiple potential reasons that I can see for this including:

• The less buyers in general on the market, the less liklihood there is of prices rising excessively before they buy;
• If they're very unlucky, they could end up in a bidding war with you on the same property when they do go to buy - so why advise you to buy before they've secured their own property;
• They genuinely believe that property prices will fall further

The best thing to do is go by the numbers, not the arguments of the bulls and the bears. This is what I done and this is why I bought in December 2012.

motorguy

marathonic wrote: »

Which is all well and good if your close to having the full purchase price saved.

You're clearly forgetting that everyone on internet forums are sitting on small fortunes, in fantastic paying jobs that mean they are adding to their savings at a rate of ££££'s per month, as well as paying a hefty rental payment - paid for of course for the interest on all that money they have in the bank because they're actually expert stock market investors too.

We are truly graced that so many of these fortunate beings who could-actually-buy-the-house-they-want-for-cash-but-chose-instead-to-rent have happened upon this internet forum, compared to whats happening in the real world.

Miraculously, the phenomenon happens over on the motoring forum PistonHeads too, where they have a massively disproportionate amount of Powerfully Built Company Directors who post there.

Whats the odds, eh?

qwert_yuiop

marathonic wrote: »

Which is all well and good if your close to having the full purchase price saved.

I would feel very uncomfortable indeed if I were to advise anyone in their twenties to stay out of the market today and hold off on buying. Were I to do this, they're likely to come back in 2-3 years cursing me and my advice.

My point is that the numbers make sense, even with a mortgage. You can't argue agaisnt this point because it's backed up with the cold-hard facts/numbers.

I see that you're very quick to dismiss anyone giving opinions that now's a good time to buy but, when the numbers are there in black and white, you back down because you know they make sense and there's no arguing against them without losing any slither of creditibility your arguments have had thus far.

No. It all relies on continued appreciation, otherwise it's an emotional choice rather than an economic one. If you think prices will rise, well and good. i don't think there's any rush @cause I don't see any chance of any significant rise. That's all.

qwert_yuiop

motorguy wrote: »

You're clearly forgetting that everyone on internet forums are sitting on small fortunes, in fantastic paying jobs that mean they are adding to their savings at a rate of ££££'s per month, as well as paying a hefty rental payment - paid for of course for the interest on all that money they have in the bank because they're actually expert stock market investors too.

We are truly graced that so many of these fortunate beings who could-actually-buy-the-house-they-want-for-cash-but-chose-instead-to-rent have happened upon this internet forum, compared to whats happening in the real world.

Miraculously, the phenomenon happens over on the motoring forum PistonHeads too, where they have a massively disproportionate amount of Powerfully Built Company Directors who post there.

Whats the odds, eh?

Not quite, but not far off. We're paying a low rent for a reasonable house, we're both in work and piling up money pretty well and we've got our eye on a fairly modest property, a small farm with some more land. No desire to "own" some monstrosity.Yes, we've done well in shares since the collapse and we're looking good.
As for cars - what a waste of money. The ultimate wealth destroyer. (Apart from ill advised property investment of course.) Fortunately I married a girl who refuses to believe that people can be daft enough to borrow money to buy a car. Which is of course the behaviour which keeps you in work. Why waste your money? Why live somewhere you don't want to?

By the way, if you live in Waringstown, I'm not too far from you. Call up any time.

Just had a look at pistonheads. If the home page is indicative, they're either all rich or fantasists. McLaren - somewhat limited market? I only ever heard of one being bought in NI and he's staggeringly broke now.

motorguy

qwert_yuiop wrote: »

Not quite, but not far off. We're paying a low rent for a reasonable house, we're both in work and piling up money pretty well and we've got our eye on a fairly modest property, a small farm with some more land. No desire to "own" some monstrosity.Yes, we've done well in shares since the collapse and we're looking good.

Whats the old saying, if you throw a stone into a pack of dogs, the one that yelps is the one that was hit?

qwert_yuiop wrote: »

As for cars - what a waste of money. The ultimate wealth destroyer. (Apart from ill advised property investment of course.) Fortunately I married a girl who refuses to believe that people can be daft enough to borrow money to buy a car. Which is of course the behaviour which keeps you in work. Why waste your money? Why live somewhere you don't want to?

I'm not a motor trader. I was a while ago - never sold a car on finance.

qwert_yuiop wrote: »

Just had a look at pistonheads. If the home page is indicative, they're either all rich or fantasists. McLaren - somewhat limited market? I only ever heard of one being bought in NI and he's staggeringly broke now.

Pistonheads.com is many things, it has many aspects to it - classifieds, features, forums and news - the reference to the new McLaren is because its news - and very much a game changer in that market, so makes interesting reading.

marathonic

Here's the latest ONS report, released today, that claims prices in Northern Ireland rose by 4.8% in the year ended December 2013.

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_352184.pdf

How does that fare into your calculations? Do you expect the NIRPPI report to show much different tomorrow?

If I were a landlord and my property price appreciated, I'd look into the possibility of increasing my rent to keep my yield the same. Of course, this will only be possible if the rental market can sustain it.

However, if property prices rise beyond the reach of the average person, and most landlords follow the same logic of trying to increase rents, there's only one way I can see things going.

Tenants can't just 'stop renting' in most cases and it's just become more difficult to buy due to increasing property prices and increasing rents.

qwert_yuiop

marathonic wrote: »

Here's the latest ONS report, released today, that claims prices in Northern Ireland rose by 4.8% in the year ended December 2013.

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_352184.pdf

How does that fare into your calculations? Do you expect the NIRPPI report to show much different tomorrow?

If I were a landlord and my property price appreciated, I'd look into the possibility of increasing my rent to keep my yield the same. Of course, this will only be possible if the rental market can sustain it.

However, if property prices rise beyond the reach of the average person, and most landlords follow the same logic of trying to increase rents, there's only one way I can see things going.

Tenants can't just 'stop renting' in most cases and it's just become more difficult to buy due to increasing property prices and increasing rents.

Not a lot of note. Panic buying's not really my scene.

marathonic

qwert_yuiop wrote: »

Not a lot of note. Panic buying's not really my scene.

Yeah - better to let prices to creep up 20% than panic buy after they've increased 4.8%.

Also, panic buying suggests that you overpaid for something in a panic rather than analysing it and deciding it represented good value. I don't think this is the case here because, even after the 4.8% reported rise, prices still represent good value.

motorguy

marathonic wrote: »

Yeah - better to let prices to creep up 20% than panic buy after they've increased 4.8%.

Also, panic buying suggests that you overpaid for something in a panic rather than analysing it and deciding it represented good value. I don't think this is the case here because, even after the 4.8% reported rise, prices still represent good value.

Ah but then there would be a risk of a drop in the market, so best not to buy at that 20% increase point, in case it drops back.

someadvicereq

I got caught out with the housing bubble, and as such my house is worth about half of what I 'paid' for it.

But I'm still looking to buy a family home (currently in small semi). I'm willing to take the negative equity hit nd use savings to get out and move into something bigger.

The way I see it, I have an opportunity now to buy a house that I could only dream of 7 years ago. Ok my house may have dropped 50k, but the house I would be buying now has dropped significantly more.

Having been burned by the housing market you might think I would be anxious about buying again and I had been looking at renting.

But the problem is choice. Do a quick search on propertypal for homes for rent in greater belfast (family homes, 4+ beds, detached) - and you will see that there isn't much out there for a family to rent. And the cost of renting is often close to £1000 per month or more.

And I was under the impression that the housing market would have been flush with properties to rent with all the 'forced landlords' out there now. I nearly became one myself.

All being well I should be in a position to buy this year. I just need to decide where - I plan on staying in my next house for a long time!

Anyone got any tips for deciding on where to buy a family home? Looking at Jordanstown, Carnmoney and Upper Cavehill/Antrim road. Need to consider commute to Belfast for work, and schools for young kids. House price from 200 - 240k.

Cheers!