Buying whilst abroad

Spongeali

Hi all,

I am from the UK but currently working outside of the country. I have managed to save up approximately £40,000 towards a mortgage and would like to try and buy my first home in the UK. However I am a little relucant given what I see as uncertainty in the market. As ever it seems that house prices in the UK are going through a moderately high growth period and as such I am considering holding onto my money and building up a further reserve for a potential future slump.

I am hoping to own my home as a place for myself but whilst I am working away to potentially rent it out until I return in the future. As such I was ideally looking into places from the Cotswolds through to West London.

I guess my main question is "Is it a good time to be buying?" based upon public opinion. Any pointers / points of view / links to discussions would be appreciated as I don't want to rush into any major decisions

Dan-Dan

40K isnt that much towards a property in the cotswolds or W London

Although the lack of detail in what you would like to buy makes any reply almost pointless

hazyjo

You would be very unlikely to get a BTL mortgage on your first property, or consent to let straight away. You'd (usually) have to let it for at least a year.


There's a board to debate house prices and the economy here http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=149


Nobody has a crystal ball unfortunately - yes, it's generally still a rising market, especially in London, but some areas have been more static/fallen slightly. That still gives you no real indication. It could boom again in a month.


From my experience, there's been a recession every 15 or so years. Again, I can't guarantee the next one will be in 2025 or thereabouts.


Buy a home for you - you only really need to worry about recession/falling prices if you need to sell.


As above, £40k won't get you very far in London. Even as a 10% deposit, it'd only give you £400k or so to buy with. Sounds a lot, but it's not. You'd also need to be earning enough for a £360k mortgage which, again, is probably unlikely (c£90k-ish salary). [NB ROUGH FIGURES!)


Jx