Should i wait until after the EU referendum before buying my house?

warriorlfc1892

We are in the process of buying our first home as a married couple (and moving out of my parents), but because I spent my savings 2 years ago as a 24 yo on a buy-to-let (rented out atm) we have to pay the higher stamp duty rates. the result is we are ony able to afford a 5% mortgage, and will not have much cash left at all. with the eu referendum around the corner, should we delay buying a house until after the eu referendum, due to the risk of prices dropping and negative equity?

Browntoa

theres always a price crash round the corner according to some sort of expert


theres never a good time to buy


its normally always a good investment over your lifetime , why look short term

Cakeguts

Are you thinking of moving again in the next 12 months? If not and you have found a house that you like why wait? It may not be there after the referendum. I have a theory that if you have found a house you like you have to buy it at the price that it is on at while it is still for sale and not worry too much about what the value of it does in the next 5 years.

marksoton

warriorlfc1892 wrote: »

We are in the process of buying our first home as a married couple (and moving out of my parents), but because I spent my savings 2 years ago as a 24 yo on a buy-to-let (rented out atm) we have to pay the higher stamp duty rates. the result is we are ony able to afford a 5% mortgage, and will not have much cash left at all. with the eu referendum around the corner, should we delay buying a house until after the eu referendum, due to the risk of prices dropping and negative equity?

So flog the BTL and have plenty of cash....

thesaint

How far are you into the process, we are talking 3 weeks away?

Surrey_EA

Who knows? I have yet to come across who can predict the housing market with any sort of accuracy. Where an event as unprecedented as this EU referendum is concerned, what happens to property prices is anyone's guess.

As the first two responders have said, housing should really be viewed as a very long term investment, and try to ignore short term fluctuations.

G_M

See

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5475182

warriorlfc1892

OK you're all echoing the thoughts I already had, thank you, fingers crossed then it all goes through (and Brexit doesn't happen!)

AnotherJoe

warriorlfc1892 wrote: »

because I spent my savings 2 years ago as a 24 yo on a buy-to-let (rented out atm) we have to pay the higher stamp duty rates.

No you don't. There is an obvious choice you can make.

warriorlfc1892 wrote: »

. the result is we are ony able to afford a 5% mortgage, and will not have much cash left at all.

Entirely the result of your choice. I wonder if you factor in the higher mortgage rates and resulting increased payments, if you aren't actually losing money on your BTL.

misswoosie

Surrey_EA wrote: »

Who knows? I have yet to come across who can predict the housing market with any sort of accuracy. Where an event as unprecedented as this EU referendum is concerned, what happens to property prices is anyone's guess.

As the first two responders have said, housing should really be viewed as a very long term investment, and try to ignore short term fluctuations.

But what about when someone knows for definite that it's not a long term investment (because the buyers are in their 80's) and they have had an offer accepted on a new home but have yet to receive an offer on their current home? Much smaller property but, as it's a bungalow, the purchase price is probably only going to be around 10k less than the sales price of their current home and that's in this market. I guess if property prices take a dive then their may be a lot of sales that go belly up. At least up here prices haven't gone back to the pre crash level but of course that doesn't mean that they couldn't fall back below the 2010/11 prices. :cool:

iantojones40

Why is 'only a 5% mortgage' such a problem?

I thought in these days of over-leveraged debt junkies 5% was more than adequate to satisfy most lenders.