Help please! FTB needs to know what to offer

mango1966

An almost identical situation to the one I'm in, being a FTB looking at places from £200-220,000, so please keep posting your developments.

From what I am reading and hearing, things are just beginning to change, though how quickly and by how much i don't know.

Keep in touch!!

GingeG

Its all very well everyone saying they will drop but I cant wait much longer. I just know that its the wrong time to buy though

meanmachine_2

GingeG wrote:

Its all very well everyone saying they will drop but I cant wait much longer. I just know that its the wrong time to buy though

I can sympathise.

It's never really a right time to buy. Such a large purchase will always be a worrying time.

Back in 2000 house prices seemed daft, and look what happened then!

If you really don't think it's the right time to buy, then don't do it. It's a risk either way though.

But then, that's life!

We're never free from risk until we're dead.

Lemoncurd

GingeG wrote:

I just know that its the wrong time to buy though

We feel just the same, have been renting for 5 years believing that we were at the peak of the market so should wait. Just decided to buy our first place recently and now feel that we really ARE at the top of the market. We're buying for a home for the long term though and are putting down a good deposit so hopefully we won't get tooo burnt.

Back to the original question, I always intended to offer at least 10% under, it seems like a good starting point. However the place we went for was on at £290k (just reduced from £300k) and from speaking to several different people we knew that £260k wouldn't even be considered and were prepared to pay more. An almost identical (but better condition) property next door was asking £310k. There are a lot of factors so you just need to get a feel for the property and vendors and decide what it is worth to you. We eventually offered about 7% under the asking price which was refused outright and over a period of time agreed on a figure 3% under (still 40k less than the property next door is asking).

loanranger_4

Lemoncurd wrote:

We feel just the same, have been renting for 5 years believing that we were at the peak of the market so should wait. Just decided to buy our first place recently and now feel that we really ARE at the top of the market. We're buying for a home for the long term though and are putting down a good deposit so hopefully we won't get tooo burnt.

We've been looking for a couple of years and and would look at buying somewhere each year and we backed out each time as we thought there were too high.

Now events require us to relocate saddled with an even bigger mortgage than I ever imagined.

donsaini

i am sorry if it offends

but over past few posts, i have noticed that some posters "hijack", the post, about how bad a time it is to buy. i am a ftb, hopefully completing next week. my observation is that, most members of this site, know about the market and people's different opinions on it.

they OP usually ask for advice on how to proceed, now that they have made their decision. i know people will write back and say its in the OPs interest.

to OP i think that an offer of between 185-190K, if yopu really want the place sooner rather than later. if you are willing to take a bit of a risk, then 180-185K. remember that once you put in a higher offer, it's difficult to take it back during negotiations. (ie before they accept your offer)

hope i havent upset anybody, just an observation, thats all. sorry if i have

donsaini

i am sorry if it offends

but over past few posts, i have noticed that some posters "hijack", the post, about how bad a time it is to buy,etc i am a ftb, hopefully completing next week. my observation is that, most members of this site, know about the market conditions and people's different opinions on it.

they OP usually ask for advice on how to proceed, now that they have made their decision. i know people will write back and say its in the OPs interest.

to OP i think that an offer of between 185-190K, if yopu really want the place sooner rather than later. if you are willing to take a bit of a risk, then 180-185K. remember that once you put in a higher offer, it's difficult to take it back during negotiations. (ie before they accept your offer). also never underestimate your position as a ftb, you're like gold dust these days. also if you live there for 10 yrs, you'll gain equity.

hope i havent upset anybody, just an observation, thats all. sorry if i have

Jeppo

For how long have we been hearing the wise ones telling us the housing market is about to crash? For how long have they been saying the downturn is just around the corner? Don't buy....sit it out...yadda...yadda...yadda....

I absolutely guarantee that in 2015 anyone who bought a house in 2005 will not regret that purchase. Do you want to be renting for the next five or ten years? If you find a house that you want & you can afford to live there then it's a no-brainer. If house prices go down what's the worst that can happen? You're still living in a house that you want to live in. If you want to sell your house & move somewhere else all the other houses are cheaper too. In fact if you want to move up the property ladder then a falling market is much better than a rising market.

As for making an offer, it depends on how much you want to live in that house. Last year I bought a house for £179,000 (it had been reduced from £188k) which was just below the 'final' asking price - I started off at £172,000 which was rejected, so I obviously upped my offer as I knew it was worth it. The bottom line was I wanted to buy it. I'd done months and months of research & looking around & I knew this was the place for me. OK, I wasn't absolutely 100% about it (who is?) but it was time for a change.

One year on the house is now worth £15k - £20k more (we've spruced it up & it looks fab), but to me that is irrelevant. In two years time it could be worth £15-£20k less but it doesn't matter because I'm living where I want to live. I'm my own landlord, I've enjoyed the decorating & basic DIY & I didn't get bitter when the central heating packed in after 3 months! It's been an absolute joy to move on from rented accomodation. At least all my mortgage payments are paying for my house & not someone else's. Freedom indeed.

deemy2004

The problem is negative equity....

For instance if you buy a house for £200k with a 80% mortgage - you own 20%

If house prices fall just 10% - You lose 50% of your equity ! That is very painful !

So buying at or just after the peak is very dangerous.

meanmachine_2

Jeppo, I understand what you're saying and your view of the housing market is, I think, one shared by much of the population.

However, it is also true that where you buy on the property cycle will determine your wealth from that point on.

Won't it annoy you just a little should I come along in two years' time and buy next door for £30K less? If it doesn't then good for you, and good for me too, because I've now saved myself £60K (incl interest).

I've also earned 5% on my euqity over that time, possibly another £5K, giving me a grand total of £65K. Oh, and because these days I can rent for less than I can buy I've also managed to save £200 per month, which, over two years is another £2,400.

Grand total: £67,400

I agree, however, that not everything is about money and if you're happy, then good for you.

I'm not saying I'm prepared to wait two years, but if the market continues to fall, then if you look at it from my POV, I've really got no choice (since I'm a money saving nerd!)