Cash buyer near completion... brexit housing crash fears..?

andrewf75

stehouk wrote: »

There will always be winners and losers when it comes to property ownership, and i won't argue that if you pay off the 25 year mortgage or 35 years that it takes for today's buyers you may then be able to downsize to a bedsit with the equity and live rent free.

I'm struggling to see in what situation would you lose?

you live rent free once you've paid off whether you downsize or not, but extreme downsizing to free up a load of cash is quite a good option to have.

stehouk

I agree it was a bit extreme "bedsit" but there are two sides of the coin and renting has its place.

ukcarper

I've lived in my house over 30 years, I've replaced windows, boiler, bathroom, kitchen, gutters and flat roof on garage. Could argue bathroom and to a lesser extent kitchen were discretionary as they were functional.

lisyloo

I'm struggling to see in what situation would you lose?

Having to sell in a downturn when forced e.g. job re-location, divorce (and not getting the benefit by buying in at the same time).



Suffering negative equity during a downturn - I do know of people with 4 kids living in a 1-bed flat (bad family planning if you ask me - but it did happen).


Wanting to sell quickly and therefore taking a loss e.g. divorce.
I do know people (often men) who've taken a haircut just to be shot of it.


Selling not that long after buying and suffering relatively high transactional costs e.g. divorce.


However whilst it's good to consider the risks, one also has to consider likelihood and most of the time these things don't happen.

ukcarper

stehouk wrote: »

I agree it was a bit extreme "bedsit" but there are two sides of the coin and renting has its place.

Renting does have it place especially if you have to move frequently but if you are reasonably settled over the longterm is by far better and not just financially.

stehouk

andrewf75 wrote: »

I'm struggling to see in what situation would you lose?

you live rent free once you've paid off whether you downsize or not, but extreme downsizing to free up a load of cash is quite a good option to have.

The point i'm trying to make is i already have the cash, i have a well paid job, and buying a house would be a risk at this time.

lisyloo

stehouk wrote: »

I agree it was a bit extreme "bedsit" but there are two sides of the coin and renting has its place.

Oh absoutely.
I'm a renter because I'm economically mobile.
The rental period is tied in to an employment contract so if the contract does end, we can just walk away from the associated accomodation.


Renting forever does have an issue in retirement though.
It's very difficult to be comfortably off in retirement if you have not paid off your mortgage.

lisyloo

stehouk wrote: »

The point i'm trying to make is i already have the cash, i have a well paid job, and buying a house would be a risk at this time.

Or you could get a bargain if most people think it's a risk - but as you rightly say that's a gamble.

stehouk

ukcarper wrote: »

Renting does have it place especially if you have to move frequently but if you are reasonably settled over the longterm is by far better and not just financially.

I totally agree.

andrewf75

stehouk wrote: »

The point i'm trying to make is i already have the cash, i have a well paid job, and buying a house would be a risk at this time.

Fair enough. Can totally see the sense in holding off right now. Apologies I think I misunderstood a bit.