The window where you can put off buying a home is tiny

triathlon

For those who are constantly spouting on about hold off buying property, the worst are those who are now committed from having made that awful decision years ago and even decades for some, who now are conning the younger generation now of house buying age to do the same as they did.
In 2019 there is probably the smallest ever window to make a start on house buying before you have left it too late, leave it only five years as a very young person and finished. This is not the 1950' to 1980's when you could buy property on one wage and easily do it in a 25 year period, those days have gone.
I urge you for your own happiness, if you can afford to buy your 1st home today,

DO IT

ScottishSaver14

As someone who is buying their first property at the moment, I understand your sentiment however it's not entirely realistic given the nature of the subject.

Any large purchase, especially for an FTB, SHOULD involve a lot of forward planning, introspection and research as well as monitoring what to expect where you want to buy.

My OH and I have known we would buy together for 3+ years, if we had just 'done it' as soon as we had 5% I dread to think of where we'd ended up.

And I agree that it's not the 1950s where you can survive on one wage anymore, which is why if you buy a house it should not only tick as many of your boxes as possible while being sensible financially- but should also be with the right person.

No point in buying a house and splitting after 2 months, losing the house and all your FTB benefits in the process.

lisyloo

I think triathlon is talking about not delaying a purchase due to speculating on the housing market.
What you are talking about scottishsaver is prudence both in your financial planning but also your relationship and family planning which is a sensible thing to do.

So readiness is not just a factor of finance (deposit) but also being at the right place in your career and relationship.

I can understand why people might want to delay with a no deal just round the corner, but one has to be careful or long term delays.
I do know people who delayed joining a pension scheme on day one (when it was optional) and 20 years later they’ve missed out on a 6-figure sum.

There has always been something to worry about whether it was nuclear Armageddon, bird flu, swine flu, Zika, aids, antibiotics apocalypse.
I remember people being worried about a nuclear attack and also at university we were all told that within 2 years we’d all know someone that had died of aids - it never transpired.

I’m not saying just jump right in, but endlessly delaying over things that are beyond our control is daft.
Making progress month by month even if small will see a result over decades of being mortgage free.

ScottishSaver14

. I think triathlon is talking about not delaying a purchase due to speculating on the housing market.
What you are talking about scottishsaver is prudence both in your financial planning but also your relationship and family planning which is a sensible thing to do.

So readiness is not just a factor of finance (deposit) but also being at the right place in your career and relationship.
I’m not saying just jump right in, but endlessly delaying over things that are beyond our control is daft.
Making progress month by month even if small will see a result over decades of being mortgage free.

Hi Lisyboo, thanks for your supportive words and perspective. You're right,there's always something!

Although I agree with Triathlons sentiment that there's no point in timing the market, it's the panic of 'theres a very small window in 2019 to do it so do it now which I thought I'd chime in on.

Yes this might not be the ideal time to buy in certain parts of the UK, but the only thing you can time is your own pace and make sure you are ready to buy in all the ways you outlined. Not because 'if you don't do it now, you never will'.

Perhaps we can all agree that 'if you are comfortable with it, do it now' - in that there will always be a Daily Mail headline saying otherwise, so why not.

Crashy_Time

ScottishSaver14 wrote: »

Hi Lisyboo, thanks for your supportive words and perspective. You're right,there's always something!

Although I agree with Triathlons sentiment that there's no point in timing the market, it's the panic of 'theres a very small window in 2019 to do it so do it now which I thought I'd chime in on.

Yes this might not be the ideal time to buy in certain parts of the UK, but the only thing you can time is your own pace and make sure you are ready to buy in all the ways you outlined. Not because 'if you don't do it now, you never will'.

Perhaps we can all agree that 'if you are comfortable with it, do it now' - in that there will always be a Daily Mail headline saying otherwise, so why not.

The OP was banned some years ago from a certain website that calls out the madness of massive debt for basic accommodation I believe. The effects of that banning have not been positive unfortunately. Just remember that a lot of the "advice" on here is from people who have banked on a big future payout from property, or who own multiple BTL`s, and as the political/economic tide turns against high property prices/gains they will shout even louder to BUY NOW! A WTO Brexit followed by JC as PM is very possible so always DYOR. Good Luck!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7171049/Report-lays-Corbyns-proposal-grab-inheritances-tax-profits-family-house-sales.html

chucknorris

Crashy_Time wrote: »

The OP was banned some years ago from a certain website that calls out the madness of massive debt for basic accommodation I believe. The effects of that banning have not been positive unfortunately. Just remember that a lot of the "advice" on here is from people who have banked on a big future payout from property, or who own multiple BTL`s, and as the political/economic tide turns against high property prices/gains they will shout even louder to BUY NOW! A WTO Brexit followed by JC as PM is very possible so always DYOR. Good Luck!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7171049/Report-lays-Corbyns-proposal-grab-inheritances-tax-profits-family-house-sales.html

The thing is though Crashy, my worst fear economically would be to end up like you. So why should people listen to you?

If someone buys a house now and the worse thing happens (don't forget it might not happen), they still have that house to live in. You can't give me a time in history, because there isn't one, when 25 years later (after buying) house prices were lower and/or (never mind BOTH which it would need to take) that rents were lower. But then again, why am I actually typing this, it will fall on deaf ears.

ScottishSaver14

. The OP was banned some years ago from a certain website that calls out the madness of massive debt for basic accommodation I believe. The effects of that banning have not been positive unfortunately. Just remember that a lot of the "advice" on here is from people who have banked on a big future payout from property, or who own multiple BTL`s, and as the political/economic tide turns against high property prices/gains they will shout even louder to BUY NOW! A WTO Brexit followed by JC as PM is very possible so always DYOR. Good Luck!

There are those like that on the forum. But as with all things, there are two sides of the extreme my other half and I are in the middle of buying a house in our ideal location, a 3 bed cosmetic do-er upper with space to grow at home report value (which is unbelievable). We have a relatively low LTV and most worst case scenarios are manageable we think.

We're skipping the starter, and if we stay in that house forever due to circumstances,that's fine. And if that doesn't work out, there's not much more we could have done!

.If someone buys a house now and the worse thing happens (don't forget it might not happen), they still have that house to live in.

Amen.
In our last flat, despite us being ideal tenants the landlord's circumstances changed and he sold it. That was because of something specific to him personally, so I imagine in a severe downturn it would be much more likely.

A lifetime of that? No thanks

Crashy_Time

chucknorris wrote: »

The thing is though Crashy, my worst fear economically would be to end up like you. So why should people listen to you?

If someone buys a house now and the worse thing happens (don't forget it might not happen), they still have that house to live in. You can't give me a time in history, because there isn't one, when 25 years later (after buying) house prices were lower and/or (never mind BOTH which it would need to take) that rents were lower. But then again, why am I actually typing this, it will fall on deaf ears.

1) You know nothing about me economically.

2) If the worst happens now a lot of people will still be living in a house they didn`t expect to be in because they can`t sell it to move on, that could be critical if the work has already moved on.

3) You can`t predict future interest rates so why should your experience of buying in the 90`s be relevant to someone buying now?

Crashy_Time

ScottishSaver14 wrote: »

There are those like that on the forum. But as with all things, there are two sides of the extreme my other half and I are in the middle of buying a house in our ideal location, a 3 bed cosmetic do-er upper with space to grow at home report value (which is unbelievable). We have a relatively low LTV and most worst case scenarios are manageable we think.

We're skipping the starter, and if we stay in that house forever due to circumstances,that's fine. And if that doesn't work out, there's not much more we could have done!



Amen.
In our last flat, despite us being ideal tenants the landlord's circumstances changed and he sold it. That was because of something specific to him personally, so I imagine in a severe downturn it would be much more likely.

A lifetime of that? No thanks

The chances of selling a BTL in a severe downturn would be less not more, and the chances of rent increases also less. Not about you specifically, but everyone is in love with the dream house until circumstances change and they want to get rid, and in a bubble that has turned volatile it gets harder to sell when you might like to at a price you might like. I don`t mean don`t buy, just be aware that most property cheerleaders are heavily invested in it not going pop.

triathlon

chucknorris wrote: »

The thing is though Crashy, my worst fear economically would be to end up like you. So why should people listen to you?

If someone buys a house now and the worse thing happens (don't forget it might not happen), they still have that house to live in. You can't give me a time in history, because there isn't one, when 25 years later (after buying) house prices were lower and/or (never mind BOTH which it would need to take) that rents were lower. But then again, why am I actually typing this, it will fall on deaf ears.

The other thing crashy just cannot see is that with the odd blip property has been in a bull market since forever, and there is nothing minus a mass exodus from our shores in the millions that will alter that fact

triathlon

Crashy_Time wrote: »

The chances of selling a BTL in a severe downturn would be less not more, and the chances of rent increases also less. Not about you specifically, but everyone is in love with the dream house until circumstances change and they want to get rid, and in a bubble that has turned volatile it gets harder to sell when you might like to at a price you might like. I don`t mean don`t buy, just be aware that most property cheerleaders are heavily invested in it not going pop.

Crashy, everytime I read your posts I feel like I am reading a desperate prayer. You said in an earlier post from chuck that he knew nothing about you "economically" . Well I think he can as can many of us, I would be terrified after a tragic mistaken prediction over decades that not only had I missed out I was now going to have to pay full rates as a renter into retirement.

Tragic.