Bad time to buy a house?

RelievedSheff

captaindough said:

GixerKate said:

It depends on why you are buying the house and how long you intend to live in it.  The value will rise and fall all the time, so what if in a couple of months time it is worth 40k less, a year later it could be worth 60k more....
Personally I'm in the middle of buying a house, its one that I'm hoping to stay in for a long long time.  Its a new build so my expectation is that the value won't rise for a while but I'm buying somewhere to make my home and its also a long term investment. 

Thanks, this property is more short term, 2 to 3 years. If we go into a heavy recession...would we be out of it in 2 to 3 years? If not then I wouldn’t be in a position to sell....because I’d take a huge hit...I care if I lose 40K.

Is it likely to go into recession similar to that of 2008? And would people buy now with that ever increasing possibility of recession or wait, say 6 months?

You would have to be mad to buy a house for such a short term. The costs of the purchase alone make it not worth it never mind any short term falls in value.

davidmcn

captaindough said:

comeandgo said:

It is always a risk but the time to worry about the value of your property is when you are selling.

Thanks for your reply, I see your point but, as a buyer you would surly not want to purchase a property for say 200K and it only be worth 160K a few months later due to a market crash...

I guess my question would be, would people buy a property now with the uncertainty that is currently around? Or would they wait and see what happens?

When was the last time you think we had certainty?

captaindough

RelievedSheff said:

captaindough said:

GixerKate said:

It depends on why you are buying the house and how long you intend to live in it.  The value will rise and fall all the time, so what if in a couple of months time it is worth 40k less, a year later it could be worth 60k more....
Personally I'm in the middle of buying a house, its one that I'm hoping to stay in for a long long time.  Its a new build so my expectation is that the value won't rise for a while but I'm buying somewhere to make my home and its also a long term investment. 

Thanks, this property is more short term, 2 to 3 years. If we go into a heavy recession...would we be out of it in 2 to 3 years? If not then I wouldn’t be in a position to sell....because I’d take a huge hit...I care if I lose 40K.

Is it likely to go into recession similar to that of 2008? And would people buy now with that ever increasing possibility of recession or wait, say 6 months?

You would have to be mad to buy a house for such a short term. The costs of the purchase alone make it not worth it never mind any short term falls in value.

Interesting points on the costs of purchasing. I see the costs as quite minimal...solicitor fees of roughly £1100...no stamp duty....no EA fees....no removal costs etc for my situation, no broker fees etc and a monthly repayment considerably less than my rent.

GixerKate

captaindough said:

GixerKate said:

It depends on why you are buying the house and how long you intend to live in it.  The value will rise and fall all the time, so what if in a couple of months time it is worth 40k less, a year later it could be worth 60k more....
Personally I'm in the middle of buying a house, its one that I'm hoping to stay in for a long long time.  Its a new build so my expectation is that the value won't rise for a while but I'm buying somewhere to make my home and its also a long term investment. 

Thanks, this property is more short term, 2 to 3 years. If we go into a heavy recession...would we be out of it in 2 to 3 years? If not then I wouldn’t be in a position to sell....because I’d take a huge hit...I care if I lose 40K.

Is it likely to go into recession similar to that of 2008? And would people buy now with that ever increasing possibility of recession or wait, say 6 months?

Hmm, if you don't mind me asking, why would you want to sell after only a couple of years?  Houses are generally a long term investment and I don't think you often see a profit after only a couple of years, especially if you factor in the costs of moving as these can be pretty costly (my move is costing approx 20k)

I would have thought you would be better off renting rather than buying...

need_an_answer

Where are you living at the moment and how much is that costing you.
Presumably you are renting and that could be costing you 1000 per month for example....in buying you wont have that cost although you will have mortgage payments and upkeep.
If the market falls bu thousands in the timeframe you wish to own your property are you going to just say its a "total loss" or include the figures that you would have made in rental payments for example in your calculations.

Its not as easy as saying you buy property at this point and the value goes down...or indeed up...and saying you lost/gained £x 
What you have had is the benefit of living there 

You need to establish if you want to buy something to make a profit...or buy something to live in...they are 2 different things and at the moment your focus id on gain/loss so its possibly not the wisest move to buy for a short term period of up to 3 years.

captaindough

davidmcn said:

captaindough said:

comeandgo said:

It is always a risk but the time to worry about the value of your property is when you are selling.

Thanks for your reply, I see your point but, as a buyer you would surly not want to purchase a property for say 200K and it only be worth 160K a few months later due to a market crash...

I guess my question would be, would people buy a property now with the uncertainty that is currently around? Or would they wait and see what happens?

When was the last time you think we had certainty?

Hard to say. But I will say...that with The US boarders closed this AM to the EU and the situation in Italy and the spread of the Covid-19 virus and the rapid falls daily in stocks, shares etc etc gives us a fairly realistic chance of financial crisis...but I’m no expert.

RelievedSheff

captaindough said:

davidmcn said:

captaindough said:

comeandgo said:

It is always a risk but the time to worry about the value of your property is when you are selling.

Thanks for your reply, I see your point but, as a buyer you would surly not want to purchase a property for say 200K and it only be worth 160K a few months later due to a market crash...

I guess my question would be, would people buy a property now with the uncertainty that is currently around? Or would they wait and see what happens?

When was the last time you think we had certainty?

Hard to say. But I will say...that with The US boarders closed this AM to the EU and the situation in Italy and the spread of the Covid-19 virus and the rapid falls daily in stocks, shares etc etc gives us a fairly realistic chance of financial crisis...but I’m no expert.

Regardless of all of those factors you still have to live somewhere.

captaindough

GixerKate said:

captaindough said:

GixerKate said:

It depends on why you are buying the house and how long you intend to live in it.  The value will rise and fall all the time, so what if in a couple of months time it is worth 40k less, a year later it could be worth 60k more....
Personally I'm in the middle of buying a house, its one that I'm hoping to stay in for a long long time.  Its a new build so my expectation is that the value won't rise for a while but I'm buying somewhere to make my home and its also a long term investment. 

Thanks, this property is more short term, 2 to 3 years. If we go into a heavy recession...would we be out of it in 2 to 3 years? If not then I wouldn’t be in a position to sell....because I’d take a huge hit...I care if I lose 40K.

Is it likely to go into recession similar to that of 2008? And would people buy now with that ever increasing possibility of recession or wait, say 6 months?

Hmm, if you don't mind me asking, why would you want to sell after only a couple of years?  Houses are generally a long term investment and I don't think you often see a profit after only a couple of years, especially if you factor in the costs of moving as these can be pretty costly (my move is costing approx 20k)

I would have thought you would be better off renting rather than buying...

If you don’t me asking...how is it costing you 20k to move house?

Gilead

No one knows what will happen, that is the honest truth. And there will always be some issue on the horizon that will present a "what if" scenario. 

Anecdotally, I have a friend who was ready to be a FTB in 2016 but got freaked over Brexit. He believed property market would collapse and he would get more for his money if he waited it out. 3 years later and with property prices in our region (and his city) rising steadily he finally admitted he should have purchased in 2016. He was buying a house that he was going to live in for years to come. The difference from 2016 to 2019 in waiting on price alone was approx 13-15%, plus he was paying rent in the interim. 

Crunch your numbers and see what makes sense for you. 

GixerKate

captaindough said:

GixerKate said:

captaindough said:

GixerKate said:

It depends on why you are buying the house and how long you intend to live in it.  The value will rise and fall all the time, so what if in a couple of months time it is worth 40k less, a year later it could be worth 60k more....
Personally I'm in the middle of buying a house, its one that I'm hoping to stay in for a long long time.  Its a new build so my expectation is that the value won't rise for a while but I'm buying somewhere to make my home and its also a long term investment. 

Thanks, this property is more short term, 2 to 3 years. If we go into a heavy recession...would we be out of it in 2 to 3 years? If not then I wouldn’t be in a position to sell....because I’d take a huge hit...I care if I lose 40K.

Is it likely to go into recession similar to that of 2008? And would people buy now with that ever increasing possibility of recession or wait, say 6 months?

Hmm, if you don't mind me asking, why would you want to sell after only a couple of years?  Houses are generally a long term investment and I don't think you often see a profit after only a couple of years, especially if you factor in the costs of moving as these can be pretty costly (my move is costing approx 20k)

I would have thought you would be better off renting rather than buying...

If you don’t me asking...how is it costing you 20k to move house?

Solicitors fees, surveys, moving costs and stamp duty