Should I be buying now?!

jamieann_lee

We’re just about to buy our first house - we’re supposed to be exchanging in the next week or so! Are we crazy to still go ahead with this, or should we pull out given the current circumstances with COVID? 

Thank you! 

MovingForwards

What's your reasons for pulling out?

A lot of us are still going ahead, as all the threads that are popping up indicate.

Some are pulling out due to being unsure about their jobs and reduced hours etc.

homeless9

I, myself, have an exchange date set for 6th April....

I am questioning following through with my purchase.....

BUT. I already asked for £25,000 off the asking price, which is 8% less off the property, a new build. Others on the development have paid £25,000 more.

When I look around at the prices of other new and old build properties I am getting a good deal in comparison. I am buying a 2 bed house with a garden for £10,000 less than a smaller 1 bed new build apartment with no garden the other side of my town.

This all said, the world economy is screwed and I worry that there will be a big drop in house prices, but I also worry that if I pull out and things turn around that I missed out on a property that I have been waiting and saving for 10 years to purchase.

I think I need to get something else out of this situation, maybe even a further £5,000 - £10,000 off the property or I need to try to push through with getting a cheaper mortgage rate than the fixed rate I was offered before the bank of england cut rates, even if that means requesting a delay in the exchanging of contracts to get the rate changed before I commit to it, that may mean reapplying. 

babyblade41

I don't see any reason  not to  go ahead , prices may dip temporarily and unless this is an investment property and not your future home, it seems a bit OTT to pull out 

[Deleted User]

How people can blithely say just go ahead is beyond me ! It might be different if selling then buying, as if one drops in price then so would the other. 

But investment and FTB - well thats madness in my view. Ive just pulled out of a BTL. Beaut house, but Im not paying £330k plus extra SDLT for it to be worth £220k next year !
These are unprecedented times - totally unknown. Until I know what is the fall out to this, Im leaving my money in the bank, and not locking into any fixed rates for now 
Next year I hope for a bargain - possibly as landlords sell off their stock after the prohibition on Evictions is lifted 

Mickygg

Densol pulling out of buying another property when you already have your own home is totally different to FTB buying their first home. You are investing for goodness sake.
Differences being not paying rent, needing a roof over heads, laying down family foundations etc etc.

That said I would if I was at an early stage pull out due to the unknown. If I was about to exchange I would seriously think about it. Along the lines of how long did it take to find the property you have found? If it’s a new build there will be plenty more in the future but if it’s unique in an area where houses rarely come up then you may want to proceed.
My overriding consideration would be how much are you going to be looking at house prices and feeling gutted if you see house prices start to reduce? A bit like investing where if you can’t stomach potential big falls you shouldn’t due it at this stage. Also if it’s a house just for a few years I defo wouldn’t buy.

Lots to think about and I don’t envy people in this situation. If you are thinking of proceeding I would look to get more of a reduction as the world is in a very different place than a month ago, and I wouldn’t exactly rush to exchange. What’s the worst thing that could happen if you drag your feet on exchange? You may lose the house? Well that’s made your mind up for you then.

Sebo027

homeless9 said:

I, myself, have an exchange date set for 6th April....

I am questioning following through with my purchase.....

BUT. I already asked for £25,000 off the asking price, which is 8% less off the property, a new build. Others on the development have paid £25,000 more.

When I look around at the prices of other new and old build properties I am getting a good deal in comparison. I am buying a 2 bed house with a garden for £10,000 less than a smaller 1 bed new build apartment with no garden the other side of my town.

This all said, the world economy is screwed and I worry that there will be a big drop in house prices, but I also worry that if I pull out and things turn around that I missed out on a property that I have been waiting and saving for 10 years to purchase.

I think I need to get something else out of this situation, maybe even a further £5,000 - £10,000 off the property or I need to try to push through with getting a cheaper mortgage rate than the fixed rate I was offered before the bank of england cut rates, even if that means requesting a delay in the exchanging of contracts to get the rate changed before I commit to it, that may mean reapplying. 

I suppose there's a few ways to look at it.

• I do not know where you live but what is the surrounding economy like, how have house prices been trending recently (last five years), and is it likely to acutely affected by the COVID-19 saga or the oil price crash? I would be cautious about sinking a large deposit into a property in London or Aberdeen at the moment. 
• Presumably it's your "home" to live in - how long do you plan to live there? 
  
• Does it need to be this house? If you've waited ten years and you're not emotionally attached to the prospective house, there's a strong possibility that you can wait and get more value for your money later in 2020. If you're happy to sit tight, I personally would probably wait but that is just my personal opinion. 
  

homeless9

Brido88 said:

homeless9 said:

I, myself, have an exchange date set for 6th April....

I am questioning following through with my purchase.....

I suppose there's a few ways to look at it.

• I do not know where you live but what is the surrounding economy like, how have house prices been trending recently (last five years), and is it likely to acutely affected by the COVID-19 saga or the oil price crash? I would be cautious about sinking a large deposit into a property in London or Aberdeen at the moment. 
• Presumably it's your "home" to live in - how long do you plan to live there? 
  
• Does it need to be this house? If you've waited ten years and you're not emotionally attached to the prospective house, there's a strong possibility that you can wait and get more value for your money later in 2020. If you're happy to sit tight, I personally would probably wait but that is just my personal opinion. 
  

1. Surrounding economy: Affluent town in South East. One of the most unaffordable places to live outside of London. Don't think we rely on any single industry, such as oil or tourism. 

2. I'd likely live in this property a long time. I tend to stay put. Definitely not a nomad.

3. I would not say I am particularly emotionally attached to this house. I think over the years buying a house has actually got less exciting for me. Though it is rare for a property like this to come to the market, especially in this town, and especially for the price I offered and got accepted. It's rare for a modest sized new build property with a garden to come to market here that is somewhat affordable. Here, new builds are rare in themselves and are usually priced ridiculously high.


The thing is, property prices are already stupidly high. Trying to quantify the impact of this virus is difficult, but I created a list of just how many industries are affected by this virus and it's a pretty long list. Hospitality, Leisure, Tourism, Travel, Airline, Restaurant, Sports industries alone are decimated and for how long.

At what point does all this impact on house prices? Surely it should already be impacting the market?

Darkslider

homeless9 said:

Brido88 said:

homeless9 said:

I, myself, have an exchange date set for 6th April....

I am questioning following through with my purchase.....

I suppose there's a few ways to look at it.

• I do not know where you live but what is the surrounding economy like, how have house prices been trending recently (last five years), and is it likely to acutely affected by the COVID-19 saga or the oil price crash? I would be cautious about sinking a large deposit into a property in London or Aberdeen at the moment. 
• Presumably it's your "home" to live in - how long do you plan to live there? 
  
• Does it need to be this house? If you've waited ten years and you're not emotionally attached to the prospective house, there's a strong possibility that you can wait and get more value for your money later in 2020. If you're happy to sit tight, I personally would probably wait but that is just my personal opinion. 
  

1. Surrounding economy: Affluent town in South East. One of the most unaffordable places to live outside of London. Don't think we rely on any single industry, such as oil or tourism. 

2. I'd likely live in this property a long time. I tend to stay put. Definitely not a nomad.

3. I would not say I am particularly emotionally attached to this house. I think over the years buying a house has actually got less exciting for me. Though it is rare for a property like this to come to the market, especially in this town, and especially for the price I offered and got accepted. It's rare for a modest sized new build property with a garden to come to market here that is somewhat affordable. Here, new builds are rare in themselves and are usually priced ridiculously high.


The thing is, property prices are already stupidly high. Trying to quantify the impact of this virus is difficult, but I created a list of just how many industries are affected by this virus and it's a pretty long list. Hospitality, Leisure, Tourism, Travel, Airline, Restaurant, Sports industries alone are decimated and for how long.

At what point does all this impact on house prices? Surely it should already be impacting the market?

Maybe you'd do better to think of the sectors not affected? Whilst huge swathes of potential house buyers will be impacted negatively, either by redundancies or reduced hours, there are lots of industries that are either not affected or have had a huge increase in trade as a result. This is undoubtedly on balance going to result in less people looking to purchase, but my partner in the NHS for example is reporting huge increases in overtime and lengthening shifts, promotions and training for new positions being streamlined, and recruiting drives being stronger than ever. There's similar stories in pharmaceutical, essential retail, front line services including public sector and essential engineering and manufacturing sectors. 

So yes, it's going to be bad, but while there's going to be a definite financial dip it might manifest itself as more of a redistribution of wealth from hospitality, luxury and convenience sectors to essential services workers.

The above is only my (rather hopeful) opinion and is at best a partially informed guess. Nobody really knows for sure, we're in thoroughly uncharted waters here!

MobileSaver

Densol said:

But investment and FTB - well thats madness in my view. Ive just pulled out of a BTL. Beaut house,

Investment is a whole different ball game and the OP made it clear this will be their home not a BTL so I'm not sure why you bring that into the conversation.

As for FTB, the fundamental question always is where will the OP live otherwise? If the OP is happy living with parents or in an unsuitable rental for another year (paying their landlord's mortgage instead of their own) then perhaps holding off could pay dividends.

On the other hand, the first thing that happens if prices drop is that supply drops too (most people don't need to sell and will simply wait it out until prices recover.) If, like with homeless9's example, the house is an uncommon bargain in a desireable area then they'd be mad to miss the opportunity. If there are always loads of similar properties in the area then supply is unlikely to be such an issue.

Regarding your BTL, six months from now the peak of the virus could be well and truly behind us and the property market and economy booming again due to pent-up demand; you may regret not grabbing a bargain at unbelievably low interest rates but, of course, that's just pure speculation on my part.

snowqueen555

Depends on a lot of things. But less people will be looking to buy right now and that will mean many will be willing to lower their price to sell a property. House price drops tend to take a while to happen though.