Should we pull out? Buying our first place and Corona Virus concerns

Jonny363737

Additional we're looking at being there for at least 5 years. I'm sure the market will be booming again by then

Grenage

Jonny363737 said:

Additional we're looking at being there for at least 5 years. I'm sure the market will be booming again by then

Five years is a very optimistic outlook for recovery.  I'm not saying that you shouldn't crack on, but there's a chance you could still be in negative equity on a current purchase.  I'm not sure why anyone wouldn't wait until the market tanks before making a purchase, not when it's inevitable.

SouthLondonUser

If this is your main home, the real comparison is not whether the house price goes up or down, but whether it costs you more than the alternative, which I presume is renting. There can be scenarios where buying is cheaper than renting even if house prices go down. And there are many scenarios where the opposite is true. One should really run some numbers.

ConfusedSeller

We've gone ahead. Our total expenditure a month is less than the two of us privately renting, even in a house share! Relatively small mortgage, cheapest house on the street by about 30k due to some work that needs doing (including much smaller houses/plots), and houses in similar condition still selling within 7 days in our town. Look at all the pro's and cons. Look at the monthly cost of living and work from there

lockstock27

We are currently unsure of our Sale and Purchase.
Everyone's situation varies. My personal opinion is that this will be less of an issue for first time buyers IF this is a property you plan to be in for some time. I've asked a few questions on here myself around this topic and the responses from people have mainly been "you will be fine if this is a long term home" 
For us we have unpredictable circumstance (even before this outbreak) I have a seriously ill family member with terminal cancer. My wife is originally from down south and she came up here to live with me because I want to make the most of my time with my family member. We do/did want to move from our first house (been here 3 years last week) but we wanted to move away from the main road that is on our front and just upscale a bit for a bit more comfort. BUT we can't say this house we are currently buying will be our "Long term house" potentially another 2 or 3 years depending on how things play out over the next few years as we'd like to move closer to the wife's family in the future. So for us it might be worth us staying put.
Anyone looking to get on the ladder or stay 5+ should be fine as the market should bounce back by then. You could say that first time buyers may want to hold on to see if property prices drop? But will mortgage rates change significantly? 

It's not anything anyone can give a definitive answer on really. Its always a gamble and its an even bigger one at the moment.
We are yet to give our final decision. It's just a tough one. The buyers of our property are first time buyers with a large deposit so they aren't phased at all. Will be sad for them if we choose to drop out. But this is a good house. We know that. We just wanted to make the most of the market that was booming at the beginning of this year.

Good luck all

AngelEyes91

I think if you’ve got a valid reason.. ie you’ve lost your job or financially and sensibly you can’t continue then fair enough.
But if you’re planning on having the house for a long time then I know as a seller (ready to exchange at the moment) if my buyers drop out I will happily wait until the market picks up again to sell so you may just be loosing out on a good house in the long run if you drop out. Also very frustrating for the seller!

I am buying a flat and don’t have any intention to drop out. I have a stable job, I will there probably for most of my life so it’s worth it for me.
I know I can’t move at the moment but I’m happy to wait until we’re out of lockdown.. no one really knows what will happen anyway.