First time buyers during the pandemic

cellardoor1

I was wondering if it’s a good time for first time buyers to buy during the corona pandemic or if it’s best to delay until afterwards. Obviously the government has put a delay on moving but we’re at the stage where we’re about to sign a contact but Is it the right time? Are we going to hit a crash or recession? Is it best to wait until it’s over or to go through with it now?

muz3562

A lot of the answers will largely depend on your personal and financial circumstances plus your appetite for risk .

I mean just to pose a few of the questions , are you in secure employment , is the pandemic likely to have any impact on your income , are you renting atm or living with parents . Is it a forever home or just a stepping stone onto the property market . All these things make a difference to what you might wish to do

Plus of course nobody knows exactly what's going to happen with the housing market , we can all make educated or uneducated guesses , can all base things on previous experience but as much as it has been thrown about recently this is a totally unprecedented situation .

My personal take on it is that house prizes are likely to freeze or experience some decrease as a result of this , but I am a FTB with a secure job and decent savings that is currently close to exchange on a house I plan to live in for 5 years or more l and have currently asked for a delay to proceedings for this 3 week lockdown to further assess the situation .

cellardoor1

Hi,

Thanks for you’re feedback. The asking for a delay you mentioned sounds like a good idea. 

Im buying with my partner, their job is pretty secure mine is 50/50. We’re currently renting so i guess we’d be losing money that way. But it might be a good idea to hold off and see what happens.

valuepack

We're in the same boat, Ftb and signed our contract last Wednesday.. but we haven't sent it off yet because we're uncertain about what's going to happen. Buying a 2 bed from an investor, tenants are leaving on 23Rd April (I think they might have already left), we're renting. New house is 2 miles away and thrifty will rent a van to my partner who is an NHS worker. 
So we could go ahead, but are going to give it a few weeks.

Thrugelmir

Signing the contract does not commit you. Your solicitor will hold on to the contract until such time as exchange is proposed. If you wish to delay matters speak to your solicitor. 

Hodge58

valuepack said:

We're in the same boat, Ftb and signed our contract last Wednesday.. but we haven't sent it off yet because we're uncertain about what's going to happen. Buying a 2 bed from an investor, tenants are leaving on 23Rd April (I think they might have already left), we're renting. New house is 2 miles away and thrifty will rent a van to my partner who is an NHS worker. 
So we could go ahead, but are going to give it a few weeks.

I would offer a much lower price as the seller has no Tenants and no income. Play hardball Landlords do

muz3562

cellardoor1 said:

Hi,

Thanks for you’re feedback. The asking for a delay you mentioned sounds like a good idea. 

Im buying with my partner, their job is pretty secure mine is 50/50. We’re currently renting so i guess we’d be losing money that way. But it might be a good idea to hold off and see what happens.

And financially how would it leave you if you only had your partners income and limited welfare state income for you to rely on ? Would you still be able to afford the mortgage repayments and other essential bills ?

I am assuming when you say that you are about to sign the contract you mean to purchase , so you must have had a mortgage offer . How does your mortgage repayment look against your rent payment ?

It really is impossible to say if it is a good idea to hold off and see what happens . I mean nobody can say for sure what will happen , and it depends on your thoughts on how long you will stay in the property and how much you like it ? 

Yes by all means consider the risk of a crash , but how would you feel in 6 months time if houses prices had actually only experienced a modest decrease of a few percent but you had pulled out of this transaction and the property was sold to someone else .