Going ahead with house sale amid recession ?

MobileSaver

leftism said:

The only person who seems to think you should just pay whatever anyone asks in his market is you. 

I do not think that all.

I do think it is foolish to keep paying your landlord's mortgage because you hope something better will come along at a cheaper price. It's one thing if you cannot afford a suitable property, it's quite another if you could but are trying to time the market. How long are you and your partner prepared to wait for your next dream home to appear and at a bargain price? Six months? A year? Fifteen years like another poster on these forums?

leftism

eidand said:

leftism said:

MobileSaver said:

leftism said:

 I tried to be fair and only asked for the amount that wouldn’t put us into debt after the money we’ve lost because of covid (4%) they said no so we’d asked them to meet us half way and they said no. So we walked away.

Frankly your justification for a price reduction is bizarre, it's little wonder they said no. How is it "fair" for the sellers to cover any of the losses you have incurred that have absolutely nothing to do with them?

Have you asked for a reduction in your council tax or asked Tesco to give you a discount on your weekly shop because of the money you've lost due to covid? What response did you get?

That wasn’t my justification to them, it’s just the reason. 

My justification to them was the housing market is very different to when we agreed the price. My mortgage advisor said we’d be mad to pay the old price. The estate agent thought we were being more than fair. 

2 close friends have just had to discount their sales 5-10% and were just happy it wasn’t more. 

The only person who seems to think you should just pay whatever anyone asks in his market is you. 

look, everyone would rather pay less for their houses, however, to walk away from a house which was perfect, in a perfect location ( your words btw), over 2% feels a bit silly. If you look at your mortgage payments, I bet there's virtually no difference.
You have to understand that no one here is emotionally involved in your house, in other words, no one really cares. You're just getting people's opinions. 

Haha yes, I know those were my words. Well remembered!

its not only 2% though. It’s the last 2% after several other 2% increases before then. 

And yes, the mortgage isn’t affected because the 4% was extra we had to add on in cash above the mortgage. So it makes a huge difference!

if it was all just on a mortgage I think we’d  have been more likely to just pay.

jimbog

How many months of your present rent would the 2% be?

leftism

jimbog said:

How many months of your present rent would the 2% be?

Just under 6. 

Add that to the other 2% we were paying above the mortgage, it’s nearly a year. 

I totally get the advice is generally buy ASAP and you won’t worry about the price a few years down the line. I do get that. But I feel I bought right before the last recession and crash, for inflated prices, I’d have been gutted. 

This time, even the banks and estate agents are warning us of huge falls. It’s not just the papers. It’d be crazy to pretend it’s  business as usual. 

jimbog

This reminds me of the time I bought something in an Egyptian market. I really liked it, haggled and was chuffed with having got it for £20. My companion went out the following day to get the same thing and managed to get it for £12. I was gutted. I was ripped off, I thought, but in reality nothing had changed. I still enjoy looking at it today and glad I bought it

leftism

jimbog said:

This reminds me of the time I bought something in an Egyptian market. I really liked it, haggled and was chuffed with having got it for £20. My companion went out the following day to get the same thing and managed to get it for £12. I was gutted. I was ripped off, I thought, but in reality nothing had changed. I still enjoy looking at it today and glad I bought it

Haha yes. Just imagine the Egyptian ornament you COULD’VE got for your £20!!! 

craig88b

Now is always the perfect time. Unless of course there is a huge bubble. I bought last year feb around the time when Brexit outcome was uncertain and lots of people were saying “wait”. I managed to get it for about £30k under market and there are now other similar 2 beds in the block listed for £60k more than I paid. Whether they get this is another story. But iI’m happy to have bought as I essentially can get 6 months of mortgage holiday which helps when I don’t have a job and wouldn’t be possible if I was renting really. And there’s no ways I’d be able to get the mortgage I got anytime within the next couple of years most likely anyway so it was the perfect time to buy for me. 

Crashy_Time

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tougher-rules-for-buy-to-let-landlords-ddx9kvcxq
Drip, drip....many sellers will wish they took the tiny hit now rather than a much larger one later.

Crashy_Time

jimbog said:

This reminds me of the time I bought something in an Egyptian market. I really liked it, haggled and was chuffed with having got it for £20. My companion went out the following day to get the same thing and managed to get it for £12. I was gutted. I was ripped off, I thought, but in reality nothing had changed. I still enjoy looking at it today and glad I bought it

Great story, but when someone has splashed the debt on a 400k newbuild with shoddy workmanship they won`t enjoy looking at it when next door gets one cheaper.

leftism

MobileSaver said:
 Have you made an offer on any of the "way more being reduced"?

How long are you prepared to wait for this better house at a cheaper price to appear as obviously every month that goes by you are paying your landlord's mortgage instead of your own?

The biggest problem with your approach is that if house prices do start to drop then two things generally happen:

1) The decent properties get taken off the market and the sellers just wait until the market inevitably picks up again.

2) Lenders tighten their lending criteria making it even harder to get a mortgage, even for a lower amount.

An update:
We've just had an offer accepted on a better house in a nicer area... for less money! It was worth the gamble for us, but it might not be for everyone as it is a bit of a risk (see post from @MobileSaver above).
There were points where I questioned if I was doing the right thing, but thankfully it worked out.