Would you advise to buy now, or wait to see what else comes on the market when lockdown is eased

youth_leader

Hello, I sold my house in the NE in March, and completed end of May.  As I was selling at auction I went into a six month rental early in February, my plan was to spend the six months in the rental travelling up and down to the south looking for  the area I'd like to live, and buy a house.  
Lockdown unfortunately changed my plans, and I've just renewed my lease here for six months.
I like the sound of two counties, but haven't seen a house in either area I particularly like yet.  I couldn't get my dog into kennels this month so I 'm spending the time looking on line.  I have booked two trips down south to two different counties, one in late August, one in late September.  I'm still choosing a third.  I managed to get 'whole place' Airbnb but still can't book train tickets as they are being released weekly on the reduced timetable.
I am getting properties sent through, but know August/September is a quiet time on the market - do you think people are still sitting tight and more choice might be available when lockdown is eased?  

NameUnavailable

I've been looking for a while now and although I had found somewhere, some issues with it are making me think about pulling out.

My gut feeling is that prices will fall as we head into winter. There is still a lot of uncertainty around Covid and the risk of a 2nd spike and further lockdowns. Then we have the little matter of Brexit which doesn't really happen until January.

Large numbers of redundancies are expected when the furlough scheme ends which will be a crunch time for many businesses as well.

It's a perfect storm for a market downturn even with the stamp duty holiday and low interest rates.

That said, if you find your perfect home......

Thrugelmir

Lockdown may well be with us in some form for the foreseeable future. The economy likewise may well stutter along until the fog lifts. 

youth_leader

Thank you NameUnavailable.  I hadn't even taken Brexit into account, what a year. 

I didn't manage my house sale well, and am nervous of making a mistake, I am being encouraged to buy quickly by friends because I'm paying rent/the stamp duty holiday.  Hopefully when I've managed to visit the areas I'm interested in, I'll be able to narrow my search down and perhaps be allowed to offer from a distance.  Good luck with your purchase, I hope the issues can be resolved. 

youth_leader

Thrugelmir, I'm not looking forward to an eight hour train journey in a mask - hopefully will be able to stand in the corridor with the window open  

dexterwolf

We are buying a house but know the price might drop but in all honesty as long as you are living there for a few years the market may go down but will recover . If my house is worth say 200k but then it is 150 k the person's I would be buying at that time wouldn't be 200k it would have dropped as well if you know what I mean. Yes you might save yourself some money if it goes to plan but if everyone waits etc then there will be a demand for properties or people may not even move had they . So if you find your dream house I would still go for it .

youth_leader

Thank you for your comments.  I've thought about it overnight, and as it's going to be my last ever home, I'm just going to take my time, even if I do miss the stamp duty holiday.   I used my savings to pay the rent six months in advance, but from now on am going to have to pay it out of my pension and budget really carefully.  

carefullycautious

I have been avidly reading about your situation both here and on the other forum you use. I can see you have had pressure to buy quickly. I am in the same situation as you in that I could buy anywhere as I am not tied to a particular area. However, I think this has created its own problems in that there is now too much choice and I find it difficult to narrow down to an area and what I want for the future. I really don't know what the answer is, the thought of trying to negotiate buying a house many miles away fills me with dread. Anyway good luck with your search I hope you find what you are looking for.

[Deleted User]

Ive just had an offer accepted for a buy to let which will eventually transfer to my son in 5 years time. If it drops in value it matters not as its a long term home for him 

NameUnavailable

carefullycautious said:

I have been avidly reading about your situation both here and on the other forum you use. I can see you have had pressure to buy quickly. I am in the same situation as you in that I could buy anywhere as I am not tied to a particular area. However, I think this has created its own problems in that there is now too much choice and I find it difficult to narrow down to an area and what I want for the future. I really don't know what the answer is, the thought of trying to negotiate buying a house many miles away fills me with dread. Anyway good luck with your search I hope you find what you are looking for.

I am also looking at quite a wide area although I managed to narrow it down a fair bit, deciding on what I wanted to be near, travelling costs/times for trips that I will make regularly etc. but yes, the more choice you have the harder it becomes! I have found a place but it looks like I am going to have to pull out due to issues with the property, so starting over again and like the OP may have to rent as I have already sold/completed.

Youth-leader, where in the South are you looking?

What you need to weigh up is the money you spend on renting which would otherwise be going towards your next home, so that may offset any potential drop in prices later in the year. If only we had a crystal ball to see what will happen in Dec/Jan!

Essentially I think when you find the right place you need to go for it as long as you can afford it of course and use the uncertaintly to bargain on the price.

youth_leader

NameUnavailable my main priority is a sandy beach, somewhere warmer, although I know I'm going to have to share it with many, many more people than I do now.  As I'm retired I started my search by looking at places I'd like to volunteer.  I chose the Eden project (Cornwall), The Donkey Sanctuary (Devon), and Monkey World (Dorset).  My son is near Durham, so I'd like him to be able to get to me easily and want a railway station wherever I settle  - my daughter is travelling the world.   I was priced out of the areas I really liked in Cornwall.  I'm also priced out of Swanage/Wareham.  I can just afford somewhere in Devon.  I heard interesting things about Kent - Birchington/Westgate-on-Sea/ Margate, then Broadstairs - but my friend has just visited Birchington and said she didn't think it would meet my needs.  I've been up here for twenty years, it will be a big change, but I lived in Chiswick/South Ealing/Acton and I'm sure I'll get my streetwise back.