Anyone else finding it impossible to buy right now?

JJR45

SpiderLegs said:

What are the UK GDP forecasts for the next couple of years?

What were the ones for 2020 in 2019?
Forecasts often don't meet realty, house prices were predicted to fall last year and this year. I would not be making any decision on forecasts at the moment.

SpiderLegs

JJR45 said:

SpiderLegs said:

What are the UK GDP forecasts for the next couple of years?

What were the ones for 2020 in 2019?
Forecasts often don't meet realty, house prices were predicted to fall last year and this year. I would not be making any decision on forecasts at the moment.

Right I get it. Forecasts that don’t support the conclusion are inaccurate.

JJR45

SpiderLegs said:

JJR45 said:

SpiderLegs said:

What are the UK GDP forecasts for the next couple of years?

What were the ones for 2020 in 2019?
Forecasts often don't meet realty, house prices were predicted to fall last year and this year. I would not be making any decision on forecasts at the moment.

Right I get it. Forecasts that don’t support the conclusion are inaccurate.

No, you are trying to state forecasts as facts, they rarely are accurate. That is my point and have highlighted 2 that have been incorrect. One before and one after the pandemic.
If forecasts were right life would be easy as the future would be presented to us on a regular basis.

SpiderLegs

JJR45 said:

SpiderLegs said:

JJR45 said:

SpiderLegs said:

What are the UK GDP forecasts for the next couple of years?

What were the ones for 2020 in 2019?
Forecasts often don't meet realty, house prices were predicted to fall last year and this year. I would not be making any decision on forecasts at the moment.

Right I get it. Forecasts that don’t support the conclusion are inaccurate.

No, you are trying to state forecasts as facts, they rarely are accurate. That is my point and have highlighted 2 that have been incorrect. One before and one after the pandemic.
If forecasts were right life would be easy as the future would be presented to us on a regular basis.

No you have that wrong too. If you don’t put much faith in GDP forecasts because you deem them to be historically inaccurate, don’t then use forecasts of unemployment or repossessions to make your own forecast on house prices.

RoisinDove

Angela_D_3 said:

RoisinDove said:

gab3x said:

Come to London and look for a flat without a garden - you can practically name the price!

That's what I'm looking for! Do you think it's a bad idea to buy one now? I can't work out whether it's a good time to buy and I'd be getting a bargain or I'd be trapping myself in a tiny flat in London while everyone else I know heads to the countryside or cheaper cities. 

Where do you want to live ?  If we went into lockdown again where would you choose to be ? 

That seems like a strange question because I surely can't live my life for the next five years worrying about another lockdown? Right now as things stand, I'd prefer to be on the coast (Brighton or somewhere) but once things go back to 'normal', that could leave me isolated and with a smaller selection of jobs which let me work remotely all or most of the time. I think part of the reason it's so difficult is that I'm trying to imagine a pre-pandemic life in London that I've forgotten. 

RoisinDove

firsttimesellerldn said:

I’m currently in the process of selling a London flat with no garden. But we were already planning on selling before the pandemic - terrible timing! I won’t pretend it’s always been enjoyable during the last year (two of us working from home..) but it’s been great the last few years, so personally I think it’s best to focus on what you want in the next few years rather than on buying for pandemic life. 

Yep, this is what I'm trying to do. I feel like it might be a mistake to rough out a year working from home in a small London flat during a pandemic and then potentially move somewhere else as soon as things get back to largely 'normal'. I've been looking into Brighton as an option but I think I'd then need to properly commit to living there and remote working, as I couldn't hack that commute every day, and there are very few jobs locally there. I know everyone thinks that all jobs will go remote after this, but I'm not so sure they will, and having a massive commute 3 days a week or more would be awful. 
I would still prefer some amount of outside space in London, if only a small balcony, but those flats are selling like hotcakes. I've had viewings cancelled before I've even got to them as someone else has put in an offer. What area are you in? 

firsttimesellerldn

RoisinDove said:

firsttimesellerldn said:

I’m currently in the process of selling a London flat with no garden. But we were already planning on selling before the pandemic - terrible timing! I won’t pretend it’s always been enjoyable during the last year (two of us working from home..) but it’s been great the last few years, so personally I think it’s best to focus on what you want in the next few years rather than on buying for pandemic life. 

Yep, this is what I'm trying to do. I feel like it might be a mistake to rough out a year working from home in a small London flat during a pandemic and then potentially move somewhere else as soon as things get back to largely 'normal'. I've been looking into Brighton as an option but I think I'd then need to properly commit to living there and remote working, as I couldn't hack that commute every day, and there are very few jobs locally there. I know everyone thinks that all jobs will go remote after this, but I'm not so sure they will, and having a massive commute 3 days a week or more would be awful. 
I would still prefer some amount of outside space in London, if only a small balcony, but those flats are selling like hotcakes. I've had viewings cancelled before I've even got to them as someone else has put in an offer. What area are you in? 

I’m in Homerton. Haven’t had too much trouble getting an offer on my flat although I suspect it would have happened quicker if it had a balcony for sure! The sale process has been hellish but that’s another story..  

I’m actually looking in Brighton, but I’m confident in my employer being happy for me to only come in to the office a couple of days a week post pandemic. Me and my partner were already thinking of leaving London before this happened, although the last year has cemented that for us. Hoping I won’t regret it! Although it’s proving really hard to find something to buy as per this thread, so who knows what’ll happen. 

I bought my flat from pocket living who do affordable developments so might be worth seeing if they have something in your area? 

mrlegend123

wait until furlough and stamp duty ends coupled with inflation (money supply significantly increased over the past year). .... 

JJR45

SpiderLegs said:

No, you are trying to state forecasts as facts, they rarely are accurate. That is my point and have highlighted 2 that have been incorrect. One before and one after the pandemic.
If forecasts were right life would be easy as the future would be presented to us on a regular basis.

No you have that wrong too. If you don’t put much faith in GDP forecasts because you deem them to be historically inaccurate, don’t then use forecasts of unemployment or repossessions to make your own forecast on house prices.

I think you are just misreading for an argument, I have not used any forecasts to predict house prices. You asked for reasons why people may find out they have overpaid in a year or SO's time. They were all reasons why people may find out people may have overpaid.

SpiderLegs

JJR45 said:

SpiderLegs said:

No, you are trying to state forecasts as facts, they rarely are accurate. That is my point and have highlighted 2 that have been incorrect. One before and one after the pandemic.
If forecasts were right life would be easy as the future would be presented to us on a regular basis.

No you have that wrong too. If you don’t put much faith in GDP forecasts because you deem them to be historically inaccurate, don’t then use forecasts of unemployment or repossessions to make your own forecast on house prices.

I think you are just misreading for an argument, I have not used any forecasts to predict house prices. You asked for reasons why people may find out they have overpaid in a year or SO's time. They were all reasons why people may find out people may have overpaid.

When we reach the point where you are rewriting your own statements the game is up.

‘There are going to be a lot of people who find out they have over paid in a year or so time.’