Is it crazy to buy a house right now?

J1one

As title really. Is it a stupid idea to even contemplate buying a house right now? Assuming you’ll need a mortgage. 

My situation is that I don’t have to buy right now but I’d really prefer not To stay where I am. 

I am conscious of all that is happening and wondering if people would deem it stupid to buy now, unless you absolutely had to. 

Flugelhorn

what is so crazy about buying now?

if you need to move and buy somewhere then do so - of course you are likely to get stuck in chains of people dithering and changing their minds so likely to be a complex procedure. 

housebuyer143

Life is short and if you want to move and can afford to do it, just crack on.. It's not crazy. 

There is never a right time to buy so don't even try. If you are going up buy though don't be afraid to negotiate as I imagine you might get some money off in the current times.

lisyloo

What is crazy is to stay renting.
you only have so much time In your life and the quicker you start the quicker you’ll get to a position of being mortgage free.
if you’re happily living with parents then that’s a different matter, but If you’re renting then I don’t see why your questioning it?
of course during uncertain times people circs or plans May change, for example someone in the chain could get made redundancy, but that’s not a reason not to forge ahead.
there are ways to mitigate concerns e.g. fixed rate, life insurance, sickness Insurance etc.

J1one

Just because of the cost of living and the fact that it seems that mortgage costs have gone up while the house prices in my area are still fairly high

mi-key

If you can afford to buy, and see somewhere you like then there is nothing crazy about it. Through all the dips and booms and recessions people have always carried on buying and selling.

It may be expensive at the moment, but over the course of the mortgage it tends to even out. 

We never know what the future will hold, we could end up with no money, or could end up millionaires. If we worried too much we would never buy anywhere

mi-key

And despite some doom mongers, it is very unlikely house prices are going to see a major drop  and become that much more affordable in most areas. In any case, over the length of the mortgage house prices ALWAYS go up. Wages may not increase as much, but you will always end up with equity compared to what you borrowed to buy it

lisyloo

J1one said:

Just because of the cost of living and the fact that it seems that mortgage costs have gone up while the house prices in my area are still fairly high

We are going through a very tough patch for sure, but the bottom line is that any plans need to be resilient to the ups and downs that happen.
there are various ways to mitigate for example a long term fixed rate would mitigate against rising interest rates.
insurance mitigates against sickness (if your job has it then great).
life insurance mitigates against death (if you have dependents).

the problem I see with the statement above is that rents rise too, so unless you’re lucky enough to live happily with parents then cost of living will hit you wherever you live.

of course if you can’t afford anything you want then you have to take a step back and reconsider, but if you can afford it then it makes sense to mitigate and buy when it suits you.
any known risks are already priced in by the market so the average person is very unlikely to be able to beat the market by trying market timing.

If you delay then it could affect your relationships, family planning and ultimately your retirement.
I bought at 22 and was mortgage feee around 44 and can now consider early retirement.

Early retirement could be a dim and distant prospect of you delay and it could certainly affect when you start a family (which is not a great plan past 35 for women).

J1one

Thank you all. I am not young so the decision to buy is more pressured. 

I will consider all your points 

MFWannabe

What’s right is what’s right for you! 

If you find the right place within your budget and can afford it then go for it; how much are you going to be spending in rent thinking about it and waiting for the ‘right’ time! 

dander

I think it depends what you mean by "right now". It also depends on your circumstances on why you need to move, whether you're already in the process etc. But if I were a first time buyer right now I'd probably focus on the contemplating rather than doing "right now". Reason being the mortgage rates going up happened very fast and took a lot of people by surprise, the kerfuffle with the government, multi-budgets etc mean everything is just chaotic right now and it's tricky to get a real sense of where we are. I would be giving it a few months to settle down enough that you can evaluate what's going on a bit more clearly. As people have said above, waiting for the big-picture "right time" often means you wait for a time that never comes, but I think it's well worth taking time to evaluate what's a huge decision and going in with your eyes wide open.