would you buy just to get on the ladder?

BungalowBel

Our first home, bought in 1976, was more or less what we aspired to at the time - a three bed terraced house in a (what was then) reasonable part of the outer inner-city.

We kept that house for forty years.  It was so cheap and we had paid for it by our mid-forties.  It never seemed worth getting another mortgage.

We finally moved in 2015 to a bungalow in the suburbs. (paid for cash).

To the OP, I would buy what you can afford at the time, even if it isn't your 'dream' house.  They don't actually exist.

[Deleted User]

BungalowBel said:

Our first home, bought in 1976, was more or less what we aspired to at the time - a three bed terraced house in a (what was then) reasonable part of the outer inner-city.

We kept that house for forty years.  It was so cheap and we had paid for it by our mid-forties.  It never seemed worth getting another mortgage.

We finally moved in 2015 to a bungalow in the suburbs. (paid for cash).

To the OP, I would buy what you can afford at the time, even if it isn't your 'dream' house.  They don't actually exist.

I wish more people would just admit this, instead of giving terrible advice.

Those opportunities at long gone.

lookstraightahead

[Deleted User] said:

BungalowBel said:

Our first home, bought in 1976, was more or less what we aspired to at the time - a three bed terraced house in a (what was then) reasonable part of the outer inner-city.

We kept that house for forty years.  It was so cheap and we had paid for it by our mid-forties.  It never seemed worth getting another mortgage.

We finally moved in 2015 to a bungalow in the suburbs. (paid for cash).

To the OP, I would buy what you can afford at the time, even if it isn't your 'dream' house.  They don't actually exist.

I wish more people would just admit this, instead of giving terrible advice.

Those opportunities at long gone.

I do agree that I really don't understand what a 'dream house' is. Hate the phrase - too much emphasis on the wrong thing.

Sunsaru

lookstraightahead said:

[Deleted User] said:

BungalowBel said:

Our first home, bought in 1976, was more or less what we aspired to at the time - a three bed terraced house in a (what was then) reasonable part of the outer inner-city.

We kept that house for forty years.  It was so cheap and we had paid for it by our mid-forties.  It never seemed worth getting another mortgage.

We finally moved in 2015 to a bungalow in the suburbs. (paid for cash).

To the OP, I would buy what you can afford at the time, even if it isn't your 'dream' house.  They don't actually exist.

I wish more people would just admit this, instead of giving terrible advice.

Those opportunities at long gone.

I do agree that I really don't understand what a 'dream house' is. Hate the phrase - too much emphasis on the wrong thing.

Have to agree on this one. People tend to forget that dreams aren't always nice...

Marvel1

I was 1 and 2, still here now after 13 years, no plans to move, mortgage is cheap.

Sarahspangles

Sunsaru said:

lookstraightahead said:

[Deleted User] said:

BungalowBel said:

Our first home, bought in 1976, was more or less what we aspired to at the time - a three bed terraced house in a (what was then) reasonable part of the outer inner-city.

We kept that house for forty years.  It was so cheap and we had paid for it by our mid-forties.  It never seemed worth getting another mortgage.

We finally moved in 2015 to a bungalow in the suburbs. (paid for cash).

To the OP, I would buy what you can afford at the time, even if it isn't your 'dream' house.  They don't actually exist.

I wish more people would just admit this, instead of giving terrible advice.

Those opportunities at long gone.

I do agree that I really don't understand what a 'dream house' is. Hate the phrase - too much emphasis on the wrong thing.

Have to agree on this one. People tend to forget that dreams aren't always nice...

Maybe going a bit deep….but when you read those articles where nurses share (anonymously) the ‘Regrets of the dying’, you don’t hear ‘Never lived in my dream house’.  People say things like they wish they’d spent more time with their family/children, or nature/the countryside and maybe their choice of house has been a factor, but it seems just as likely that a dream house implies spending more hours at work and less time doing life-enriching stuff.

ArbitraryRandom

KrystalBall said:

If you can wait and don't need to buy a house now there will be plenty of bargains to be had over the next couple of years.

As you can see the market has taken a downturn since last summer and prices will only drop much further. 

In the House Price Indices chart the main one to look at is The HM Land Registry as you can see prices for January are down 1.1%. Ignore the annual changes as they don't represent what is happening now.

When you are recommending someone delays for an indefinite period of time, why look at a snapshot rather than historical trends...?

ArbitraryRandom

KrystalBall said:

You say this is only short term turbulence. I totally disagree and I have all the data to back this up. To be honest it's not going to pretty and it is playing out right now and it's only going up in the gears.

I think you might be misunderstanding me - you are seeking to use limited and selected data from the last couple of years (which I consider to be a short term period of high volatility sparked in a large part by the pandemic) to forecast future prices. Anyone who understands economics knows you can't do this with any reliability over the medium to long term. 

All of the 'data' you have provided can be equally used to predict that people who might in pervious previous years consider moving will simply wait until they feel they can get a better price for their properties - hence me pointing out the lack of a 'spring bounce' in many areas and the housing stock (anecdotally at least) having a higher portion of cheaper/poorer quality stock.

So it could actually be argued to be a good time for a FTB with a limited income but reasonable deposit to get a good price on a property at the lower end of the market.... because only those who are desperate to sell will be listing and there will be less competition from people looking to move into their second/onward homes. If the FTB waits until prices stabilise (which they could easily in 6 months) then they're risking more people with more money coming into the market again. 

But you could reasonably criticise that theory by saying I'm using tables out of context and it's not 'data to back [your theory] up'; it's selecting charts that I think show trends you want to prove

Until there's more data and we can look back at what happened, seeking to time the markets is for fools and idiots. 

london21

It really depends on your wants, needs and budget.

Most will have their must have and nice to have.

There isn't a perfect time or a way to time the market.

Good to buy something and as income, affordability etc gets better can always upgrade to something better. 

Sarah1Mitty2

Martico said:

Sarah1Mitty2 said:

ReadingTim said:

Sarah1Mitty2 said:

A market going down or sideways isn`t really a ladder though is it? Buying a flat or a BTL is probably a bad idea for many reasons, cash in the bank is probably your best bet just now, money market accounts, high interest savings accounts and some premium bonds is my choice at the moment.

Whatever interest you might to earn there is likely to be wiped out by the rent rises landlords are likely to impose on you whilst you pay to live in their property rather than your own.

Smart landlords won`t price themselves out of the market.

But the market is dictating higher interest costs for landlords. You can't have it both ways. Rental costs are rising

Smart landlords bought years ago and have no mortgage or fixed as soon as it was obvious where rates were going.