Buy home or wait for a few months

MFWannabe

Rates will always go up and down over the lifetime of a mortgage; it’s individual choice if to buy a property or not 
7 years ago my first mortgage fix for 5 years was 3.9% which was high compared to others; but for me it was worth it as I wanted my own home 
My current 5 year fix is 1% so as you can imagine I’m well chuffed now to be on that for the next 3 years 
who knows what the rate will be when this fix is up but I will be prepared for it 

Sarah1Mitty2

CSI_Yorkshire said:

Sarah1Mitty2 said:

CSI_Yorkshire said:

Sarah1Mitty2 said:

Bigphil1474 said:

OP, IMO, you buy now if you can afford it and find somewhere you like. You could get a 2 or more year fixed deal so at least you know what you are paying for the next 2 or more years. Interest rates won't remain high, just as surely as they don't remain low. They'll go up and down over the time you have a mortgage as they always have done.

If you have a 25 year mortgage, the first couple of years will be a distant memory at some point in your life. I was fortunate that we were able to overpay our mortgage from about 2010 onwards due to improved personal circumstances. When we started out in 1998 I remember us feeling lucky that we got a deal for under 8%. It's true that the house price was only about 2.5x my salary then, but you can only deal with the market at the time you want to join. We bought the house within our budget the same as people have to do now.

As others have said, you need to sit down and work out the figures for yourself, but I can't see many situations where renting over the long term is better than buying.

The last time I looked at my figures, I reckoned that this house has basically cost us nothing. What we have paid off in the mortgage has been made up in the house value increasing, maybe a small loss in terms of maintenance costs over the years.

Until recently they have not gone up or down for 14 years, why would they start doing that now when central bank policy is to make them high and keep them high? 

Yes, clearly interest rates haven't changed?  Given that these are the rates that actually matter to people.

Or were you just picking the BoE rate because it suits your argument?

There is a clear pattern between `08 and Dec `21, whatever rate you want to pick.

And that pattern is not "they have not gone up or down for 14 years" as you so confidently asserted.  They appear, in fact, to have gone mainly down but sometimes up.  Entirely the opposite of your point.

After starting at around 6% on your chart the 2 year variable had a blip in the 14 year period I mentioned where it spiked up to around 2.5%, the general trend is down and much much lower than historical norms, so I will stick to my original assertion, but still not really clear what point you are trying to make by posting this?

CSI_Yorkshire

Sarah1Mitty2 said:

CSI_Yorkshire said:

Sarah1Mitty2 said:

CSI_Yorkshire said:

Sarah1Mitty2 said:

Bigphil1474 said:

OP, IMO, you buy now if you can afford it and find somewhere you like. You could get a 2 or more year fixed deal so at least you know what you are paying for the next 2 or more years. Interest rates won't remain high, just as surely as they don't remain low. They'll go up and down over the time you have a mortgage as they always have done.

If you have a 25 year mortgage, the first couple of years will be a distant memory at some point in your life. I was fortunate that we were able to overpay our mortgage from about 2010 onwards due to improved personal circumstances. When we started out in 1998 I remember us feeling lucky that we got a deal for under 8%. It's true that the house price was only about 2.5x my salary then, but you can only deal with the market at the time you want to join. We bought the house within our budget the same as people have to do now.

As others have said, you need to sit down and work out the figures for yourself, but I can't see many situations where renting over the long term is better than buying.

The last time I looked at my figures, I reckoned that this house has basically cost us nothing. What we have paid off in the mortgage has been made up in the house value increasing, maybe a small loss in terms of maintenance costs over the years.

Until recently they have not gone up or down for 14 years, why would they start doing that now when central bank policy is to make them high and keep them high? 

Yes, clearly interest rates haven't changed?  Given that these are the rates that actually matter to people.

Or were you just picking the BoE rate because it suits your argument?

There is a clear pattern between `08 and Dec `21, whatever rate you want to pick.

And that pattern is not "they have not gone up or down for 14 years" as you so confidently asserted.  They appear, in fact, to have gone mainly down but sometimes up.  Entirely the opposite of your point.

After starting at around 6% on your chart the 2 year variable had a blip in the 14 year period I mentioned where it spiked up to around 2.5%, the general trend is down and much much lower than historical norms, so I will stick to my original assertion, but still not really clear what point you are trying to make by posting this?

You see a graph that has almost no horizontal sections on any trace, and this supports your assertion that things have not gone up or down?  Using a trace that ranges from 6% to under 2%?

Fair play, you're committed to the line.  You do you.

The point I'm making to the OP is, as others have said, rates change.  Don't plan your life around assuming they will stay the same.  Over 25-35 years of a mortgage, you will likely have periods when rates are higher and rates are lower.  Understand that they do this, and don't get fixated on what the number is on any particular day, and you'll be much more comfortable with whatever decision you make.

Sarah1Mitty2

GDB2222 said:

This is the weirdest thread. The OP asked whether to buy now or delay a few months. And, that’s been turned into a slanging match as to whether renting is better than buying, or vv.  

Why not give the op the advice he asked for?

Best advice is to wait until interest rates peak, and then see the effects on price and borrowing rates, THEN make the decision, that is my opinion.

Sarah1Mitty2

CSI_Yorkshire said:

Sarah1Mitty2 said:

CSI_Yorkshire said:

Sarah1Mitty2 said:

CSI_Yorkshire said:

Sarah1Mitty2 said:

Bigphil1474 said:

OP, IMO, you buy now if you can afford it and find somewhere you like. You could get a 2 or more year fixed deal so at least you know what you are paying for the next 2 or more years. Interest rates won't remain high, just as surely as they don't remain low. They'll go up and down over the time you have a mortgage as they always have done.

If you have a 25 year mortgage, the first couple of years will be a distant memory at some point in your life. I was fortunate that we were able to overpay our mortgage from about 2010 onwards due to improved personal circumstances. When we started out in 1998 I remember us feeling lucky that we got a deal for under 8%. It's true that the house price was only about 2.5x my salary then, but you can only deal with the market at the time you want to join. We bought the house within our budget the same as people have to do now.

As others have said, you need to sit down and work out the figures for yourself, but I can't see many situations where renting over the long term is better than buying.

The last time I looked at my figures, I reckoned that this house has basically cost us nothing. What we have paid off in the mortgage has been made up in the house value increasing, maybe a small loss in terms of maintenance costs over the years.

Until recently they have not gone up or down for 14 years, why would they start doing that now when central bank policy is to make them high and keep them high? 

Yes, clearly interest rates haven't changed?  Given that these are the rates that actually matter to people.

Or were you just picking the BoE rate because it suits your argument?

There is a clear pattern between `08 and Dec `21, whatever rate you want to pick.

And that pattern is not "they have not gone up or down for 14 years" as you so confidently asserted.  They appear, in fact, to have gone mainly down but sometimes up.  Entirely the opposite of your point.

After starting at around 6% on your chart the 2 year variable had a blip in the 14 year period I mentioned where it spiked up to around 2.5%, the general trend is down and much much lower than historical norms, so I will stick to my original assertion, but still not really clear what point you are trying to make by posting this?

You see a graph that has almost no horizontal sections on any trace, and this supports your assertion that things have not gone up or down?  Using a trace that ranges from 6% to under 2%?

Fair play, you're committed to the line.  You do you.

The point I'm making to the OP is, as others have said, rates change.  Don't plan your life around assuming they will stay the same.  Over 25-35 years of a mortgage, you will likely have periods when rates are higher and rates are lower.  Understand that they do this, and don't get fixated on what the number is on any particular day, and you'll be much more comfortable with whatever decision you make.

Not really an accurate description, we have had rates that were super low for many years, (as your graph shows) now they are starting to go quite high (relatively speaking, for people who overpaid on their house) the graph also shows this quite clearly, To pretend that there has been any real interest rate volatility since 2008 isn`t accurate, the REAL volatility is coming now in my opinion.

Gycraig

From personal experience I am moving town selling my house and renting for a year instead of buying. 

Normally I would sell and buy but personally can’t see these interest rates leading to house price falls, I am moving to quite a poor area and genuinely think people won’t be able to afford the current interest rates on the areas general wages so something will have to give. 

A lot of it is area dependant as well.

spoovy

Sarah1Mitty2 said:

GDB2222 said:

This is the weirdest thread. The OP asked whether to buy now or delay a few months. And, that’s been turned into a slanging match as to whether renting is better than buying, or vv.  

Why not give the op the advice he asked for?

My advice would be to use forums for more or less entertainment purposes (with the expectation of an occasional titbit of useful knowledge) and to actually apply for a mortgage and go to view properties, make offers and then see what the lender valuations come back as, then decide on what you can buy and how much is appropriate value for the current economic situation, THEN come back to the forum with feedback, that is interesting real world info rather than people with mortgages and people who rent shouting "My way is best!" DYOR is always best.

That's funny coming from you, someone who has been creating avalanches of posts with exactly the same advice to anyone and everyone regardless of what might actually be good for them, for what, 15 years now?
I've never seen a thread on here where you're not recommending someone try to time the market.