Risks of waiting to buy first home

tbo127

I know the market is unpredictable but is the general sentiment that now is a bad time for first time buyers buy their first home?  I’ve been following moving home with Charlie. https://twitter.com/moving_charlie?lang=en

Are there any risks to waiting a few years? 

Dustyevsky

tbo127 said:

Are there any risks to waiting a few years? 

There are risks to doing anything, including nothing. No doubt the usual suspects here will chip in with their 2p worth, and then, after they've shouted at one another, this lovely new thread will be deleted.

Before it is, I'll say the fundamentals are terrible, at home and abroad, so it'll be a rough ride whatever you choose. For some, being unencumbered and able to take advantage of mobility in dire times may be a key advantage. We don't know if that applies to you. Equally, there are people I know locally who'll sit tight in their mortgaged homes and weather whatever comes because they have the skills to do that and a family network behind them. We don't know if that applies to you either.

ReadingTim

As ever, the risk is that the great house price crash never happens, and in a few year's time you're able to buy less than you are now, or not buy at all.  In the meantime you'll also need somewhere to live, so in all likelihood you'll be renting, with all the joys that entails, and also paying off someone else's mortgage, rather than your own.  

In short, as well as the cost of buying a house, you have to consider the cost of not buying one.  

RHemmings

I'm currently looking to FTB. I'm aware that after purchase, the house may lose value. However, at this point in my life I want a place to live and when I buy, I won't be tracking house prices or worrying about how much my house is worth. 

Schwarzwald

tbo127 said:

I know the market is unpredictable but is the general sentiment that now is a bad time for first time buyers buy their first home?  I’ve been following moving home with Charlie. https://twitter.com/moving_charlie?lang=en

Are there any risks to waiting a few years? 

it's a pointless discussion with no clear answer, only opinions by every single person, some are more sophisticated views, some are totally uneducated opinions.
it all comes down to your individual circumstance and the individual purchase case.
unless you elaborate in much more detail on your personal case, meaningless thread IMO.

mark_cycling00

The risk is that it's really difficult to time the market plus the lengthy purchase process adds in risks 

1. A pickup in the market can be very rapid and lead to gazumping and very short supply. Remember that 100,000s of people are also delaying purchases. The first interest rate cut will be very hard to predict and so will people's reactions 

2. With election coming there's a risk that the government enacts a measure to boost the market or either party applies such a policy after election. No stamp duty? We're in boom time again and you might miss out on current low prices

3. The alternative to the above is that politicians make it much more difficult for you to purchase in the future. Eg you're forced to replace central heating etc and now things are unaffordable. Taxes increase and now you can't get a mortgage

_Penny_Dreadful

tbo127 said:

I know the market is unpredictable but is the general sentiment that now is a bad time for first time buyers buy their first home?  I’ve been following moving home with Charlie. https://twitter.com/moving_charlie?lang=en

Are there any risks to waiting a few years? 

At this point in your life it will be the most expensive thing you have ever purchased and will plunge you into the most debt you've ever been in before.  It is nerve wracking but there is no good time to take the plunge.  People can claim they can predict the market but that's a load of Horlicks.  There's an entire forum dedicated to a house price crash that has never come.  If those posters over there had bought a home 10-15 years ago, and some have been posting that long, they'd probably be sitting very pretty now.

I know people who ummed and ahhed over buying and they've now been completely priced out of the areas that they wanted to live in.  Conversely I had a few friends who were caught in the 2008 credit crunch for some it didn't matter because it was a long term home but those who took Northern Rock's 125% LTV mortgages and quite frankly splooged the extra 25% on crap found themselves trapped.  As no lender if offering 125% LTV mortgages these days that shouldn't happen to you.

tbo127

So I think I’ve accepted that market timing is impossible. It’s more a case of - can I afford the payments with my current lifestyle as my mortgage repayments would most likely exceed my current rent payments. I do also have an option to live with parents for a couple of years and save more faster. 

The other thing I’m worried about is that I lose most of my savings if I buy. And then I don’t have any reserves in case I lose my job. I know there’s income protection insurance but that can’t cover all circumstances. 

tbo127

_Penny_Dreadful said:

tbo127 said:

I know the market is unpredictable but is the general sentiment that now is a bad time for first time buyers buy their first home?  I’ve been following moving home with Charlie. https://twitter.com/moving_charlie?lang=en

Are there any risks to waiting a few years? 

At this point in your life it will be the most expensive thing you have ever purchased and will plunge you into the most debt you've ever been in before.  It is nerve wracking but there is no good time to take the plunge.  People can claim they can predict the market but that's a load of Horlicks.  There's an entire forum dedicated to a house price crash that has never come.  If those posters over there had bought a home 10-15 years ago, and some have been posting that long, they'd probably be sitting very pretty now.

I know people who ummed and ahhed over buying and they've now been completely priced out of the areas that they wanted to live in.  Conversely I had a few friends who were caught in the 2008 credit crunch for some it didn't matter because it was a long term home but those who took Northern Rock's 125% LTV mortgages and quite frankly splooged the extra 25% on crap found themselves trapped.  As no lender if offering 125% LTV mortgages these days that shouldn't happen to you.

Out of interest, where is this forum? 

BungalowBel

If you want to buy a house, just buy one.  No-one knows what the future holds.  

MultiFuelBurner

I would think taking in a number of key indicators and not one person on twitter, who could be said to be only looking to add followers and views and grow his own estate agency referral business.

MHWC, like many of the "crashy" types that have infected this forum of late have been predicting a monumental crash where house prices fall 50/60% for many years. When infact long term (and that's exactly what home buying and ownership is long term) prices only do one thing....they rise.

Ownership gives you peace of mind over renting, and who would want to be in the rental market given the choice right now. It also gives you options as you get older and even along the way if you are lucky.

If you can afford it now, don't delay and buy ( a house freehold if at all possible).