Selling/Buying: Wait and see or go for it?

Lear_2018

Hi everyone,

As you know the property market has been sluggish but it is picking up as interest rates are looking to come down in May/June (who knows).

We've been waiting to put our flat on the market and buy a house due to having to pay double nursery fees until September (when our eldest start school) and in light of interest rates... but we're now approaching spring and are wondering whether we should go for it given that completion would likely not happen before the summer when our eldest finishes nursery.

We live in East London and are worried that the more we wait, the more we'll be priced out of buying a house, and the more there will be flats for sale competing with ours in our development (due to help to buy interests kicking in this year).

At the same time, we wonder if we should wait and see until the market picks up and more houses come on the market (as the offer is quite grim at the moment) and interest rates come down properly. We also wonder if we might get a better deal if lenders see that our outgoings have reduced due to no longer paying double nursery fees. 

Has anyone been in a similar situation and has any wisdom to share on managing such a move in a tricky market? This is our first ever sale as we were first time buyers under the HtB scheme and bought off plan.

Thanks so much in advance :-)

Albermarle

Couple of comments come to mind.
Firstly even if you decide to start looking around, the process of finding/buying/selling houses is not quick. You only need to read through this forum to see all the issues that you can encounter. So trying to time your entry into the market is difficult. You might start next week and it could be 6 months or even a year before any transaction happens.
Secondly- If you wait for interest rates to drop to where they were 3 years ago, you will be waiting a long time. Those very low interest rates were not normal and the current rates ( or thereabouts) are most likely the 'new norm' 

Hoenir

Interest rates will be what they'll be. The huge amount of constant speculation surrounding them is achieving nothing. Plan your property move to suit yourselves. Borrowing rates aren't going to return to levels of the recent past. That's a nailed on certainty. 

jonnydeppiwish!

The issue with waiting for the market to potentially pick up is whilst you may get more for your property, you’ll likely ended paying for your onward purchase. So whilst interest rates may go down,you may end up paying more.

mexican_dave

Yes, all the above is true, there is no point in trying to time the market.

Bigphil1474

Can't disagree with much of what has been said. Only thing I'd add is that if you are moving up the ladder, it's probably a good time as any, as the lack of buyers does mean properties can be bought at a decent price. There also seems to be a lot of empty ex rentals on the market - certainly where I live. I'd just say, do your research on where you want to live, look at what you can afford, and if there's somewhere you like, make your decisions from there.

I'd expect at best it will take up to 2/3 months to get yours sold, another month ish to find your next property, and another 2 to 3 months to get through to completion. That's 5-7 months, and that's only if things go fairly smoothly. You could be lucky and get a small chain, which might be quicker, then again maybe not.