Viewed first house tonight - FTB

[DJC]

rah1888 said:

Geoffers said:

rah1888 said:

Geoffers said:

Always get a second opinion,
Put in a daft offer, you may well find the agent will come back and say "Our client will not accept your offer of X, but they will accept Y "
Gives you a good idea of what the vendor will actually accept. It also helps to state that if the offer is accepted, you would look to exchange and complete in 10 to 12 weeks.

Could even go for a quicker timeframe to tempt the seller, a FTB buying a house with no onward chain should be able to wrap things up in 6-8 weeks no problem.

Good point,all depends on how long searches are taking to come back these days, and how quick the mortgage offer comes out!

i'm guessing that things are pretty quiet right now, given the level of transactions, so should be pretty quick.

2 weeks chaps, 2 weeks

[harry miller]

elster said:

Broccers said:

Buying a house right now is suicide. The economy has not just stalled but is in freefall.

If you want a home for the long run does it really matter?

Have you ever, or do you know anyone who has ever bought a new car?
That is just plain dumb, you can save a fortune by waiting a year or two!

Yes it does matter! I was lucky in that I bought my first home in 1984, and property prices rose steeply for a number of years.

Many of my friends bought at the start of the subsequent downturn and ended up in negative equity and felt almost trapped by their homes. It had a big impact on their quality of life for 4 or 5 years.

[Nolar Dog]

Broccers said:

Buying a house right now is suicide.

Funnily enough that's not always the case.

I recently bought a (2nd) flat in Manchester. It was cheap.
I have already got it tenanted, corporate client if that makes a difference.

I have had the flat valued since I bought it purely out of curiosity.
It was valued about 35k more than I paid for it. Yes I know it has to sell to be "worth" that but I have no intention of selling it for at least 5 years anyway.

In the meantime it is earning almost £1750pcm in rent.

[Broccers]

elster said:

So you never are going to buy a house? Just in case you lose your job?

Or should he wait until he can buy a house for cash?

I think you are being a little silly here, read what I typed. Personally, I still live with my parents, have a 20k loan on my car which is now worth 10k so don't listen to my advice.

[Broccers]

Nolar Dog said:

Broccers said:

Buying a house right now is suicide.

Funnily enough that's not always the case.

I recently bought a (2nd) flat in Manchester. It was cheap.
I have already got it tenanted, corporate client if that makes a difference.

I have had the flat valued since I bought it purely out of curiosity.
It was valued about 35k more than I paid for it. Yes I know it has to sell to be "worth" that but I have no intention of selling it for at least 5 years anyway.

In the meantime it is earning almost £1750pcm in rent.

When did flats become houses ?

[scotal]

Broccers said:

elster said:

So you never are going to buy a house? Just in case you lose your job?

Or should he wait until he can buy a house for cash?

I think you are being a little silly here, read what I typed. Personally, I still live with my parents, have a 20k loan on my car which is now worth 10k so don't listen to my advice.

Nice car though.

[elster]

Broccers said:

elster said:

So you never are going to buy a house? Just in case you lose your job?

Or should he wait until he can buy a house for cash?

I think you are being a little silly here, read what I typed. Personally, I still live with my parents, have a 20k loan on my car which is now worth 10k so don't listen to my advice.

Well aren't you clever.

I on the other hand bought a house that I wanted. I love it here and can quite easily afford to pay for it.

Was I wrong to do this then?

[mechsympathy]

Nolar Dog said:

It was valued about 35k more than I paid for it.

How can it be "worth" more than you paid for it? Unless you've done a load of work or it's bucked the market...

[NoelWatson]

rah1888 said:

harry miller said:

Incorrigible said:

Obviously completly your decision, but why are you buying now? It'll be another 20% cheaper this time next year (or you can get a bigger place for the same money)

My thoughts exactly. With the property market falling at almost record speed, why not sit back and wait?

Surely you are risking your entire deposit (and more) with many analysts predicting >20% drop in '09. How many hours would you need to work to SAVE that money again?

We're certainly looking at falls this year. But, just to play devils advocate, I don't remember too many analysts being too accurate with their 2008 predictions.

When you say analysts, do you mean vested interests?

[NoelWatson]

elster said:

Broccers said:

elster said:

Broccers said:

Buying a house right now is suicide. The economy has not just stalled but is in freefall.

If you want a home for the long run does it really matter?

Have you ever, or do you know anyone who has ever bought a new car?
That is just plain dumb, you can save a fortune by waiting a year or two!

OK if you are in a situation where you NEED right now a house then fair enough, but if you aren't homeless / living in a cardboard box then now isnt a good idea. And yes it does matter - you buy, get in neg equity within months then lose your job - clever idea ?

So you never are going to buy a house? Just in case you lose your job?

Or should he wait until he can buy a house for cash?

He could wait until houses are cheap relative to their long term trend

[elster]

NoelWatson said:

elster said:

Broccers said:

elster said:

Broccers said:

Buying a house right now is suicide. The economy has not just stalled but is in freefall.

If you want a home for the long run does it really matter?

Have you ever, or do you know anyone who has ever bought a new car?
That is just plain dumb, you can save a fortune by waiting a year or two!

OK if you are in a situation where you NEED right now a house then fair enough, but if you aren't homeless / living in a cardboard box then now isnt a good idea. And yes it does matter - you buy, get in neg equity within months then lose your job - clever idea ?

So you never are going to buy a house? Just in case you lose your job?

Or should he wait until he can buy a house for cash?

He could wait until houses are cheap relative to their long term trend

Depends if he wants an investment or a home.

[Nolar Dog]

mechsympathy said:

Nolar Dog said:

It was valued about 35k more than I paid for it.

How can it be "worth" more than you paid for it? Unless you've done a load of work or it's bucked the market...

Because I bought it desperately cheap off a friend who had to sell.

[scotal]

NoelWatson said:

elster said:

Broccers said:

elster said:

Broccers said:

Buying a house right now is suicide. The economy has not just stalled but is in freefall.

If you want a home for the long run does it really matter?

Have you ever, or do you know anyone who has ever bought a new car?
That is just plain dumb, you can save a fortune by waiting a year or two!

OK if you are in a situation where you NEED right now a house then fair enough, but if you aren't homeless / living in a cardboard box then now isnt a good idea. And yes it does matter - you buy, get in neg equity within months then lose your job - clever idea ?

So you never are going to buy a house? Just in case you lose your job?

Or should he wait until he can buy a house for cash?

He could wait until houses are cheap relative to their long term trend

Or he could apply the "i want to move out now" logic.
If he's taken the risk of NE into account, and is still happy to do so, why not?

[rah1888]

NoelWatson said:

rah1888 said:

harry miller said:

Incorrigible said:

Obviously completly your decision, but why are you buying now? It'll be another 20% cheaper this time next year (or you can get a bigger place for the same money)

My thoughts exactly. With the property market falling at almost record speed, why not sit back and wait?

Surely you are risking your entire deposit (and more) with many analysts predicting >20% drop in '09. How many hours would you need to work to SAVE that money again?

We're certainly looking at falls this year. But, just to play devils advocate, I don't remember too many analysts being too accurate with their 2008 predictions.

When you say analysts, do you mean vested interests?

How do we define vested interests? When it comes to property, that's going to cover an awful lot of people.

The point I was trying to make is that I don't recall any predictions in January 2008 of 15% falls, which have been seen in many parts of the country. Therefore, why should their 2009 predictions be any more accurate?

[Plotloss]

sleep envy said:

harry miller said:

My thoughts exactly. With the property market falling at almost record speed, why not sit back and wait?

bottom pickers end up with brown, sticky fingers

Whilst I'd largely agree, homes at the £150K level are fairly commoditised.

So at that level of the market there is little to be lost by waiting and buying on the turn.

Obviously if one was searching for the house they wish to die in then that is an entirely different matter but I suspect that is not the case here.

[RobboC]

Well these 'ANALysts'are hardly worth listening too.

And I've heard the 'vested interest' thing thrown around sooo many times.

I think a lot of people don't realise what a massive effect the market has on so many things.

I work in the industry, and for our company of some 7 offices, I can factually tell you how our results have been.

Prices have come down anything from 4-25% on completed houses we have sold. However the majority of this was late November, and has slowed down since then.

Another 20% off would frankly, destroy the market and the economy, and I can't see that happening, especially as whether you believe or not, houses are selling again. Not at huge rates, but better than August when all this kicked off.

Edited by RobboC on Friday 9th January 12:14

[NoelWatson]

Nolar Dog said:

Broccers said:

Buying a house right now is suicide.

Funnily enough that's not always the case.

I recently bought a (2nd) flat in Manchester. It was cheap.
I have already got it tenanted, corporate client if that makes a difference.

I have had the flat valued since I bought it purely out of curiosity.
It was valued about 35k more than I paid for it. Yes I know it has to sell to be "worth" that but I have no intention of selling it for at least 5 years anyway.

In the meantime it is earning almost £1750pcm in rent.

I valued our BMW at 30k more than I paid for it. I'm not sure if I could sell it for that. What do you reckon?

Will your flat still be "cheap" if you come to sell it in five years and the market is still down?

How does the rent compare to financing, maintenance etc?

[Broccers]

scotal said:

Broccers said:

elster said:

So you never are going to buy a house? Just in case you lose your job?

Or should he wait until he can buy a house for cash?

I think you are being a little silly here, read what I typed. Personally, I still live with my parents, have a 20k loan on my car which is now worth 10k so don't listen to my advice.

Nice car though.

Cheers - good job the above is untrue ;-)

[sleep envy]

NoelWatson said:

Will your flat still be "cheap" if you come to sell it in five years and the market is still down?

do you beleive the market will be deflated in 5 years time?

[scotal]

Broccers said:

scotal said:

Broccers said:

elster said:

So you never are going to buy a house? Just in case you lose your job?

Or should he wait until he can buy a house for cash?

I think you are being a little silly here, read what I typed. Personally, I still live with my parents, have a 20k loan on my car which is now worth 10k so don't listen to my advice.

Nice car though.

Cheers - good job the above is untrue ;-)

AAAAhhhh. so you're an internet fantasist then!!!