House moves/prices and the Leave vote

[Batteriesallgone]

Can we talk about this? We're meant to be moving house in a month or less. Mortgages etc all arranged but exchange date yet to be set. Should we pull out? I'm terrified of negative equity. We're supposed to be upgrading so we'd have a better shot of paying of the mortgage if we stayed were we are (borrowing an additional £100k to move).

What is everyone else doing who is in the middle of house sale/purchase?

[Wherewouldibe]

The markets are going to go into freefall. If David Cameron resigns the markets will plummet further. It is definitely an uncertain time. I wouldn't like to say either way however, house prices will be effected in the next few months and years ahead in my opinion.

[BoyMeetsWorld]

We're in exactly the same position and feeling the fear.

Due to school catchments, we really do need to move so I'm trying to look at it that yes, the property will no longer be the investment it should have been. But if we can stay put in it for the longterm hopefully one day it will break even again. There is no chance I'd be moving at the moment unless for catchment and to a house I could see us being in minimum 8-10 years.

We haven't yet had the mortgage valuation for ours. I'd like to know...do mortgage valuers come back telling you what they think a house IS worth if they disagree with what you've offered? Our plan is to use this as basis for negotiation if market has already changed. The seller will be in same position with any buyer at the moment. We could well lose our buyers too.

If we don't, I wonder if we should go into rental, pocket the money and buy when the market crashes which it will. I wish I knew by how much it will. But rental is do much hassle and we have pets which would be problematic.

Total nightmare.

[HuckleberryGin]

Us too. We're I the middle of it. We've been in negative equity on this house already, only just out if it. But we're moving to be in a better area. I can't face the thought of having to stay in this area for longer, possibly forever.

[whattodoforthebest2]

If you don't have to make the decision today, then wait and review it in a week or so's time.

[Batteriesallgone]

Thing is, we're moving to a nicer house, a fixer-upper, but is it a forever home? Not really. It's big enough but not in the nicest area. But we can't afford the nicest area right now. I know if prices fall the most expensive houses fall furthest, so maybe we should pull out and try and buy a forever home in 2 years or so once everything is fucked. I'd rather end up trapped in our current house than the one we're potentially moving to tbh. Just don't know what to do

[BoyMeetsWorld]

Batteries - that statement 'Id rather end up trapped in our current house' speaks volumes to me. If this move was a stepping stone for you, at the moment I'd 100% stay put.

[Wherewouldibe]

I would agree that you don't need to make any quick decisions.

I think the key thing is not to saddle yourself with a large mortgage that you would struggle to pay if interest rates were to rise (which at the moment seems pretty likely).

[Batteriesallgone]

Thanks Boy. To answer your question no I don't think mortgage valuers do that. But I think they are limited in how speculative they can be about future falls etc. They compare the price against comparable properties on the market and do a survey to check it's not falling down. I don't think they do an in-depth analysis

[Wherewouldibe]

The fact that the pound is the lowest it has been since 1985 doesn't sound as though it will all blow over in a week.

[Batteriesallgone]

Yeah. Thanks Where. I think we're going to have to pull out.

Obviously won't make a full decision for another week or so, to be sure.

[Batteriesallgone]

Huckleberry I think if you're moving to a better area that's a positive move that will withstand house price shocks, hopefully it will still work out for you

[Wherewouldibe]

Yes please take your time, I don't want you losing a dream home! I just think you need to see how things looks when the dust settles. There was a reason all the business men were backing the remain campaign.

[CaptainCallisto]

We're in the middle of buying our first home. We literally just sent the contracts back signed and are waiting for an exchange and completion date.

We simply cannot afford to stay renting (our mortgage repayments are set at £350 less per month than our rent!) but I'm terrified of negative equity.

Plus the house needs a fair amount of work, and with the pound dropping like it has, the savings we've set aside for that are not going to go as far... I'm so worried it's all going to go tits up!

[Wherewouldibe]

Have you looked at worse case scenario if interest rates were to rise could you still afford the payments? Don't worry about negative equity at this stage as you (I assume) plan to stay in the next house for a few years.

It's people with large mortgages, not on fixed rates or people looking to sell soon that should be the most concerned.

[Batteriesallgone]

We can only afford rates up to about 8%. Mortgage is 70% / equity 30%. We were planning to do it up and move on to a better area in about 5 years.

[Batteriesallgone]

Oh and our initial fixed rate is only 2 yrs

[CaptainCallisto]

We're pretty sure we could, and we're on a five year fixed term which takes the immediate pressure off. We are planning to stay there a significant amount of time. One of the reasons we've gone for this particular property over others is that there's room to extend in future.

I don't do well with uncertainty! I just want it all to go through so I can stop fretting about the 'what if' scenarios!

[Salene]

Negative equity is only a issue if you plan to sell

The market will recover , so unless you buying and planning on selling in next 6-12 months if not be too concerned.

If you plan on being in house 5-10 years you are worrying over nothing.

[Wherewouldibe]

Don't panic. Keep your eye on what's going on in the markets.

[Cherrypi]

Martin Lewis is predicting interest rates falling. I assumed they would rise too. He's posted a short video on social media.

[chickettychick]

Is it just buying houses that will be effected or will rent be too? We got the keys to our first flat yesterday

[Wherewouldibe]

Can you post the link to that cherry

[Batteriesallgone]

Salene our fix on our mortgage is only two years. It is not only an issue if you sell. Having to renew a mortgage when in negative equity is a nightmare

[PurpleDaisies]

We're buying our forever home but lost our buyer a last week due to mortgage problems. Goodness knows who'll buy ours for a decent price now. This is a bloody disaster.

[Wherewouldibe]

Quote from the Telegraph..


Tax experts KPMG have issued a stark warning about the state of the UK housing market following the decision to leave the EU.

While the UK won't officially exit for at least two years, uncertainty in the markets in the short term is likely to have an impact on prices and the number of people prepared to buy.

In a statement, Jan Crosby, head of housing at the group said: "As we enter a new phase of uncertainty following the UK’s vote to leave the EU, it is very likely people will put big decisions on hold, and one of the biggest decisions people ever make is a house purchase.