To buy a house now, pre Brexit?

[firstworldproblem18]

Having a disagreement with family members about this.

I’m currently renting, and have been for 2 years since separating from my ex. Our divorce came through earlier this year, and I am now in a position to buy a property.

Family members have told me that it would be stupid to buy now, and to wait until the outcome of Brexit is known, presumably to see the impact on the housing market.

I am a single mum with 2 kids. Renting is costing me 24k a year. Our rental house is lovely, but we aren’t allowed to decorate, and it’s part furnished, so I have to tell the kids to be careful of furniture that isn’t ours (in particular a leather sofa) etc. It is a lovely house, but we aren’t really allowed to make it more homely. It doesn’t feel like home. ExH has stayed in the marital home.

I really want somewhere to call home. My rental runs out in August next year which might sound like ages away but it means I’d have to find aomewhere by May (assuming a 12 week completion) and I don’t know when the Brexit stuff will be resolved but have March in mind, so it leaves me no time at all to find a house

AIBU to buy something now, if I find a house I like, and is reasonably priced in the current market conditions?

Personally if I found a house that I loved that I was planning to stay in long term I would buy.

My opinion is that if you're renting, you're pissing money away. The longer you hold off, the more that cost will be but you're losing £2k per month, so nearly £20k by the time August rolls around. I doubt that house prices will crash that quickly that it's worth losing £24k per year, but you can always back out of buying later if they look like they are going to after March. My gut says get cracking and see if you find anything you love. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I brought house recently in south east and I had views opinions on brexit thing and if you find somewhere you like fall in love with - why does it matter? My view is they will drop but will slowly come back up! So I’m not concerned about brexit - because the house I brought is a brilliant home. People are less likely to sell while prices are low and during brexit!

But I agree the prices will drop but will come back up! The place I brought would of gone if I didn’t put offer and take off market ASAP. They had 5 viewings booked!

Whether Brexit is a triumph, calamity, or damp squib people will need houses.
If the housing market collapses (not really very likely given the problems with first time buyer affordability, etc) there will be a rush by large scale landlords to buy it all up. You may get a bit of a bargain, but don't count on it.
Interest rates are unlikely to go down whatever the result of brexit - and are good for buyers atm. My advice would be to look at the market and get an idea of brexit-resistant mortgage options.
Worst case scenario, you buy now > prices plummet > you have neg equity > you stay put until market recovers

There's a reason everyone invests in property in the UK - if you can wait out the blips it never fails to pay.

If you can possibly wait 4 months then Id do that - or at least til we know whether TMs deal will go through. I wouldnt wait til 2020.

No Adam the worst case is that the OP gets into negative equity, loses her income, cant sell and loses her house.

Negative equity is no fucking joke.

We moved in March (although we weren't renting but needed a bigger home) as we wanted to get it out of the way before Brexit (and also the right house/opportunity came along). The uncertainty of it all made me nervous to wait, honestly, and we'll live in this house for a considerable length of time, so not concerned about selling it / losing money - hopefully we'll be living in the property until the market recovers (if there is a major slump in house prices post-Brexit). If we'd been buying something as a stop gap then I don't think we'd have moved.

Of course maybe we'd have been able to make our money go further post-Brexit, but it's all an unknown and we just wanted to get moved ASAP.

I don't think it would be unreasonable either way (to move before or to wait) it just depends on your personal circumstances and needs really.

I would be buying mortgage free, if that makes a difference

If the housing market collapses (not really very likely given the problems with first time buyer affordability, etc)

That's a strong reason why they will likely drop . The UK housing market is akin to a Ponzi scheme.

We would likely be in the house for 10 yrs until youngest leaves School

I would start looking in January with a view to making an offer around April time.

I'd buy somewhere you would be planning on staying for some time, other than that I don't think you need to hugely worry. Like other posters mentioned, there will always be demand. I'd also expect it to take longer than 12 weeks for completion, so maybe start looking now? I know two people who it took 6 months for everything to go through.

I rent in the south east so I feel your pain. I’ve noticed prices dropping a bit in my area though, for rentals and purchases. If you’re buying mortgage free that is less of a risk, personally I’d give it till June ish next year though and just keep a very close eye on what’s on the market for what price where you want to buy until then.

I have to be out of this place in August. I can’t do a month by month lease, so it’s out or another year, which I really don’t want.

Yes the 12 weeks is possibly optimistic. Therefore I can’t really wait until after Brexit, as I might not manage to buy within the time frame.

Family are just so focussed on money, they can’t see anything beyond the possibility of losing it

I've recently sold mine but had to drop the price to do so. I don't have to move but I want to. Many people told me to stay put, to hang on and wait. I think a lot of people are doing this and in my area now ( SE) there is very little on the market. I haven't had a single new house for over a week sent from Right Move. My thoughts are that you may well find there's not a lot to choose from but that, once you find something, you will probably get it for quite a bargain. A house I looked at was 425,000 in August, 395,000 in September and recently had an offer accepted on it for 370,000

Buffalo I cant wait until June if I have to be out of here at the start or August. It wouldn’t give me enough time. Also true here of prices already dropping in the area I am looking.

We've just sold for £8k over asking, which is £20k more than we were offered (best offer) 2 years ago when we were on the market. Every person who viewed told us how quickly the houses were going and all of them were very keen!

We're buying but with a view to stay put for a while and should be in before Brexit. It hasn't put us off.

Seems to be a buyer's market at the moment. Lots of buyers are hesitating which makes it the perfect time to get on the ladder. You want a long term home.....buy now and enjoy your home.

Sorry I missed that bit of your post (I’m ill and clearly not with it) if you’re buying somewhere you’re planning on staying for at least 10 years I think whatever will happen will have changed and fluctuated a lot by then regardless tbh. If you know what you want in a house perhaps just go for it.

If you can buy outright and you plan to be there 10 years plus you are fine.

I have bought recently (May) when the market was stagnant and nothing was moving.

I wanted the house, so offered just under asking price on it. Yes, I am concerned about its value goung down, but I didn't want to hang around.

As you will be buying mortgage free the risk of falling value is much less impactful.

OP you are in the best position possible, do it now!

Oh ok yes if you are buying mortgage free then go for it.

I would be extremely nervous about buying now with Brexit around the corner, and as it is I'm nervous about the value of my own home plummeting. If I were in a position to sell hastily I would, as I think the market will crash badly. However, if you're in a position to buy for cash, then it does change things a bit. If you later need to move and have to sell at a loss, you would also be in a position to buy again at a lower price than that property in turn would currently cost. If you were getting out of the UK property market altogether, that doesn't hold true of course, but the very worst case scenario of being stuck in negative equity with an unaffordable mortgage to pay off isn't a risk for you. It may take a while to find the right place so why not start looking, but I must say I would hold off completing until after the shit hits the fan, just in case you want to pull out and rethink.

Our house is on the market and it's dead as a doornail out there. Buy now while it's a buyers' market. We'd snap a buyer's hand off if they made a sensible offer. If you're buying outright, you're setting fire to £24k a year right now.