To buy or or to buy?!

[Ivebeenthinking]

I'm going to try to not provide much background details as don't want to be outed but currently in desperate need of the collective MN wisdom!

Scenario: If you were close to completing the purchase of your first house, in the current climate, but your circumstances changed halfway through the purchase. This meant it would now be a big stretch to buy the house this year and do everything else that you need to do. Next year if everything else stayed the same (IF) it would be easier to buy and start paying the mortgage.
Wwyd?

(A bit of context...) we can cancel some things at great effort to buy this house now, however we would only need to restart them at some point. Some things we can't cancel.

We're worried about the economic climate next year and whether it would be a massive risk to not complete the purchase right now (not to mention the massive hurt we would cause) and also the utter disappointment it would cause us after looking forward to it for a long time.

Should we

1. go through with the house purchase, as well as struggle with the other things i.e. Cancel nothing and see whether it breaks us a year down the line where we will be more comfortable

2. pull out of the purchase and do everything we need to do and then risk house prices rising potentially next year, increase in interest rates etc. Etc.

3. purchase the house, cancel some of the other things that need doing for this year but will still need to be done at some point and it will get more difficult. Live with the increased commute which the new circumstances mean we would need to do. Are we risking a fall in prices?

Sorry for being so muddled and I hope this makes some sort of sense to someone, please let me know your thoughts/advice.

I’d potetentially go with b .

The rise in interest will be minuscule .

Hmm if it's do-able I'd still purchase. How much is your heart set on the house and how much will you loose pulling out?

Pulling out we will potentially lose £1kish

My heart is set on A house even though I do like that particular house, unsure about whether my judgment is clouded by the fact that I just want a house of my own. current living conditions are not ideal.

What are the things you could cancel

How do you feel about the house

I'd probably pull out. If it's a real stretch now, what if something else goes wrong? And houses always need money spending on them once you're in, things need doing etc. Doubt there'll be much change in prices in the next year. If there's any risk at all you'll default on mortgage or other creditors it's not worth it either.

Fiance my worries exactly, it's such a big purchase decision.

Getting on the properator ladder would be the most important thing for me personally. First year or two is always incredibly tight but then it seems to ease. Most jobs that need doing can be postponed. As you say you hate your living conditions now plus pulling out is throwing money down the drain. If you can't afford it this year what will change next year?

Assuming there is a mortgage, is it the mortgage you would have chosen if you had known how things would change, or would a different type of mortgage work better for you now?

A first house purchase is always a stretch - go for it, a few acidified here and there is worth it to get a house.

Sacrifices it was meant to say!

Get the house and cut back every where else . You can always taken in a lodger if things get very tight? Take on a second job? For me I'd buy anurging and once you own it's easy to move up the ladder.

without knowing the detail of what these other things are i would prioritise the house purchase and scale back on whatever else is going on.
if you are buying somewhere with fairly normal local market you will be fine long term. if you buy now with a decent long term fix and have a house you like just go for it.
if it means something like cancelling a wedding you have booked and paid for then you need to put it in your op with figures for a proper answer

I also think that without real information it's difficult to make a call. However, probably get a roof over your head first (especially if the other expense is wedding, travel, starting a business or trying for a baby etc).

We barely scraped getting our house almost 2 years ago. We had a fixed rate mortgage at 3.9%, and have now managed to secure a better deal at 1.98% thus lowering our monthly payments by quite a lot. It was worth the expense, and I'd definitely do it again. Without knowing the ins and outs of your finances I really can't advise you...have you spoken to an independent mortgage broker? Ours has been an amazing resource.

another that really stretched ourselves and then got a different job after we moved that made it all a bit easier. We have no regrets, although those first months were challenging and we've still got some debt 18 months later.

Like pp said buying your first house is always going to be the hardest and the costs do generally go down.

Could you pick up overtime or a second job to bring in that extra money if things get really tight?

They've been taking about prices going down for years and they keep going up! Although they have stabilised a bit where we are. That alone wouldn't put me off.

Difficult to say without more detail but if your jobs are at risk of redundancy, I would err on the side of caution and pull out. IMHO, we’re heading into a recession, regardless of Brexit and house prices and the stock market are only going one direction. (Not a crash but a downward trend).You only have to look on the news to hear about the numerous high street names going into administration. The economic outlook is not looking too cheery.

You said you’re close to completion, does that mean you’ve exchanged already? If so you’ll have to but otherwise you’ll have huge financial penalties, your deposit will be lost to the seller and you’ll have to cover all their expenses and the expenses of people further up the chain if it collapses.

Contracts have not yet been exchanged.

Thank you all for your replies so far, even though my OP is lacking in specific detail.

It is hard to comment with such little detail. I’d say go ahead and buy it with what you’ve given us to go on.

Well if I start giving loads of detail now I'll get accused of drip feeding won't I! But I get your point thanks.
The commute has changed the mortgage rate has increased by a lot and I was thinking about it yesterday - the house is lovely but not our forever house - having said that, our forever house is not doable right now anyway. It's a perfect for now house. Does that help?

I would go for it!
Regardless of house price predictions, even if they do drop temporarily, they always pick back up and it's nearly always better financially than renting.

I would cut back where you can and postpone anything that is not essential.

No one gets there doesn't forever home straight away that's why it's known as a property ladder.but if you still feel you shouldn't go for it despite most posts saying you should then it's decision made, there's no right or wrong.

I would go for it and scale back on other things, house prices are pretty stable and interest rates are still very low (at the moment), a house is a huge investment and then you have the security of your own home.

When we bought our first house, the prospect scared the life out of me, but it was the best thing we did.

I’d say it’d be very unrealistic to aspire to a forever house as a ftb. Our ‘forever’ is number 3 and that’s good going.