Would you buy your forever home in the next 3 months?

[Scarytimetobuy]

Looking at buying a new house (selling ours) and the mortgage will be substantially larger.

Is this a really terrible time to buy? Or only if you’re buying something you plan to sell on soon?

I was furloughed during Covid on 100% pay but employer seems positive, upbeat and has given us no cause for concern about the security of our jobs once the furlough scheme ends. Would I be crazy just to be upfront and ask how secure my job is at the moment as things stand?

I keep seeing recessions and crashes mentioned and it terrifies be but if we have a 5 year fix and both still have our jobs then how does this actually affect us? I don’t mean that in a goady way.

I would always by a forever home at whenever IF the price was right.

Can you afford it on one wage for a period of time?

Near us house prices are still rising... Houses new to market are selling well... Those stuck before covid are still stuck unless reduced price...

We've just bought a house and waiting for completion. It has the potential to be a forever home but needs a huge amount of work including hacking back 5yrs of overgrown brambles and ivy in the garden!

Several people have mentioned that as long we stay there long enough to 'ride things out' till prices improve, than we might be ok.

How easy would it be to get another job near the new home if needed? Would temp work be an option if you did lose your job? No harm in asking work about your job security, but there is no guarantee your boss knows what the company has planned, their overall finances or strategies.

If I lost my job it would be extremely tight for the period that I was unemployed. We’d have to stop putting a set amount each month for a couple of different things and there’d be no treats but the mortgage etc would still be paid.

If my OH lost his job that would be another story. However he has a ‘side income’ he could increase.

Should we as a rule only be looking at houses we could afford on one income? Is that how people generally do it?

@Elouera I hope it works out for you!! Good luck with the garden. It’ll be worth it when it’s done.

I do feel if I lost my job I could easily get another one. But I’m sure everyone thinks that and it ends up not being a reality for a lot of people. Even if I could get something part time it would help.

@Scarytimetobuy- best of luck to you also x

We are
Our mortgage isn't going to be much more than our current but we are moving to a much better area and bigger house with the help of some inheritance
I've struggled to decide if now is the right time but we do plan on staying there until we retire so it's very long term
We're part exing and got the price we wanted for our home
There are so many ifs and buts, but then shit could hit the fan with or without covid and we'd never do anything if we waited for the 'perfect' time
I don't think it's a time for investment or short term properties but long term homes I don't see why not

Sounds like you could afford on one income for a while... I'd go for it...

We buy on what can afford on one income... No savings, holidays or money put in other pots in that period but could still pay bills and eat! Probably an over cautious approach that not everyone can work too - dependent on local house prices and wages... But for us it's worked well...

We just did, offer accepted (buying and selling) back in January then finally completed late May after the restrictions were lifted. DH job is much more secure than mine and we could manage on his income alone if need be. Don't regret it one bit.

We are. We both have secure jobs and this is the right time for us to get our eldest into.a good school catchment.

I don't think that house prices will fall substantially for the type of house we're buying - a family home in London near good schools - and we don't plan to sell for another 20 years.

We earn similar amounts so restricting ourselves to houses we could pay for with one income would be tricky and I think it is over cautious. The only couples I know who think like that have one main earner and one much lower salary. Think there is an element of traditional "the woman's salary shouldn't be necessary but just optional" to it

That’s kind of how I feel. It maybe is a bit over cautious to buy a house that we could afford if only one of us worked because I always plan to work and in fact plan to earn more in the future than I do now. Feels like there’s no point in me working if not to use that money to fund a better lifestyle and for us that’s a bigger house. I do earn about half of my partners salary but that’s just because I work less hours in order to accommodate school drop offs etc.

I don’t want to look back and regret not moving to a bigger house.