Best time to buy a house (Brexit threat!)

[lamii]

When to buy a house? Now, after article 50 takes place, after the official brexit...ha...can you predict the future? ;)

[TurquoiseDress]

maryso

I think you've summed it up re FTBs. Propping up the chain and likely to be taking on silly amounts of debt.

We are looking to buy in SE London, both my husband & I work FT...at an absolute push we can get about £315k mortgage plus with our not very impressive deposit we have a max of £350k to spend.

What we're finding is a lot of property has been on for several weeks & have been reduced.

But it looks like we can barely afford a 2 bed flat. We are definitely going to be putting in some offers on stuff that we see over the next few weeks. I see no shame in offering 90% of the asking price and only going a % up.

I think the property we end up buying will basically be from the person most desperate to sell and who will accept a low offer!

We're of the mindset, we want to get out of renting and we're definitely not buying our 'dream home', but we just want to get on and buy.

[PeterWeg]

Around SW London there are lots of new instructions and an equal number of daily asking price reductions.

Down 12% in London. 1/3 of sales collapsed, 1/3rd renegotiated.

www.standard.co.uk/news/london/revealed-how-thousands-of-house-deals-collapsed-in-london-due-to-brexit-a3305526.html

[HereIAm20]

At the moment there are some lenders willing to lend at 2% fixed for 5 and even 10 years so I would definitely not hold off from buying

[Sleepybunny]

*buy

[Sleepybunny]

Never mind the economy, Påskmust you say!? That's it, mind blown.

Waiting is boring, but my house, it's lovely.

[maryso]

Central London supply was down initially after the SDLT changes from 2014, but supply has definitely returned now sellers realise waiting is counter-productive, with realistic price reductions, followed by even larger drops being offered. After all, prices doubled since 2008, so 50% cut is quite appropriate, when economic activity is little changed from then. Is that really a 'crash'? 2008 prices are generally thought of as ambitious by FTBs who have to cough up real money.

Here it would have paid to wait after about 2011, when prices raced up chasing dubious quality. Renting at say £50k pa for 5 years is nothing compared with price cuts of £1/2+m as well as better stock than before. Now period homes are sitting around shaving £100k off every few weeks to no effect. Sellers generally do not market at a price where competitive bidding will get you a better offer than asking over the top; think a 99p start price on ebay... Agents risk losing out because sellers are blinded by the glamour of a high asking price.

it is however the FTBs I feel sorry for, they are propping up the entire chain and probably picking up more debt than most of not all of the chain.

[ThroughThickAndThin01]

The people on housepricecrash have been waiting for their moment since 2006. They're still waiting in hope ....They could have paid down most of a mortgage by now, instead of paying their landlords mortgages off. Very foolish IMO

[minipie]

Yes don''t underestimate the value of being settled, in your own home which you can make your own, rather than feeling in limbo in rented housing. IMO it might be worth paying a bit extra just to avoid that limbo period (and of course the costs of rent). It's not all about getting a bargain.

[lamii]

@minipie I don't like to wait as life is short...I can see an advantage of being settled within the next two years, before things might change.
Waiting and observing sounds boring...but wise

[kirinm]

I'm keeping an eye on rightmove even though we are due to exchange soon and there has been an increase in places coming on the market in our area. A similar flat to the one we've bought -same road, same size but in a worse condition has come on for £20k over what we've paid. I suppose it could be so when they get knocked down they'll get to something like we are paying but who knows.

[minipie]

I'm just guessing but I would say there is a dip right now as everyone has no idea what is happening and is in panic/freeze mode. Then I think things will improve for the next yr or so as people think well nothing has actually changed and life must go on. Then there will be another major dip towards the point where the 2 yrs for negotiation start to run out and it is clear we are going to leave the EU without a decent deal to replace it (even if we get a decent deal in the end, it will take a lot longer than 2 yrs)

how long can you wait...?

[lamii]

@minipie Bad economy would suit me better. 350K for a house basically...
But the economy might stay the same for a few years too...during and after brexit

[Marmitelover55]

We out a house on the market last week and it sold in 2 days over the asking price! Fingers crossed it goes through ok - it's a lovely house with a lovely garden.

[minipie]

In London, in a "bad" economy you get lower house prices but relatively few properties for sale (usually people who are forced to sell through divorce/death/redundancy). In a "good" economy you get lots of properties for sale, but high prices and lots of competition.

Which would you prefer? If you are fussy and you have your heart set on a particular street or streets and a beautifully presented house, and your budget is good, then a good economy would suit you better. If you have a lower budget and getting a good price is more important than getting the perfect house, then a bad economy would suit.

Right now there is not a huge amount for sale and things seem to be reducing in price...

[lamii]

I was looking at properties in Bromley, Sutton and maybe Hove. Now I think we should just not do anything. Maybe come back to London and rent for now.
I have two friends who are buying this month...

[applecharlotte]

Just to give some hope to people selling in Zone 2 London. We exchanged today at the asking price agreed with the buyer back in May it's been a nail biting month.

We were worried he would pull out. He didn't even try and knock the price down - we were amazed!

[lamii]

@Sleepybunny ha ha...nej! oh dear. Do you know there is Påskmust to invest in? (Julmust for Easter)

Thanks all, your crystal balls are awesome. I believe it's too soon too. Damn I will have to freeze in Sweden next winter again!!

[SugarPlumTree]

I think it depends where you're looking . Round by me since the referendum we've had a fair few days of nearly half the properties listed in the past 24 hours search on Rightmove as being reductions where as pre referendum a reduction was rare.

I'd sit tight and watch what is happening where you want to buy for a bit.

[dothedab]

My local agent says brexit hasn't affected them at all (yet) and they still have 2 or 3 sales a week which is usual for them. Also house prices remain static.

I personally wouldn't choose to move at the moment.

[Cookbooklook]

I have a crystal ball!

I think you should look to buy next year and those who need to sell should sell now.

From what I have gleemed from scouring columns written by economists it seems there is going to be an almighty knock on effect that could hit the housing market next year.

Obviously this could be bollocks and my crystal ball is due a service but that's my opinion in a nutshell.

[Sleepybunny]

Ok my advice then is to sit tight until 2017 and buy shares in julmust.

[lamii]

@ThroughThickAndThin01 Allright, I write down in my agenda.
It might be correct and I should probably wait til 2017....at least see what happens beg 2017

[lamii]

@Sleepybunny we would sell our flat in Sweden. So we don't have pounds, fluctuations are important for us so we don't lose too much.

[Sleepybunny]

If you're selling and buying then I guess it's all relative. If you're buying cash then it's fine too because the pound is devaluing so fast you're money isn't safe anywhere

[Blueberrycheesecake1]

When you find one you like and that you can afford. A house is a home not an investment :)