Am facing a rather sudden and unexpected dilemma and don't have anyone 'in the know' to ask, so would really appreciate advice from you all. Am a long-time MNnetter (mostly lurking namechanger).
Single woman, 34, no kids, high-pressure job, currently sharing a house with four boys men in London (which is exactly like you might imagine it would be). Badly wanting my own space and having only just become aware of the possibility of shared ownership (normal purchase completely out of reach for me on my own owing to lack of large deposit). I’m going to view a one-bed new-build flat this weekend. It’s not this one, but size/layout/finish/price/costs/area are very similar:
www.sharetobuy.com/properties/31218/
I’m essentially trying to get a sense of whether this is:
a) A rare opportunity I should snap up if I can get it. Flat is lovely and meets my needs and lots of my good-to-haves and I comfortably meet their stated eligibility and affordability criteria with some deposit borrowed from family. I had assumed the competition would be fierce and the salesman I’ve spoken to is certainly trying to give me this impression - I’ve been told that the viewings schedule is very busy (only a few flats are left) and that I should bring my credit card to make a reservation on the day if I want it. There don’t seem to be many other similar options I can apply for/expect to get owing to restrictions about living in borough. Have got a good feeling about the place and am very tempted to just go for it if I can: would love to move into a place of my own (which I’d thought I’d never have) by September. For various reasons I’d love to feel I’ve moved on this year. It’s an area in which I think long-term value is likely to rise.
OR
b) A foolish/undesirable move in a falling London housing market with Brexit-related uncertainties. It’s more high-end/luxe finish than I really need or have experienced before and service charge is substantial. I’ve detected a slight whiff of desperation in the sales associates I’ve spoken to recently. This developer are offering a discount on the fees and he’s very keen to get me there - he seems to imply that my application would be successful if I put the deposit down first rather than going through a further priority sift (whereas I’ve read older stories of people applying for multiple properties in their borough and being repeatedly rejected as not high priority enough). Could they be struggling to seem competitive in a falling market (this seems crazy given everything I’ve ever experienced in London)? If so, do I risk being ripped off? I believe housing associations have to go on initial valuation and can’t take offers/negotiate, but no idea how to judge the ‘true’ value of a property against current market? Non-SO properties in same building are selling for much more, but these are bigger/posher. Overall property price too expensive to use my Help-to-Buy ISA even though my share is within the limit, which is really annoying.
The two things I’m most worried about are getting into negative equity/being unable to resell, and the impact on my living costs. These would go up substantially from my current outgoings (i.e. by hundreds of pounds): I currently spend 32% of salary on rent/bills/travel, this would increase to 47%. They obviously think this is fine as I’m £4k over required minimum income and if I'm honest there are plenty of non-essential costs I know I could cut back on, but it still seems a lot. I can’t see myself having much spare cash for staircasing in near future. If the rent/service charge increases by a lot, I could start struggling financially. There’s a good chance I’ll be promoted next year, but no guarantee.
I’m a first-time buyer with no experience and this will be the first place I’ve viewed - obviously I’m doing as much research as I can this week but I might need to make a decision pretty quickly, which feels rather scary. I know I’m likely to be met with high-pressure sales tactics during the viewing so I want to be as prepared as possible (am also taking a friend for a second opinion/moral support). I’d love to hear from those with shared ownership properties in London. Are you new build or resale? Have your rent and service charge gone up and how much/quickly? Have you managed to staircase at all? Has anyone had difficulty selling a shared ownership property in London? Would you make the same decision again?
From those with general experience of London market: would you buy in the current falling market or wait until Brexit situation clearer? Can anyone advise a good way to judge whether this window of opportunity really is time sensitive as the agent implies or if I have more time to mull it over? And whether the price is now inflated or not? This is really naive, but is there a sort of independent advisor I could ask about a particular lease/property value - what would I search for (not mortgage advisor? I need a Phil and Kirstie!)?
Apologies for length and thanks in advance for any replies!