Sell/buy high or low

[Whatinthelord]

We are looking into selling our house to get larger home. Property prices have taken a leap in our area the last year so we could see our house for more than we thought, but obviously the house we’d buy would have gone up recently too.

What I’m confused about is…. is it ok that the house we’d buy would be at a high point because the house we sold is too….or is it best to wait for a drop (I keep being told houses prices will drop but obviously it’s all guess work) even though that would mean our current home would sell for less?

Who knows if it will drop or not. We've just sold to upsize but wouldn't have bothered at the moment if we weren't relocating. But if you wait it out for the drop or crash that some people are predicting, you could be waiting forever! Why not just keep an eye on the market and if something you love comes up you can reassess, but don't rush into it? It depends a bit if EAs in your area are allowing people to view houses if they're not under offer themselves. Until recently they weren't but now in some areas it has slowed down so much that this is being allowed.

The price differential will drop if there's a crash, but equally your equity will go down, so you might be looking at a higher loan to value, even at a lower price. So you might be looking at a higher rate, which could potentially counteract the sale price saving, depending on your mortgage term and value.

I tend to agree with surreygirl - the housing market is hard to call, so if moving would make a real difference to your quality of life and you plan to be in the new house for a while, you may as well move forward now. Otherwise you could be in the same position next year and wishing you'd done it already!

Thank you for your thoughts everyone. It’s so overwhelming and such a big deal it’s nice to have other thoughts.

A perfect place has come up that we are viewing Thursday (prefect in the sense it’s roughly want we want and in the village we live in already which doesn’t happen much).

If we don’t have luck with that we will probably just hold out and wait until something worth moving for comes along.

EA in our area have just started allowing people to view without being under offer. So we will view a couple and have a think about it.

@Househunting21 yea my husband thought it might be better at the moment due to the loan to value issue. Just balancing it all out is so hard. We will be moving somewhere we intend to stay for at least 15 -20 years ish (until the kids leave home).

It’s impossible to know what is going to happen in the property market, you just have to buy and sell when the timing is right for your circumstances.
Guessing about high/low is just that, a guess.
Most people move for a reason, size, work relocation, school, kids etc etc and don’t try to guess the market.

@Itscoldouthere

It’s impossible to know what is going to happen in the property market, you just have to buy and sell when the timing is right for your circumstances. Guessing about high/low is just that, a guess. Most people move for a reason, size, work relocation, school, kids etc etc and don’t try to guess the market.

Thanks for your thoughts. I was just scared that buying after a bump in prices was a particularly bad idea but it seems that’s not neccissarily the case given our house would obviously sell for more too.

Do you know what the market drivers are in your specific area - and how it works between property types that you are moving between regarding supply and demand?

For instance in some areas there is a huge oversupply of flats which might be an issue or a shortage of family homes that rarely come up?

Sometimes these dynamics over ride or dampen the more general market moves.

Where I live people bed in for 15 years for the schools so many family homes are sold privately and word of mouth. If they want a good state school place for their DC at reception or 11+ then they have to buy when their DC is the right age rather than when the market is optimal IYSWIM.

During crashes / uncertainty lending gets a lot stricter. So it’s possible you could sacrifice your ability to get as nice a house as you want if you need a mortgage. During the financial crisis a lot of FTBs earning 100k were priced out of the london market as a result.

@Sssloou how would I find that out.
My feeling is that our current house would be quite popular because it will be the lower end price wise but is a good size 3 bed. Also we are in a popular village that houses rarely come for sale in and we would be an affordable house for someone wanting to stay in the village.

Is there a way to find out for sure?

If you are planning to stay for 15-20 years then it doesn't matter. It will all even out. In a lively market you will get more options.

@Whatinthelord I’m afraid it is a bit of a scary process, to be honest I’ve never felt I got it 100% right when moving and I’ve done it 5 times now and made a good amount of money over the years, but there’s always a bit of doubt in the process. Most of us are emotionally invested in some way, it’s never easy to just think of it as just a business transaction when it’s your home. I think you just need to feel it’s the right time and it’s the right house (or a good enough house) I never really buy into the ‘forever house’ thing as I know I also like change and change always brings problems as well as solutions, but getting the market right is never straightforward or easy.
Good luck with whatever you decide.