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Original poster

Is it wiser to wait.....house buying in this unpredicatable world

38 replies

scrumbrum12 · 07/03/2022 13:07

Hi
We have been wanting to buy since just before Brexit. We are reliant on the part help of my parents (who we will reimburse, long story). They pulled out of helping when Brexit happened as they thought there would be a crash, then covid... In November they said they could help again thankfully (rental is awful and draining us financially and mentally but nothing else available ). We have been searching in a tricky market and finally found somewhere so wanted to make an offer. My parents have told us we have to wait though due to the state of affairs in Ukraine. My dad talks as if WW3 is imminent , also that if we buy now it is likely the prices will drop significantly. I reminded him that things didn't go the way predicted with Brexit and covid but he thinks this is different. Is he being sensible or highly anxious? Is it better to wait? I always think you can only go on what you know now but equally don't want to be stupid with our money. We are tied to this area due to work and specialist school place for son. Thanks

OP posts:
GregBrawlsInDogJail · 07/03/2022 13:09

He's being highly anxious. But you do have a problem if you're dependent on him/then to execute your purchase, because I doubt you'll have any luck convincing him otherwise, and in the meantime inflation is eroding your cash.

If you have the money to execute your purchase on hand, do it and to hell with what they think. If you don't, well, you might want to get yourself into a position where you do.

Lubeyboobyalt · 07/03/2022 13:13

Prices are only going to keep increasing, as all the recent shit times have confirmed

If you'd bought before brexit you'd have been spending INSANELY less

the in laws must realise their folly, surely.

nirvanaviolet · 07/03/2022 13:17

Without being all doom and gloom, there will always be 'something'. We had Brexit and Covid and Ukraine and now there could be much much more on the horizon.
House prices may stagnate a bit but they definitely won't go down from what I can tell. I mean, I may be wrong, but as long as demand is higher than supply...

LillianGish · 07/03/2022 13:20

If you are buying a house to live in (as opposed to as a short-term investment) then fluctuations in the market are irrelevant. Prices may go up and down over the years, but over the long term they always rise - look at house price inflation over the last 10, 20 or 30 years, there may have been brief dips and wobbles, but they always recover. While ever you are renting you are throwing money away on something you'll never see a return on. I've always thought of our mortgage payments as a form of saving - we are saving all the rent we would otherwise be paying and eventually we'll have a substantial asset worth far more than we paid for it.

Summersdreaming · 07/03/2022 13:22

It's a bit off for your parents to keep dangling the offer then withdrawing it.. could you do it without them? I would be worried they will always have an excuse not to go through with it.

GizmosEveningBath · 07/03/2022 13:27

It sounds like they want to back out of helping tbh.

It's better to pay into your own property then someone else's. My mortgage is significantly cheaper than my rent was. Since they are only 'helping' in part, have you looked into going it alone with any of the help to buy schemes, you may be pleasantly surprised at what you can get.

ShadowPuppets · 07/03/2022 13:33

Yeah, it sounds to me as if they’re not keen to help if I’m honest - sorry, it’s a shit situation if they keep saying they want to help but are putting road blocks in your way.

We completed on our flat on the day of the Brexit vote and it did give us a wobble, but we figured it was going to be our home for the foreseeable and we’d rather pay off our own mortgage than a landlord’s. Since then we’ve paid off 100k of our mortgage (we’ve also moved house once having climbed a rung up the property ladder). We’re about to sell up and move to our next house having turned a £26.5k deposit into £150k equity to put towards the ‘forever home’ we’re buying next. It really is better to be on the ladder if you’re ever planning to buy, yes negative equity would be awful but while mortgage payments are cheaper than rent you’re generally going to be better off.

axolotlfloof · 07/03/2022 13:36

Is there anyway to do it without their help?
Prices are very unlikely to drop.

FatherArmando · 07/03/2022 13:43

Can you have a frank conversation about if they are actually willing to help? Without sounding accusatory.

Then at least you know where you stand. It seems as if they are looking for excuses. The market generally is rising. The Ukraine situation will affect possibly the top end in London but not ordinary prices.

RitaFires · 07/03/2022 13:50

I wouldn't rely on them as it seems they're just looking for an excuse to get out of having to give you the money. Try and see if you can sort a mortgage without them, owning is much better security than renting.

Branleuse · 07/03/2022 13:54

They arent going to be helping you. There will never be a perfect time

SpanishPapers · 07/03/2022 13:58

There will never be a risk-free time. Better to make decisions based on your needs as a family than try to time your purchase as an investment- as you've seen it is very hard to do and meanwhile you are in an unsatisfactory rental.

I would be looking for ways to buy without your parents. They sound very anxious.

oiltrader · 07/03/2022 14:08

cost of living Is only going one way. bigger deposits are needed and higher interest rates are defo happening.. this is and will throttle house prices, anything else is delusional

Original poster
scrumbrum12 · 07/03/2022 14:13

thank you everyone. The deal is that when we inherit part of my husbands mum's house we will pay them back what they have lended us.I think they are worried that it will go down in price and therefore we won;t be able to pay them back and then if we need to sell we will have lost money. There is no way we could afford a property here without their help. We would have to move to another part of england completely. I fought so hard last year to get my son into his school and I know moving funding even to a borough next door is a nightmare. I guess like many we are completely priced out of where my husband was born and where our business is and where we love. Anyway, thanks

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Original poster
scrumbrum12 · 07/03/2022 14:34

btw we have a mortgage in place but it is no where near enough for a 3 bed property around here

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Original poster
scrumbrum12 · 07/03/2022 14:35

closest place would be a 5 hour commute!

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GregBrawlsInDogJail · 07/03/2022 14:50

Do you have an AIP for the mortgage amount you need? Where is the money from them - in their account, or yours?

Original poster
scrumbrum12 · 07/03/2022 15:00

@GregBrawlsInDogJail we have an AIP for the mortgage we can get. They have money from property they sold in their account they were going to lend us.

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Elsiebear90 · 07/03/2022 15:08

I remember having this debate about two years ago with people on here and some so called experts were adamant there was going to be a huge property crash after brexit and people would be able to buy £400k houses for £50k, it never happened, houses are more expensive than ever.

My advice remains the same, if you can buy now then buy because house prices just keep going up and up.

starpatch · 07/03/2022 15:24

Honestly 8 thinkthe safest u vestment at the moment would be a modern flat with great insulation. They are going to getvery popular with energy price rises! If it has a playground or is near one even better!

Plexie · 07/03/2022 15:38

Article in today's Guardian saying that over the past few months UK house prices have risen at their fastest rate in 15 years (although that would have been before the Ukraine crisis):

www.theguardian.com/business/2022/mar/07/uk-house-prices-rise-at-fastest-rate-in-15-years-says-halifax

Couple of quotes at the end of the article from experts:

“Economic logic suggests prices should be coming down but the surreal lack of stock is keeping values buoyant.”

“House prices can’t escape reality for ever. Eventually buyers will have to face the fact that life is getting more expensive and unpredictable, and we’ll see these record price rises slow significantly.”

Even with increases in the cost of living and rising interest rates, house prices might just stabilise rather than decrease.

Ohwhere2021 · 07/03/2022 15:40

@starpatch I think any modern property will actually become more popular.

GregBrawlsInDogJail · 07/03/2022 15:59

I wouldn't be surprised at all if we saw a stalling of growth or a stabilisation. An actual severe fall? Not gonna happen.

deadlanguage · 07/03/2022 16:22

There is a limit to how much houses will ever fall (because so many people would be in negative equity and wouldn’t sell), whereas inflation is high and house prices are rising. The cheapest time to buy is pretty much always as soon as possible, and finding somewhere you’re happy with is also difficult at the moment as not much is on the market so if you can persuade them to give you the money I’d definitely go for it.

tokyo1 · 07/03/2022 16:22

We're FTB and have decided to go for it. Very unlikely there will be any significant crash and we are planning to buy somewhere we will have long term so the resale value isn't the biggest priority. Also if prices to rise next year then we may not be able to afford what we want however right now we would be able to. Also I'm sick of renting and paying off someone's else mortgage when we could be investing in our own future.