These mortgage headlines… is it daft to sell now and borrow more?

[sellotape12]

We live in a small house in London, and have been trying to sell + buy to move to somewhere slightly bigger in the same area. But all this news about another mortgage rate increase makes me think this is just a bad time of year - too much turmoil. Anyone going through the same thing?

I know it’s circumstantial and everyone’s individual situation will be different, but part of me is thinking of just sacking it all off and waiting until the drama levels off a bit. That said, I know the era of almost free money (i.e debt) is over and we’re all probably looking at normal interest rates forever now. Anyone with better knowledge to me have an outlook?

The pragmatic approach would be wait for the Inflation story to unfold.
This time next year, or after the general election, May be a more stable outlook.

If its a step up the ladder to a bigger place I would wait if you don't absolutely have to move. You will get a better financial deal after this all blows through and settles out.

I think it depends on how desperate you are to move plus other circumstances e.g how secure is your job and do you expect any personal changes.

I bought a house "at the absolute top of the market" and sold it 3 years layer for twice what I bought it for...
If it's the right move for you, andyou can afford it go for it. Yes, it might be cheaper in a few years time, but it might not be for sale - or you might not be able to sell yours.

I've sold my house and am buying a bigger one in the same area. My husband and I did the waiting game, everyone kept saying prices would go down and we almost waited ourselves out of being able to buy at all. If you'll be in the new house for a while then you can ride out any drop in price and I know my family will be a lot happier with more space.

It's always a bad time to overstretch yourself.

We are in a market dead zone at the moment. Where buyers don't have the money to buy and sellers still haven't really come round to the idea that their properties are worth much less than they thought they were (if they actually want to sell them anyway).

This is a really dangerous point in the market for upsizers because there is still a lot of heavily overpriced stuff there on the market. So if you do buy one of these you risk negative equity.

As ever, look for value and be prepared to walk away if the price isn't right. If you aren't fixated on a move or a particular place then that is a strong position to be in as a buyer.

We are in the same position. The trouble is at the moment is as pp has said is the market is at a standstill. Sellers not being realistic and then taking the view that if they don’t need to sell then they might as well stay put.

due another interest rate rise on Thursday which I think will be the nail in the coffin for the market.

Adult DS is buying. Will exchange in just over a week (we all hope).
He had a delay (not his fault) in getting part of his deposit, the daft sellers were muttering about pulling the sale or raising the price (!!) EA talked them down to being patient, with a bit of reality dosing.

I just hope the purchase works for DS, my main priority. Fixer-Upper.

Start watching Moving Home with Charlie on YT and make your own mind up.

S@XVGN I'm sure she will (rather they will) make her/their own mind/s up.

but this is a chat forum to, well, chat & ask for other peoples thoughts.

I'm normally of the view you can't time the market, you're buying a home not an investment, it'll peak and trough over your whole mortgage term, do it when you can etc etc but this is the first time in my adult life I think I would hold off, especially if I already owned. There is little to be gained at the moment, mortgage rates are high, sellers still seem a bit delusional, there is going to be so much upheaval in the next 12 months, unless I HAD to, I would hold off.

And your point is?

Doesn't making your own mind up normally involve using more than one source of information?

Absolutely, it's an another source of info added to the other ones here. Ok, it's a little more professional than most of the ones here, but that shouldn't stop anyone here giving their opinion.

What is it with people always recommending that Charlie YouTube channel on here?

That'll be me (one of them). It's because he seems to be an industry expert (his company is based on the industry) who wants people to find their own homes, and wants to help people do that.

I'd be stupid not to listen to someone who's day job it is.

To be honest @XVGN you do come across as though you work for Charlie. The frequency and tone of your posts sounds more like a sell than a recommendation.

I take your point! I just want the same as he does. People to find their own place at the right price.

To be fair, I also heavily promote house price.io, because it is the best consolidated view of the land registry I have found, and can really inform on sensible values. I don't work for them either, and I have told them that their search facility needs improvement!

Watching with interest.

We have sold ours and put an offer in on a property £65k more than ours - but we need to more £85k more to cover the stamp duty/fees etc.

Honestly, I'm panicking watching the news daily on this.

Mortgage is just 'attempting' to go through now and I"m almost hoping it's come back a 'No' as it makes the decision for us.

We really could do with moving as it's to do with schools/catchment areas but the thought of moving and ending up in negative equity is very real.

Might be worth considering private school as an option? The stamp duty cost alone would probably pay for primary school for one child.

@XVGN

That it's rude of you to tell her to 'make her own mind up' when she's simply asking for opinions on a chat forum.

hopefully no negative equity if your deposit is large enough?

but also if it’s a permanent house then negative equity would only be an issue upon refinancing as you could go on standard variable rate but if you take a long term 5 year fix now then negative equity is presumably unlikely

I think that you are being over-sensitive. I'm just adding another stream of information alongside those given here. All opinions are useful.

Exactly the same here. We will probably need more space when the kids are older but we can manage at the moment.

I have 6/7 houses on my Rightmove watchlist in budget that would meet our criteria. They’ve been on the market from a few weeks up to nearly 2 years. Not one has sold! To me they are all around 10% overpriced. Sellers seem to be deluded in this price bracket.

Combine that with rampant inflation and soaring interest rates and I can only see house prices dropping or stagnating.

We know of other would-be upsizers who are sitting tight and waiting it out.

I'd never heard of this Charlie guy until every house discussion on here seemed to mention him. Very sus.