House Buying

[quackhandle]

Unless you come into a large wedge of cash, never a "great time" to buy a house.

But, like the rest of us, do it anyway. If you get a Halifax Mortgage they give you some picture hooks and a nice socket set.

Good Luck, we're all counting on you.

qh

[vik845]

...and even if prices stagnate or drop the rental returns are good enough to generate a tidy little profit margin



Which brings up a good point - vik845, if you were forced to move, would the rental cover the mortgage and bills? Pretty impossible in London, but achievable elsewhere. Worth a thought.

Well if I proceed further with the property which is quite likely, it won't impact me much as my mortgage will be quite similar to rent what currently I pay(maybe £100-£200 extra).

[fullyautomatix]

...and even if prices stagnate or drop the rental returns are good enough to generate a tidy little profit margin



Which brings up a good point - vik845, if you were forced to move, would the rental cover the mortgage and bills? Pretty impossible in London, but achievable elsewhere. Worth a thought.

[Jess@ContractorFinancials]

House Buying

Hi Vik845,

You’ve hit on a question that every contractor who owns or is buying a home is asking. House prices are cyclical so you can expect the odd peak and trough, one of the joys of home ownership. Over the long term though property prices perform well and I presume you’re buying a “home” so short term fluctuations shouldn’t necessarily deter you (you might waste more money renting over that same period).

Lenders have been reducing their rates since the Brexit vote, its hard to say how much further they could drop if at all but this is the best I’ve ever seen mortgage rates.

[eek]

Hi Vik845,

You’ve hit on a question that every contractor who owns or is buying a home is asking. House prices are cyclical so you can expect the odd peak and trough, one of the joys of home ownership. Over the long term though property prices perform well and I presume you’re buying a “home” so short term fluctuations shouldn’t necessarily deter you (you might waste more money renting over that same period).

Lenders have been reducing their rates since the Brexit vote, its hard to say how much further they could drop if at all but this is the best I’ve ever seen mortgage rates.

Over the long term (last 25 years) property prices have performed well - however past performance is not an indicator of future performance.....

Given that you are providing investment advice in there (albeit inadvertently) are you suitable qualified to be saying such things...

[Jess@ContractorFinancials]

You're absolutely right, past performance doesn’t necessarily dictate the future direction of travel for house prices. The point I wanted to make clear is you can expect good and bad times in the housing market and as a few people have already mentioned, there may be other options if you cant/don’t want to sell further down the track.

I suppose the question is really "why buy"? If its purely an investment and you're relying on the value increasing, as with any investment there are risks and you'll probably be more concerned by news of a drop in house prices.

If you're buying a home, you'll have a more emotive reason for buying (all the benefits of not renting or living with your parents) so to a degree its more a question of life choice - although we all like to see the value of our homes increase.

[Mordac]

Unless you come into a large wedge of cash, never a "great time" to buy a house.

But, like the rest of us, do it anyway. If you get a Halifax Mortgage they give you some picture hooks and a nice socket set.

Good Luck, we're all counting on you.

qh

There isn't really a bad time to buy a house (assuming it's somewhere for you to live), but there is definitely a bad time to sell one.