First time house buying in 2017

[Mint_Sauce]

What's the general feeling about first time buying a home in 2017? Good idea or bad idea?

From what I can see, buying in London feels risky but buying outside of London feels less risky. Overall though, demand outstrips supply and so any sink in the prices of houses will be met with people clamouring to get their first home and on the ladder.

Although saying that, if interest rates go up and with brexit being a complex beast maybe everything will come crashing down after-all leaving those who have just bought kicking themselves (me).

It seems like there's no real way of knowing whats to come..

I'm in the process of buying our first home in Manchester and feeling unsettled buying at this time, but I'm not getting any younger and I'm fed up of renting and the crap that comes with it.

Aargh!

 

[VincentHanna]

Crystal ball gazing, impossible to know.

I basically can't afford a house in the south-east anymore, so will just carry on renting and saving. My rent hasn't gone up in over 4 years which is good.

 

[topgun06]

Very low interest rates right now. Get locked in for a number of years.

 

[Maccapacca]

I wouldn't worry to much if it's a long term home. Even if you bought in the height of every recession previous you'd still be (on paper) better off today. The only concern I would have is I had a small deposit and if a downturn does happen a mortgage company comes after me for a greater deposit at a later date.

 

[VincentHanna]

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/39288...perts-warn-property-value-could-plunge-by-40/

Shame about the source of the 'news'....

 

[Rifte]

I wouldn't worry to much if it's a long term home. Even if you bought in the height of every recession previous you'd still be (on paper) better off today. The only concern I would have is I had a small deposit and if a downturn does happen a mortgage company comes after me for a greater deposit at a later date.

Not sure they can do this? I might be wrong though.

I bought a house at peak market in late 2007 with a small deposit (new build as well). In 2008 my property's price dropped by about 20% (new build loss and general market). I was in negative equity for a number of years and no one came knocking on my door asking for extra cash to increase my deposit.

I just knew that if I wanted to sell I would have to find the extra cash as a lump sum to pay off what I owed them.

 

[Mint_Sauce]

I saw that Sun 'news' and it's still concerning even if it is just for impact.

It's crazy how expensive a few walls and a bit of land is, how much does it actually cost to build a house in reality?

 

[Adam]

What are you actually asking? You have just listed a load of variables which no one will know the answer too.

 

[Mint_Sauce]

What are you actually asking? You have just listed a load of variables which no one will know the answer too.

I'm just seeing what the general feeling is, there's a lot of educated and knowledgeable people on OCuK so it's good to hear opinions and have a discussion. I'm sure there's others on here who are also in the process of buying their first home and it would be good to hear why they're going ahead. I guess it's reassurance for me too!

I've just edited the original question slightly to make it clearer.

 

[Maccapacca]

How much does it actually cost to build a house in reality?

Broad brush is 1/3 for the land 1/3 for the build and 1/3 for developer profit, overheads and fees.

Local authority housing works slightly differently, Contractors work on 5 - 15% overheads and profit on the build cost only because they get paid monthly whereas a developer won't see any returns till it's sold.

 

[Six6siX]

Popular (expensive) areas like London will likely be the first to stagnate or decline a little but they'll be the first to boom again.

 

[MikeTheNative]

Just buy now when you can afford, no point waiting for a better time as you could be waiting for ever.

 

[FortuitousFluke]

Recession is only a major issue if you view a house as an investment more than a home. People can broadly tell you that house prices are likely to rise over a long term but nobody can predict when a short term drop is likely to occur, ala 2008. I'd say buy as soon as you can safely do so, more money down on the mortgage less in the pockets of landlords.

 

[Glaucus]

Recession is only a major issue if you view a house as an investment more than a home. People can broadly tell you that house prices are likely to rise over a long term but nobody can predict when a short term drop is likely to occur, ala 2008. I'd say buy as soon as you can safely do so, more money down on the mortgage less in the pockets of landlords.

trouble is if you have to re-negotiate your mortgage in that blip and hence why so many repossessions. However, there's no crystal ball. Don't overextend yourself and fix for as long as possible especially with Brexit. Government will do everything they can to keep housing afloat but we already have extremely low-interest rates, but yeah waiting is generally a bad idea.
Im hoping to have a viewing this week when the developer bothers to phone me back with a time.

 

[FortuitousFluke]

trouble is if you have to re-negotiate your mortgage in that blip and hence why so many repossessions. However, there's no crystal ball. Don't overextend yourself and fix for as long as possible especially with Brexit. Government will do everything they can to keep housing afloat but we already have extremely low-interest rates, but yeah waiting is generally a bad idea.
Im hoping to have a viewing this week when the developer bothers to phone me back with a time.

Fair point, but it's akin to saying "I want to book a holiday to America for 18 months time, but can somebody tell me if there's likely to be a baggage handlers strike please". I think 2008 and previous recessions have shown that nobody really has a handle on the situation so all you can really do is make the decision based on your personal circumstances and not what you predict will happen in 6-24 months time.

I don't envy the OP though, getting a mortgage and buying my first house is up there with the most stressful things I've done.

 

[Glaucus]

Fair point, but it's akin to saying "I want to book a holiday to America for 18 months time, but can somebody tell me if there's likely to be a baggage handlers strike please". I think 2008 and previous recessions have shown that nobody really has a handle on the situation so all you can really do is make the decision based on your personal circumstances and not what you predict will happen in 6-24 months time.

I don't envy the OP though, getting a mortgage and buying my first house is up there with the most stressful things I've done.

which is why I said there's no crystal ball, however you can as I suggested it weight it in your favour, by not stretching yourself and fixing, plenty of 5 year fixed mortgages, it might cost more, but you know what you are paying and in 5 years Brexit will have ended and there will have been a few years for it to settle down.

 

[FortuitousFluke]

which is why I said there's no crystal ball, however you can as I suggested it weight it in your favour, by not stretching yourself and fixing, plenty of 5 year fixed mortgages, it might cost more, but you know what you are paying and in 5 years Brexit will have ended and there will have been a few years for it to settle down.

Absolutely, and I think I'd probably recommend this route for any of my friends who are looking to buy, gives you five years to build up a balance against the mortgage as a buffer against equity drops. I went for a 2 year fix when I bought but this was mainly due to a lack of other mortgages available (right at the beginning of help2buy equity loan scheme), would have much preferred a longer fix.

 

[TonyTurbo78]

We are in a very similar boar OP.

Myself and my wife have been looking for 6 months, we've always rented due to circumstances, we've saved a 40k deposit to put down on a first home, but we can't even find a property down here that warrants anywhere near the asking price, and when we offer what we realistically value the property at we get out bid every time and it's incredibly frustrating. The stumbling block is the houses down here are so over valued for what they are. Gone are the days it would seem where you could find a property with a lot of potential marked down because of the state its in and the amount of work needed. Even those properties now are unbelievably over valued and people seem to be wanting far to much money for everything. We are a little concerned about the period also, but both of us are not getting any younger, we want to start a family all be it very late in our life again because of circumstances, but we are just taking the plunge, we have to or we'll still be waiting watching the market this time next year.

We are currently in mid negotiations on a 3 bed property as we speak, had 2 offers rejected and the final offer we have just put in this morning is a grand over the budget we set ourselves, but we feel it's a needs must thing to get on the market with a pretty good 3 bed.

Frustrating time to be buying a property, I thought our wedding was stressful....that's nothing compared to looking for a home and getting a mortgage setup for a self employed person

 

[Jimmeh]

We can't even find a property down here that warrants anywhere near the asking price, and when we offer what we realistically value the property at we get out bid every time and it's incredibly frustrating. The stumbling block is the houses down here are so over valued for what they are. Gone are the days it would seem where you could find a property with a lot of potential marked down because of the state its in and the amount of work needed. Even those properties now are unbelievably over valued and people seem to be wanting far to much money for everything.

As far as an Estate Agent (and the general UK market) is concerned, a property is worth what people are willing to pay for it. So regardless of what you think house prices should be, if someone else putting in offers closer to the asking price, it's priced correctly.
It stinks, but the market has been like that for decades.

To the OP, there is never a right or wrong time to buy, if you're buying it as a home. If you're looking for a 3-5 year investment, tread carefully as we are in uncertain waters.

 

[Buffman]

We are in a very similar boar OP.

Myself and my wife have been looking for 6 months, we've always rented due to circumstances, we've saved a 40k deposit to put down on a first home, but we can't even find a property down here that warrants anywhere near the asking price, and when we offer what we realistically value the property at we get out bid every time and it's incredibly frustrating.

If you're repeatadly being outbid you're not willing to pay "market value" as such. Granted only you can weight up how much you want to pay for a place. (eg alternatively could move to a different location)