Nervous about trading up

B

Brandy

Registered User
Messages
39
Happy New Year All.

Would love any advice on moving as I keep going backwards and forwards on my scenario.

I'm married with two kids living in a suburb of Cork. We have a combined salary of about €100k.

Our terraced house would go for €300k and we owe only about €55k.

I'd love something bigger but Cork prices have gone quite mad of late.

We were promised some funds from family which would have given a deposit, so we could sell later. But that hasn't materialised.

Should we just sell up and go for it or ride the storm for the next while.

Terrified of making a decision that we'll end up paying for in the long term.
Thanks

Brandy
 
If you can afford to trade up and if you need to trade up, then you should do so. No one can predict the future direction of house prices. There is a risk that if you wait, house prices will rise out of your reach. But that is counterbalanced by the risk that if you buy, house prices might fall. However, if you can afford your repayments, then so what?

There is no way to trade up without risk, but that should not put you off. You have to manage the risk as much as possible. Start by looking at houses you want to buy. Do you have much choice? Do your wife and you agree on what you want to buy. You will not be able to buy another house until you have sold your own. You may be able to do the sale of your house and the purchase of the new house on the same day, but that often does not work out. Can you time it for when you have friends on holidays in case you need a house for a few weeks between the sale and the purchase?

Brendan
 
Thanks for that Brendan.

I am the wife (sssh don't tell the husband I'm in here looking for advice!)

There's a bit of choice around at the moment, not much really.

This year my husband is thinking about starting his own business and working part time PAYE so I know there would be implications for a mortgage. I'm public sector permanent.

Would love to do a deal the same day but how does that work out.

To be honest we do need to trade up and could live with my parents nearby.

Thanks again.
 
Brandy said:
This year my husband is thinking about starting his own business and working part time PAYE
Click to expand...

Well that is a very good reason for trading up asap. You will find it difficult to get a mortgage until he is trading successfully for a few years, so if you don't do it now, you are going to have to wait. Of course, start up businesses are risky and you may have difficulty paying the mortgage. However, if it's a low LTV, you should be ok.

Make the decision. Put the house on the market. Start looking.

Get the move done and then let your husband decide what he wants to do on the self-employment front.

Brendan
 
Brandy said:
Thanks for that Brendan.

To be honest we do need to trade up and could live with my parents nearby.
Click to expand...

So, there you go, you've answered your own question. :)
Remember, the (main) cost of trading up is the difference between your own house sale and the purchase of the new house. If the cost of houses is going up, then you own house is worth more as well. To my mind, the biggest hit is when you buy your first house, after that it is just the difference in purchase/sale cost, which is more static.
For example, if houses fell in value overnight, your own house wouldn't be worth €300 any more, so you might be still paying the same difference, or close to it.

And, to paraphrase Brendan, life it too short, and every decision contains risk. Also, a new house may give you to opportunity to factor in your husbands possible business, having a home office, or a more advantageous location.

Also, when we sold our house, and bought another one, the sale/purchase was organised to happen on the same day, and went smoothly.
 
Thanks for that also.

It's true that the first is the most outlay. Our house was a private sale initially and there's a good bit of equity in it so we've been lucky with the initial purchase.

Life is too short indeed for small houses!
 
House prices will rise. House prices will fall. If you buy in a house that you like and you can afford the mortgage and you think you will be there for the long-term, then don't be worrying about what the future will bring when it comes to the housing market. No matter what happens, it will more than likely be worth more in 20 years than you will pay for it now. What happens in between is not all that important if you are living somewhere you want to be.
 
Don't forget you will need to budget about €15,000 for solicitors for buying and selling, auctioneers, stamp duty, land registry, and you will need to either store your furniture or have a bridging loan. I am going through the process at present and it rarely goes to plan
 
Last edited:
Thanks for that also.

I was looking at the online auctioneers just recently as they are cheaper and someone in my family is a letting agent and could do viewings so that will cut down costs a bit.

There is a definite cost to it alright but if it gives us more space, that’s what you’ve got to do I guess.
 
JohnJay said:
House prices will rise. House prices will fall. If you buy in a house that you like and you can afford the mortgage and you think you will be there for the long-term, then don't be worrying about what the future will bring when it comes to the housing market.
Click to expand...

All very true also. I’ve been wrapped up in daft and what’s going on around us and scared to make the move. I’ve been going on about moving for years (no joke!) and we need to now as kids are getting a bit older etc.
 
Brandy said:
...
Life is too short indeed for small houses!
Click to expand...

As someone who recently did it, thought I'd weigh in here. We don't regret moving into a bigger place for a moment. It's something we appreciate all the time, and especially so when having people over, or at Xmas when family stayed and we weren't on top of one another.

In terms of buying & selling, we were fortunate to have a number of bidders for our old place, and as a result, we had the option to accept an offer from the guy who wasn't in a chain. It wasn't the highest bid, but was more valuable to us as it reduced the likelihood of things going awry. It worked too, with both the sale of our old place and purchase of the new on the same day, though I'm pretty fastidious when it comes to these things, and had had plenty of interaction with the estate agent, solicitor and bank to make sure everything was in order.

Best of luck with your own decision.
 
Same area
cliqueentour said:
Where are you looking to move to?
Click to expand...

We’d like to stay in the same area as we’re very happy here. Ideally Blackrock/Ballinlough/ Douglas.

It’s the “having no seats/ place to sit when people come round” that drives me mad!
 
Brandy said:
Same area


We’d like to stay in the same area as we’re very happy here. Ideally Blackrock/Ballinlough/ Douglas.

It’s the “having no seats/ place to sit when people come round” that drives me mad!
Click to expand...

In those areas you are easily looking at €500k + for a good sized detached house.
 
Yep semi-d all the way. It can be 6+ sometimes, quite a bit out of our league.

Have made an appointment with the bank so I’m on my way.

So ideally for the same day thing you’re ideally looking for someone who is chain free and to keep on top of the bank/ solicitors etc.

If that is the case that will definitely be something I’ll be looking out for in the future.
 
Last edited:
Brandy said:
It’s the “having no seats/ place to sit when people come round” that drives me mad!
Click to expand...

Hi Brandy,

Would you be able to make your current house work by knocking a wall or even extending etc? Could be a lot cheaper than moving.

With a mortgage of only 55k and your husband venturing into a new business, I think I would be staying put if I could at all.

Firefly.
 
Indeed Firefly, I could stay put but I have extended, opened the driveway and landscaped the garden.

We even have an (open) “office” under the stairs.

There’s one bathroom between the four of us. Every room is occupied and used to it’s capacity.

I just don’t feel like ploughing any more money into this house and would love a fresh start.

I’ve been a good girl, in the eyes of the bank, paying off more mortgage etc but to date, nothing has changed for us and kids are getting bigger etc.

I am appreciative of everyone’s advice tho - it’s great that it’s so impartial.
 
Brandy said:
Indeed Firefly, I could stay put but I have extended, opened the driveway and landscaped the garden.

We even have an (open) “office” under the stairs.

There’s one bathroom between the four of us. Every room is occupied and used to it’s capacity.

I just don’t feel like ploughing any more money into this house and would love a fresh start.

I’ve been a good girl, in the eyes of the bank, paying off more mortgage etc but to date, nothing has changed for us and kids are getting bigger etc.

I am appreciative of everyone’s advice tho - it’s great that it’s so impartial.
Click to expand...
We'll, decision made I think! Best of luck with everything!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top