Buy now or wait a year - cold feet

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sadie

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Posted here a while ago about having offer accepted on a house, the signing on which has been delayed due to planning etc. I thought we had got it at a good price back in Nov but come early April when the deal will close, it might not look like such good value. Now thinking we'd be better off waiting another year to buy, even if it means renting for a year at a cost of around 11k pa. It would be considerable hassle moving house again with 2 small kids (house we are in is going up for sale), but the upside is that we might get closer to our dream house than the one we have offer in on, for the same money or less if the downward trend continues. Our savings currently earn 6k or so interest per annum on deposit. I really want to avoid a situation where next Jan we are sitting in a house (little smaller than we'd like) looking out to a garden (very much smaller than we'd like), then seeing the house we really wanted but thought we couldn't afford suddenly become affordable.
 
May I ask if there are signed contracts exchanged.?? If so then it is only by agreement that you may withdraw. It sounds to me that you know that wish is to "get out" and the only issue now is how to achieve it with the least possible hassle ??
 
Nobody really knows for certain where house prices are going and there is no certainty with either option. But... you have to be sure that you are buying a house that you want. If you have doubts you should decide whether it is the price issue or something that doesn't feel right about the house.
Has the delay in purchase been the fault of the vendor? Otherwise I feel a bit sorry for them - thinking that the sale of their house has been agreed since Nov only to find it falling through now.
As the other poster said, a lot will depend on what stage you are at with the contracts on this house.
 
Just offer the vendor another 10% less? I bet they are praying that the sale will go through.
 
Sadie

On the other side of the coin - you could pull out of the purchase, house prices increase and you will be left renting, with only the funds to purchase a smaller house than the one you moved out of.

Paddy
 
We have only paid the estate agents refundable booking fee. No contracts ever were sent to our solicitors. The issue arose with a garage conversion needing planning permission which was never obtained, this was brought to our attention only 6 weeks after the offer was accepted and the applicable only lodged with the council 8 weeks after the offer was accepted. With the time for appeals the planning permission will only be final the end of March. So the delay lies entirely with the sellers. They accepted our offer on the basis that we were ready to move on it straightaway and the estate agent assured us that a 'normal' closing of 6 weeks or so would apply. To all intents and purposes it looks like the sellers really didn't expect to have to move that fast and had plans of their own about when they want to move.
 
Hi Sadie,

The first thing is that the vendors should have had their paperwork organised from the time they put the house up for sale, not having pp for the garage and so on - not good enough in my opinion. On saying that I'm a vendor at the moment and if someone came back to me and said I want to pull out of course I'd be annoyed. But I think you do have a leg to stand on as I think the Vendors in this case are being very laid back and given the current climate that is not the best way to be. If you are not sure about the house and feel it is only a stop gap I would look around at other houses you'd be surprised some of them have come down since you were last looking, especially if it is the dream house you are going to be living in for a good few years to come - you have to feel right about the house - not it will do for a few years.
 
afuera and xman

Read the Posting Guidelines.

If you cannot make a contribution to this thread without speculating about the future direction of house prices, then don't make any contribution.

Brendan
 
Brendan said:
afuera and xman

Read the Posting Guidelines.

If you cannot make a contribution to this thread without speculating about the future direction of house prices, then don't make any contribution.

Brendan
Click to expand...

You should have deleted the original question as inevitably this one was heading for the house price discussion instead of discarding peoples valuable contributions written in their own time. Xman's point was particularly good and if this is a financial advice website something like that should stand, he didn't go into any specifics.
 
Brendan said:
afuera and xman

Read the Posting Guidelines.

If you cannot make a contribution to this thread without speculating about the future direction of house prices, then don't make any contribution.

Brendan
Click to expand...

Hi Brendan,

My post was made in direct response to paddyodoors post in this thread.

But it seems one type of speculation is ok, while presenting an opposing view is not.

Maybe you should further refine your rules to reflect this?
 
I don't think this needs to be a house price question as the OP clearly has issues with the house that would lead to the question, if so much was not to your liking why did you put an offer on in the first place?. When your buying a family home,more than simple economics comes into play IMO. Remove the offer and look for a house that you want and don't try to second guess the market.
 
Well the OP does mention the "downward house price trend" in their post and if you read through it again it seems to me that the main worry is just this. As we are prohibited from discussing negatively future house price trends I think it it makes it impossible to answer the question on this forum.
 
Brendan said:
afuera and xman

Read the Posting Guidelines.

If you cannot make a contribution to this thread without speculating about the future direction of house prices, then don't make any contribution.

Brendan
Click to expand...
Brendan,
Mentioning the oversupply of property is relevant to the OP since it means that they currently have a greater amount of choice than they are possibly aware of. I made no attemt to bring speculation about future prices into the discussion (that was done by paddyodoors post which you have left unedited) so the removal of my post seems at odds with your guidelines. Are we not allowed talk about the increasing supply of property, statistical reports or any other fundamentals that show a weakening market either? If so, I suggest you update your guidelines to reflect it.
 

The angle I'm looking at is that the OP has said the house is smaller than he needs/wants and the garden is much smaller than he needs/wants, so to my mind he needs to revisit his choice of house regardless of any drops/hikes in house price.
 
The house was the best we could afford at the time on the modest single income available to us. It was the first house of that calibre to creep within our reach of affordability, I was so pleasantly surprised I jumped at it. Come next April and certainly next Dec it might not be the best we can get for the same money, that's all really. So the supply issue is relevant. Thanks for all the advice, will let you know what we decide.
 
Hi Sadie,

I don't think any of us have a glass ball to see in to the future and think what if, what if - live in the present and not in the future. You yourself have to make this decision and of course like anyone look for advice but speculating whether the market is going to fall further or rise is a risk that you alone are going to have to take. Best of luck with your decision, it is a home you will be buying afterall.
 
Brendan said:
afuera and xman

Read the Posting Guidelines.

If you cannot make a contribution to this thread without speculating about the future direction of house prices, then don't make any contribution.

Brendan
Click to expand...

It seems in that case the original question should be deleted, since the OP is basically asking will prices go up or down. Any answer to that question is prohibited, ergo it's pointless to ask the question here.

P.
 
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