Is now the right time to buy a house?

[mancitymick]

Thought I'd bump this.

Have a 10k deposit but trying to bump this up to 15k as it gives me access to lower interest rates, higher mortgage.

I think I'd like to buy a new build. Guess there are pros and cons to it. Just on the first step but quite excited about it.

Dont get a new build. Yes, it is great that you are the first to live in it and nicely decorated however they are a lot smaller in side. Also with a older house you can do research on the area. Crime etc, drive around in the evening and see what the neighbour hood is like and also get a feel for what your new neighbours are like. You dont get that with a new build

What? A new build is smaller? What if its bigger though? Bit of a strange statement really.

A new build is also in an area with crime rates and the like. You don't get to see what your neighbours are like with a new build or an existing house either. How you going to know that??

First hand. I had a new build. A 3 bed Semi, compare it with a lets say 1960's Semi big difference in size. I also mean by a new build nobody knows anyone. If you go to an area you know there are enough websites about that can go in detail about crime on that street etc. A lot of the houses / Flats on the one i was on were bought for the rental market. I had plenty of problems

 

[johnmc]

Dont get a new build. Yes, it is great that you are the first to live in it and nicely decorated however they are a lot smaller in side. Also with a older house you can do research on the area. Crime etc, drive around in the evening and see what the neighbour hood is like and also get a feel for what your new neighbours are like. You dont get that with a new build

What? A new build is smaller? What if its bigger though? Bit of a strange statement really.

A new build is also in an area with crime rates and the like. You don't get to see what your neighbours are like with a new build or an existing house either. How you going to know that??

First hand. I had a new build. A 3 bed Semi, compare it with a lets say 1960's Semi big difference in size. I also mean by a new build nobody knows anyone. If you go to an area you know there are enough websites about that can go in detail about crime on that street etc. A lot of the houses / Flats on the one i was on were bought for the rental market. I had plenty of problems

There isn't a standard size is there for 1960's semis. There will be plenty of new 3 bed semis bigger than average and plenty smaller.

You are going of your one experience of a new build.

 

[kinkysleftfoot]

It's never a wrong time

 

[Thaksins Love Child]

Thought I'd bump this.

Have a 10k deposit but trying to bump this up to 15k as it gives me access to lower interest rates, higher mortgage.

I think I'd like to buy a new build. Guess there are pros and cons to it. Just on the first step but quite excited about it.

Its defiantly worth getting the biggest deposit you can, I'm around the 30 - 35% deposit area but only because the bank won't lend me much since I'm self-employed and a first time buyer.

What makes you want a new build?

I rent a flat/apartment on a new estate in Audenshaw, have been there for 12 months. Lots of nice houses on there, nice area, decent people, very quiet, no trouble etc.

I guess I'd expect a new build on any new estate to be the same although it's not guaranteed.

Also the fact that you aren't inheriting any hidden or known issues with the place. I know I need to do more research into the pros and cons.

 

[Anonymous]

About 30 fucking years ago was the best time money wise

I bought my first house 30 years ago well paid off .
Now is a good time buyers market

It has been a buyers market over the lasts three or four years , not so sure it is now ..... house prices have recently risen all over the place.

 

[mcfcphil]

Thought I'd bump this.

Have a 10k deposit but trying to bump this up to 15k as it gives me access to lower interest rates, higher mortgage.

I think I'd like to buy a new build. Guess there are pros and cons to it. Just on the first step but quite excited about it.

Just moved into a new build (first time buyer) and i can't recommend it highly enough. People saying they aren't as big is a bit daft because houses come in different sizes. What i will say is that the design of them makes the absolute best use of the space available whether your house is a mansion or a semi.
Bit of a heads up - this is our first house and we took advantage of a gifted deposit scheme by bellway. This is exactly what it says - a gift - and you don't have to pay it back or anything. So we put down 15% and bellway put down 5%.
Whether the developer artificially inflated the asking price by 5% is open to debate (I don't think they did) but it did mean that in the eyes of our mortgage company our deposit was 20% rather than 15% which meant we got a far, far better mortgage. Only certain lenders accept gifted deposits so you'll have to look around but we went with nationwide so they obviously do.
We're now paying less a month than we would have been doing if we bought a "second hand" house for less money.
So far, touch wood, Bellway have been absolutely faultless. Inevitable a couple of teething problems but they've been put right immediately without any fuss whatsoever.
It's each to his own really but if you're thinking of buying a new house then from my experience you can't go wrong.

 

[Blue Maverick]

Housing market must be picking up Location, location, location is back on the TV as is Grand Designs and Sarah Beeney and her big bangers as well.

 

[another generation]

Scrolled down too fast and read it as 'hearse'. Must be the change of career...

 

[Chancy Termites]

Wow I'm shocked at everyone saying "yes, buy a house now". Since the last Labour government destroyed the world financial markets they, and the current government, have been going out of their way to prop up house prices by keeping interest rates at unsupportably low rates, giving direct subsidies to new buyers and huge bailouts to lenders.

Make no mistake though, they can't keep it up forever. They will run out of our money to spend on the subsidies (well OK that happened years ago) and market forces will win the day eventually. Interest rates have to go up sooner or later and when they do, they could (and in my view probably will) rise very quickly indeed. Interest rates are only partly linked to the UK economy - they are influenced just as much, or maybe even more by other countries' interest rates and it looks likely that others, particularly the US, will be increasing theirs soon and ours will have to follow suit. If (when) inflation gets out of control, then they will have to go up substantially. All the subsidies to borrowers are being paid for by government borrowing anyway and one day we will have to bring our public finances under control.

So in a nutshell, now is the worst time to buy a house for a few decades. If you do, your mortgage payments are going to spiral out of control while the value of your house drops like a stone. Do you really want a £100,000 mortgage at 9% so you can live in a house worth £60,000?

 

[tueartsboots]

All depends on area, we've just renegotiated a fixed rate from 4.8 down 2.1% we have a 112,000 mortgage on a house worth £400.000 [2 bed Victorian Half House] we paid £294.000 4 years ago