About to Buy - Getting Cold Feet!

mathie

ricman wrote: »

IN a years time, we,ll know can spain ,portugal can be rescued ,is the euro stable.I EXPECT 20-30 PER CENT DROP in prices in the next year , those countrys have a banking crisis like ireland,banks lent too much to many people,and house prices have declined.They are in a similar situation to ireland.

Can you tell me who wins this years premier league?

The_Conductor

mathie wrote: »

Can you tell me who wins this years premier league?

Thats easy. Chelsea.....

The_Conductor

ricman wrote: »

IN a years time, we,ll know can spain ,portugal can be rescued ,is the euro stable.I EXPECT 20-30 PER CENT DROP in prices in the next year , those countrys have a banking crisis like ireland,banks lent too much to many people,and house prices have declined.They are in a similar situation to ireland.

On what basis are you predicting a 20-30% drop in prices in the next year? Purely on a purchasing parity basis- the fall in Irish houseprices, is already the steepest in the world (at over 60% from peak).

Spain and Portugal do not have banking crisis like Ireland- even the Portuguese problem is less than 45% as severe as the Irish issue. In an Irish context- Irish banks borrowed over 160 billion in overnight lending from the ECB- representing over 20% of ECB lending, despite the fact that we are less than 1% of the Eurozone economy. Is it any wonder the ECB got skittish with us?

Further- the issue in Portugal and Spain is local banks lent internationally- which is almost the polar opposite of the Irish situation.

I do predict substantial continued falls in prices here- but on the basis of the ECB increasing interest rates- and with the end of cheap working capital for the banks (they were getting ECB overnight rates of 1.5%, which will now be replaced with bailout funds at 5.5%) totally aside from increases in ECB base rates- Irish rates will soar, and it will be incredibly expensive to borrow new funds......

With first time buyers essentially frozen from the market- pre-existing owners will be sellers only if they have no other option, particularly as ECB rates increase........

Like it or lump it, we are in for a rocky ride over the next 10-15 years........

chicken fingers

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

it would be nice to have a house that we can call our own.

You could call it your own, but you would be only codding yourself.
Only when the last payment is made in 10-25 years it will be yours.

This is the Irish obsession with owning their own place [not a bad thing per se].
But don´t let it cloud your judgement.
135k is not a huge amount to spend on a house, true, but the arguments [here on boards] for buying now are always the same.
Based on personal emotions rather than logical economics or business acumen.

X files

Thanks guys between this and the cold weather expect more to be digging and burning peat this winter.
Still the best country to live in.
Watching Cowan on the TV, it seems to me he is still out of touch with reality and cant actually grasp the figures involved.
Hearing that the Anglo Irish Bank is going to take years to wind up not just 3 months is scary.

Tea drinker

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

I feel time is against me too as at 33 the number of years I can take a mortgage for is getting less each year (not a bad thing some would say!). I'm prepared to lose some value in the house but I don't mind this to some degree as it'd be nice to finally have the ability to decorate it the way we want, to have a garden to grow things, to keep a pet and of course to start thinking about a child.

Taking into account that last paragraph in particular what would your advice be? Keep renting or buy.

Friend, do not put off having a child because of the house. We did this for a few years but nature intervened to take away our chance of having kids. Imagine how I feel about FF and property developers :mad::mad::mad:
OP - you are not defined by home ownership, this time next year you could be living abroad.

foxy06

I agree with tea drinker. Don't put off having kids just because you are not a homeowner. If you can afford them while renting then have them and enjoy them. Life is too short.

ricardo1

OP Why don't you bargain again with the seller or have you even bargained at all?
Listen to what everyone is saying.
Prices will drop another 20%.
Even Estate Agents believe this will be the case.
The people who influenced prices in the property market, the banks, are going to shrink hence less finance from less banks. Higher interest rates. There's only one place where the market price is going ie down down down....
Trust me you have cold feet well the sellers are scared stiff they'll be unable to sell this house.
Wait a number of weeks
Wait for them to contact you
Explain you've had to refinance
And break the bad news
Cut 20% off the 240,000 and say this is all you can get from the bank
You've nothing to lose....
By the way your solicitor may just want the transaction to go ahead and get paid so they're not the best to ask in this situation.
Good luck

Lauren27 wrote: »

Put a booking deposit on house about 2 months ago, just at the stage now where Engineer report is in everything is in order, next move is contracts to be signed however with all that has gone on especially in the last couple of weeks we feel uncertain whether buying now is the right move:

House €240k
House mortgage will be €200k
Putting down €40k
Both earn €60k combined annually

Taking into consideration income tax cuts, new property taxes etc should we hold off for another year or two... Anyone in the same boat...

We are entitled to our booking deposit back I'm sure, we'll just have the cost of our Solicitor up to now... We really do not know what to do.. have to decide in the next week..

Any advice/professional expertise greatly appreciated!

davymc31

id tell the auctioneer that you have to pull out of sale as both your wages are dropping a few thousand after christmas and tell him all you can offer for house is €200000 and see hows that goes ,dont be suprised if he accepts the €200000 as they have houses inflated by about that much i know for a fact ,you can sit back and wait till they accept then it will be a bargin that u need at this time ,if they dont then keep trying.if they value house at 240000 its only worth 200000.

quietsailor

Lauren27 wrote: »

Put a booking deposit on house about 2 months ago, just at the stage now where Engineer report is in everything is in order, next move is contracts to be signed however with all that has gone on especially in the last couple of weeks we feel uncertain whether buying now is the right move:

House €240k
House mortgage will be €200k
Putting down €40k
Both earn €60k combined annually

Taking into consideration income tax cuts, new property taxes etc should we hold off for another year or two... Anyone in the same boat...

We are entitled to our booking deposit back I'm sure, we'll just have the cost of our Solicitor up to now... We really do not know what to do.. have to decide in the next week..

Any advice/professional expertise greatly appreciated!

OP I don't understsand the bolded sentence above, you signed a contract and paid a deposit with the contract stating (I presume) that you lose your deposit if you pull out without good reason - eg engineers report highlighting a fault, false advertising. I don't think "cold feet" comes under the reasons for breaking a contract as the law sees it.

Saying that even if you were to loose your deposit I would agree with the other posters, hold off and wait to see the bottom of the market.

I'm still confused how you think you can break a contract and get your money back

3DataModem

quietsailor wrote: »

OP I don't understsand the bolded sentence above, you signed a contract and paid a deposit with the contract stating (I presume) that you lose your deposit if you pull out without good reason - eg engineers report highlighting a fault, false advertising. I don't think "cold feet" comes under the reasons for breaking a contract as the law sees it.

Saying that even if you were to loose your deposit I would agree with the other posters, hold off and wait to see the bottom of the market.

I'm still confused how you think you can break a contract and get your money back

Read OP again. Didn't sign contract yet.

ricman

How do you feel,in a years time, if house is worth 160k .you are in negative equity.
some experts predict further property value falls in 2011.especially outside dublin.
I,M not an expert ,i,d advise you to pull out or offer 175k.
ALL the legal work is not done, you,ll have to pay solicitor, x amount, not the full fee.
its not a matter of will,prices, decline,its by how much?

quietsailor

3DataModem wrote: »

Read OP again. Didn't sign contract yet.

Isn't handing in a deposit considered a form of contract, tbh I can't see the vendor/estate agent handing back that deposit too quickly. Why would they - the OP indicated they wanted to buy, its not the vendors fault the OP gets cold feet. Never the less I'd still back out myself and rent somewhere while you wait to see if/how much house prices will drop further.

Leiva

Bet the OP is a happy man , just saved a shoite load of money with the new stamp duty .

Now only €2400 for this house in particular .

Delighted for you ( thats if you decide to proceed with purchase)

M

EDIT: AHHH crap think he is a FTB which means an extra €2400

BostonB

Any update on this thread? Have to say unless its was in a location you won't get again, I wouldn't be rushing to buy any property at the moment.

bugler

quietsailor wrote: »

Isn't handing in a deposit considered a form of contract, tbh I can't see the vendor/estate agent handing back that deposit too quickly. Why would they - the OP indicated they wanted to buy, its not the vendors fault the OP gets cold feet. Never the less I'd still back out myself and rent somewhere while you wait to see if/how much house prices will drop further.

The deposit is refundable unless contracts have been signed.

mathie

bugler wrote: »

The deposit is refundable unless contracts have been signed.

A lad in work had a nice present of a few quid less in stamp duty as he delayed close until the budget

edanto

OP - there's certainly a consensus on the thread that now is the wrong time to buy.

For me though, now is the right time to buy and we've gone sale agreed. Some of our reasons may apply to your situation, and other won't. Ultimately, the main piece of advice is that your own set of factors will tell you when it is time for you to buy a house; and that combination of factors is unique to each person/couple.

For us... the reasons are:

- there is literally nobody else buying houses at the moment, which gives the us, as buyers, a very rare negotiating strength

- I have had a steady job for the past few years, and as such can get a mortgage now. However, over the next few years, I'll become more self-employed. I've no worries about not being able to earn enough to pay the mortgage, more a concern that the bank won't give me a mortgage without what looks like stable employment

- I think that the asking prices of the houses that we are looking at will fall by another 10-15% until the bottom of the market. However, because of the lack of interest from other buyers, we were able to make a deal at 15% below asking, so I feel like I've already achieved the price that other people will be getting in 18 months time, but in that time I will have paid off a bit of my mortgage

- the area that we are looking in is one of those most likely to rebound first (leafy suburbs), and attract other buyers, so now is a better time to buy in that area than in somewhere less likely to rebound (e.g rural estate outside a small town)

- if we want to get any building/extension work done over the next 2/3 years, it will be cheaper now than at any other time

For all of those reasons, it's a good time for me to buy. Sure, the house next door to my new house may sell for a little less than mine over the next 3-4 years. But I'm fine with that, I've no intention of selling it for many, many years.

I'm going back to packing boxes!