Are many people ready to buy ?

dazberry

We went sale agreed mid-September, but sometimes houses for sale are not ready to be sold for various reasons and things have dragged on a bit, hope to close early Jan.

Like jethrothe2nd said, there were a number of factors that influenced the decision.

D.

Gwhizzz

I'm getting married next year so it makes sense for us to buy a bigger house for our family we hope to start. We currently own a smallish townhouse and will hopefully rent out for a few years until we can reduce the negative equity to an "acceptable" level. Trying to pay for the new mortgage and top up the rent to fund the original mortgage will be a struggle but luckily we're both working in fairly stable jobs. Should we wait another year that the government might do something about negative equity?i know we weren't forced to buy when we originally did but all our "protectors" had said this was the rational thing to do at the time

bobbysands81

Squall19 wrote: »

There are loads of retired or near retirement age civil servants like teachers, guards, local authority staff, esb staff etc with huge bank accounts ready to become future landlords I would imagine.

...but none of those you have highlighted are Civil Servants.

Never ceases to amaze me how folk will take a pop at something they know hardly anything about.

Mr. Loverman

Gwhizzz wrote: »

I'm getting married next year so it makes sense for us to buy a bigger house for our family we hope to start. We currently own a smallish townhouse and will hopefully rent out for a few years until we can reduce the negative equity to an "acceptable" level. Trying to pay for the new mortgage and top up the rent to fund the original mortgage will be a struggle but luckily we're both working in fairly stable jobs. Should we wait another year that the government might do something about negative equity?i know we weren't forced to buy when we originally did but all our "protectors" had said this was the rational thing to do at the time

Wait until your family is nearly due before you buy. This will be in 2-ish years, right? By waiting you will likely save yourself a fortune over the life of the mortgage.

I do have doubt though you will be able to get a second mortgage when you already have a mortgage with an "unacceptable“ level of negative equity.

By the way, don't listen to anyone who has a vested interest in you buying. This includes (but is not limited to) politicians, estate agents, banks, some newspapers, people selling, people who have just bought.

Mr. Loverman

bobbysands81 wrote: »

...but none of those you have highlighted are Civil Servants.

Never ceases to amaze me how folk will take a pop at something they know hardly anything about.

He used the wrong official phrase, so what? It doesn't detract from his meaning.

Newaglish

bobbysands81 wrote: »

...but none of those you have highlighted are Civil Servants.

Never ceases to amaze me how folk will take a pop at something they know hardly anything about.

Can you actually clarify the difference between civil and public servants? I do sometimes find the terms confusing although I would have thought local authority staff were civil servants

kildon

friends of mine are buying in 2012, they've agreed a price of 260, in the peak the same house was about 625, so they think they are getting a good deal, will be interesting to see if they have got the bottom price, a few other houses in the same estate looking for 360-390

spockety

Gwhizzz wrote: »

I'm getting married next year so it makes sense for us to buy a bigger house for our family we hope to start. We currently own a smallish townhouse and will hopefully rent out for a few years until we can reduce the negative equity to an "acceptable" level. Trying to pay for the new mortgage and top up the rent to fund the original mortgage will be a struggle but luckily we're both working in fairly stable jobs. Should we wait another year that the government might do something about negative equity?i know we weren't forced to buy when we originally did but all our "protectors" had said this was the rational thing to do at the time

I'm married, with one kid, and another on the way. We live in a very nice rented house. I'm afraid marriage and kids isn't a good enough reason for us to buy. The two things are in no way related. I'm not sure why anyone correlates the two?

Becoming a landlord, taking on a 2nd mortgage, and admittedly doing something which you say will be a "struggle"? I just don't get it at all.

If I were in your position I would re-think.

We'll buy, highly unlikely to be in 2012, possibly in 2013, more probably in 2014. The pressure is not to buy, the pressure is to buy at the right time and make the right decision. It's probably a one way ticket.

Glowing

Married and in my early 30's - currently renting and sitting on a deposit .. will hopefully find a house to buy in the next year or two but not in any mad rush. At this stage it's a case of finding the right house for the right price, as we'd be looking to buy in South Dublin, prices are still a wee bit inflated.
I think as long as there is a risk that any house we buy might depreciate annually by more than what we're paying in rent, then we'll hold off as long as we can and just keep saving.

Still ... I'd love to have my own home

Zane97

My next step is to get the. We house snagged

arikv

Learpholl wrote: »

Went Sale Agreed this week and will be closing within the next couple of weeks.

I know that prices are still dropping but I've been waiting for a about a year and a half now and viewing various houses that whole time and finally something became available in the ideal location for us that I could see myself living in for the rest of my life and I believe I've got a reasonably fair price so I'm going ahead with it despite knowing that the house will inevitably drop in value over the next year or so. We can afford quite comfortably afford the house now and if interest rates went up another 2-3% so bit the bullet despite knowing its not the best idea financially.

I did the same last year, bought in 05/2011 in South County Dublin in a place the suits me (not sure for how long), the property market took another nose dive since, and looking on Daft (I promised myself I won't do it again unless I have a genuine reason to do so) makes me almost cry.
I know I could have gotten something better/bigger near by now, but I still am happy with my choice as we like the area we're in, mortgage is lower than the rent we paid, and in the long run if we need to trade up (providing we can get some sort of savings again) even if prices stay low, the next house (if and when) will also be lower to reflect it.
One thing that I've noticed is that 4 bed semi, that are not much more expensive than 3 bed semis tend to keep their (asking) prices better over the last year and a bit, only a point in time, but I still thought it might be worth mentioning to you.