To buy or wait ..

elmoie

Hi all,

I know there is no clear answer to this question as there is a lot going on at the moment with potential recession coming, interest rate hikes, not enough property being built etc ... I am trying to get my head around it all but I only have a limited understanding hence wanted to get your input / view on buying property at the moment ..

I got AIP last month hence have deposit saved up. I am currently renting but mid 30's hence kind of ready to move on with my life a bit and would like to own a property I can put my stamp on. I have no major life events coming up e.g no kids or marriage (do not see myself ever having kids) - hence I am not under pressure to move. Ideally I would like to buy small house (not apt) close enough to city centre, 2 bed so I can rent out the other room if I need.

What do people think is the best thing to do, wait till later this year and see what the impact of the above items are on house prices or go ahead and try to buy before the oncoming interest rate hikes ?

Allinall

Buy now if you can ( and really want to).

Trying to second guess the market is a fools game.

Claw Hammer

How far have you gone with looking at property? Have you settled on a location, property type? Have you considered the issues around refurbishment or otherwise? Have you viewed property similar to one you would like to buy?

You can buy anything until you have the leg work done

elmoie

Hey @Clawhammer - thanks for the questions - So i have a a few areas in mind that I have narrowed my search to and know I would like to live in. The property as well I have a decent idea what is realistic for the price and area... i have only done about ~6 viewings but then stopped as said I needed to think about this a bit more logically as opposed to falling in love with a place and just trying to buy it at any price (hence getting input from boards) ..

I did see one place that would need to be refurbished but to be honest I know very little about this so def need to do more research e.g if you see a place and you are thinking of refurbishment do you engage with a quantity surveyor to get cost estimate or go to a builder for estimate - also assuming it is near impossoable to get builders currently 🤯

RichardAnd

If you get the right house, buy now. If you wait, you may get lucky and find yourself in a market that favours buyers, but you could easily find that prices continue to rise, and you have lost time. I bought a house last year as, at 36, I felt that my time was running out. Will I end up regretting that decision, well we'll see, but I can tell you that doing nothing is still a decision, and it's often a bad one.

Keep your eyes on the market, go to viewings and see what happens. Don't throw away an opportunity just because a better one MAY arrive later on.

Good luck :)

JohnnyChimpo

Once you pass 35 the length of mortgage a bank will be willing to give you decreases, don't think you'll be best served by waiting tbh

quokula

It may take a year or more to find the right property and win the bid on it anyway so just keep looking. At some point you'll find the right place and you should go for it whenever that is.

Mr Hindley

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120270569#Comment_120270569

Well, I'm 48, and I've just been offered a mortgage running until I'm 70... I intend to pay it off before then, but I wouldn't be panicking age 35 just yet... Although if you assume 25 years to pay off the mortgage, then by age 40, it definitely becomes a consideration.

JohnnyChimpo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120272545#Comment_120272545

I didn't say panic, just giving the facts that mortgages are limited by a hard cutoff of repayment by 70. It's nice that you have the means to repay in 22 years, but afaik more than half of all Irish mortgages go for the maximum term, which gives a lot more flexibility for changing circumstances. I guess that average repayment length may be reducing now due to necessity as the average age of FTBs creeps up constantly.

elmoie

Thanks all for the feedback and sound advice.

One more question to something I mentioned earlier if anyone could help, I did see one place that would need to be refurbished but how do I go about getting a cost estimate for the work ? (there is a house down the street that was recently renovated hence would mainly want to duplicate what they did)

Do i engage with a quantity surveyor to get cost estimate or go to a builder for estimate ?

The Spider

Dunno I wouldn’t be relying on a recession, it may come but all indicators are Ireland will avoid it, but who knows? What we do know is that there’s 4% unemployment we’re at full employment anyone who wants a job can get one, and we are seriously short on housing stock.

side note I know of a few people who’ve tried to time the market and sold properties and decided to rent and wait but now the prices have gotten away from them and they are in an absolute panic about the whole situation, they were basing their decisions on the last crash, however then there was an oversupply of housing that doesn’t apply this time around.

Conrad89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120274549#Comment_120274549

We bought a doer upper in mid 2021. In order to secure renovation funds on top of our mortgage we had to get a cost estimate for the proposed work from a quantity surveyor. It cost around €1,500 for the work. It was very detailed and the bank was happy to put aside renovation funds available for drawdown when we needed it. However, at the time we were not clear on what we wanted to do with the house as we didn't own it, so it was very much a guesstimate on the plans and cost. The plans changed significantly when we owned the house and had an opportunity to get an architect to look at it.

Id recommend if you know a builder for them to have a quick look, give you an idea of the cost and work from there. If you have a clear plan (like the neighbours plans) this makes it easier. A Quantity Surveyor might take some time to give you a figure as they would be get into the details and would obviously involve paying professional fees. Pros and Cons to both approaches with the added complexity of not owning the house ... yet. :)

Others here might have a different (maybe better informed) view as I am still getting my head around the steps/processes involved in renovating a house.

rob316

If you can afford the mortgage repayment even with rising rates, go for it. You are throwing money away renting and in a position to buy. There is no large drops or crash coming so don't be waiting.

ThreeGreens

I'm not offering any financial advice.

But as someone else said, taking no decision, is a decision in itself.

Take the following into account. Let's suppose up buy a 2 bed property and rent out 1 room.

In Dublin City centre, you might get in the region of €10K pa for that room.

If you are renting your own place at present, you might be paying €20Kpa.

So if you bought the property AND prices fell by €30K, you'd still be break even. You'd have €10K tax free in your bank account from the rental income and you'd have saved €20K in rent (which has been used to reduce your mortgage).