ouande

Great post! I'm a 32 year old cash FTB and bought in Feb in BH2 at around late 2003 price. Possibly not the best time to buy but my (and my partners) quality of life have increased immeasurably. There is no stamp duty at the moment and eventually with a bit of peristence vendors are talked down. If house prices fall 20% then i'm 35K-40K worse off (for the nanosecond that house prices are at the bottom), but I am saving >8K a year in rent and lets be honest, the worlds population is going to double by 2040 so houses are never really going to be a bad bet long term, particularly in nice areas, which Bournemouth is. I have no intention on moving (ever), just renting it out for periods if work takes us elsewhere. If the market bottoms significantly lower, we'll just take out a mortgage on the deposit we have saved up since our purchase and buy a property for investment. I love this forum, appreciate the knowledge and experience of conributers, but it is massively one sided. I read one thread the other day where posters were seeing conspiracies and motives in articles which simply did not exist (at least in my mind). At times it appears posters are going to extreme lengths to trawl up negative info on the housing market, just to post on this board. The internet is a big resource, you can pretty much find anything you want to support your point of view if you look long and hard enough. Everybody can make more money if they wait, and wait, and wait but the fact of the matter is that we are only in this world for a very short time.

Just turned 34, girlfriend just turned 30. Been together 11 years Salaries approx 48K each Joint savings 190K I live in a house share, she lives in work accomodation. Bloody depressing, half my life has gone just waiting to buy a house at a reasonable price. Made redundant this month, managed to get another job within 2 weeks - I feel massively sorry for new graduates. It was difficult enough when i graduated. Sod the house, having a bit of savings gives you choices and makes life a lot less stressfull.

Thanks for the comments. It's my first post so apologies if 'translucent' but I thought it was a genuine question. I realise there is a lot of info, but it's not like you can identify me!!! Buying costs are mostly absorbed (for one reason or another) and selling costs would be absorbed by employer (relocation) so I am not overly concerned about this. I'm not sure about the stock market option, personally I think the safest bet if thnking about it in this regard is to plough all the money back into paying off the mortgage. The stock market is a risky place to put your entire future (particularly at the moment). I would be looking at a 10 year mortgage anyway.

It would be greatly appreciated if any advice could be given as to whether I should proceed with a purchase of this house. My situation: FTB 50% deposit on house purchase of 170K Other investments of 25K as 'backup' in case of unemployment. Both myself & partner in employment (average chances of redundancy). House valued at 237,000 less than 1 year ago. Current estimated value (average of Zoopla & Nationwide caluculator & my knowledge of area) = 188K-190K Likely savings by purchasing this year rather than next (stamp duty, rent saved, mortgage deals etc..) = 9K True value of property to me (170-9) = 161K. Thus price reduction from approximate peak of 237 = 32%. Very unlikely to ever be able to buy exactly at market bottom thus 32% guaranteed saving probably equates to a 35% fall. I anticipate prices to drop 40% thus potential 'maximum' losses are 5% = 8.5K. Not neccessarily going to live in the house long terms (minimum 12 months, max 4 years) but would be happy to rent following that period. Am 32 years old, and both myself and partner would like to buy as we have been renting for many years. I was proceeding but have recently delayed after reading this forum!!! What do ya think!!!