To buy or not to buy, that is the question

[Daggers]

A house.

Do we sell ours and trade up now, or wait for 12 months?

[lildave3]

A house.

Do we sell ours and trade up now, or wait for 12 months?

Took up my advice about moving to Stanton Under Bardon have you? I knew it.

[Zingari]

i always think that whatever time you choose to move , the property values are in the same financial market .

so unless you intend to trade up or down with a dramatically different value in the properties , it probably won't make much difference

sorry, but thats the best i can advise

[Master Fox]

Flip a coin, that's what i'm going to do.

But i won't buy another one. I'll rent somewhere. Want to leave plastic city

[hairy]

If your not moving area then its all relative so it makes little difference but why put off what you can do today.

[Benji]

upgrading yes downgrading no

[Daggers]

I'm figuring that if there's a 5-10% drop over the next 12 months - we win. 10% off a pricier property is worth a lot more to us than the 10% hit we'll take on our cheaper one.

[Flynny]

Could take about a year to sell with the market as it is anyway.

Might be wise to sell ASAP, rent for a year or two and then buy again in a few years when the market bottoms out again.

[Trav Le Bleu]

If you're simply moving family home it really doesn't matter since although you'll get less for your house, the house you buy will also be cheaper. It's only when you're buying a house as a pure investment (to refurb and sell, or rent out) that you stand to lose. If you can afford it, live somewhere you want to... unlike me

[Wycombe Fox]

Blimey! When I read the thread title I thought you were considering that Evening News shirt as sold by our resident eBay specialist dodgygeezer38, "but" had decided against it!

[Webbo]

My personal opinion, for what it's worth, is that you should buy as soon as possible. Who knows which way the market will go and while you're waiting to find out you're wasting money on rent.

Plus the fact can you trust yourself to leave the money from the sale untouched in the bank while you're waiting for prices to fall?

[sdb]

have you got a buyer?

if not then selling may be harder than you expect

[Daggers]

have you got a buyer?

if not then selling may be harder than you expect

I think we may find it relatively easy to sell simply because our place is entry level price - with the emphasis on relatively rather than the easy bit. We need to do a bit of tarting up to the place and I've got to get on the roof to repoint the chimney but then I think we'll throw it on the market and see what happens. Houses like this are in such short supply in this area of Brum.

It'll just be so bloody nice to move from this road of hell (err...and obviously by 'hell' I meant 'delight' if anyone is interested in the house) and get to an area where people don't park in my drive and have drunks threaten to fight you every time you walk to the corner shop.

[James.]

From conversations I've had it seems that larger houses are falling in value (or increasing in value at a lesser pace) than smaller houses which implies that it would be a good time to trade up.

It may be even more attractive in 6 months time though. However there are risks. Interest rates are unlikely to fall much further and with inflation increasing fairly rapidly (the official figures are bullshit) you may want to act sooner rather than later.

[Daggers]

From conversations I've had it seems that larger houses are falling in value (or increasing in value at a lesser pace) than smaller houses which implies that it would be a good time to trade up.

It may be even more attractive in 6 months time though. However there are risks. Interest rates are unlikely to fall much further and with inflation increasing fairly rapidly (the official figures are bullshit) you may want to act sooner rather than later.

Interest rates don't bother me that much TBH - it's no determinant beyond calculating affordability if the economy did a 1990's.

I'm thinking a four to six month timeline for completion anyway as it's going to take me at least a month to get off my arse and do the house up, and while I'm doing it I'll be praying for a full-scale crash.

[Master Fox]

Dave, can i come and live with you?

[Daggers]

Dave, can i come and live with you?

Do you play drums, guitar or keyboard?

[Master Fox]

Do you play drums, guitar or keyboard?

I play drums.

[Head Honcho]

A house.

Do we sell ours and trade up now, or wait for 12 months?

If you've made enough equity from your present house it doesn't matter when you move really does it-you can't lose either way.