# Good time to buy?



## swiftshine (Apr 17, 2008)

I know this question has been asked fairly recently, but with interest rates now at 0.5% and the BofE going down the quantative easing route things are changing pretty quickly, so I thought it worth asking again:thumb:

Is now a good time to buy a house?

My gf and I want to move in together and she is in the process of selling her flat (2 weeks on the market and an offer at asking price already:thumb. So should we buy, or live in my rented house untill things get a bit more stable?

What does DW reckon?


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## Cliff (Mar 4, 2007)

I do the gas and plumbing work for a local estate agent and 2 weeks ago they said that the market had suddenly come alive. I think the housing market has hopefully gone past its worst.
There have also been a couple of long time hangers on sell around here in the last week.


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## APK (Oct 6, 2008)

I'm a mortgage broker, and certainly in Essex things are moving, it would seem the optimum time to have got a bargain was November, since just before Christmas first time buyers and bargain hunters have suddenly appeared.

I did a mortgage for a first time buyer last week, when she went to view she had to wait outside for 3 other people to view, and put in a bid at the asking price, which still was not accpeted immediately.

Things are starting to move, and what ever happens in the coming months, properties are certainly a lot cheaper than this time last year, about now is the time of year when the market traditionally picks up, but it has started early, so hopefully we are at the beginning of the end, once house prices stabilise, we will see confidence start to return, hopefully people will start spending again, and all will be rosy..............................well we can but hope!


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## PootleFlump (Jan 1, 2006)

My sister just bought a house that started at £250k for £175k and apparently that's a very good price, so definately some good deals out there.


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## Smarties (Mar 3, 2009)

Now is a good time like any other.. the interest rates which are low now will be extorsionate when times go back up. plus making people better off is making them think they have more money, then when it comes to paying up people will whine again about being skint.. 
If you have the money laying around then right now is a fantastic time to buy as house prices are so low, you'll make a mint when they go back up. This is better than saving, obviously your savings rates gone down with the borrowing rate which means putting that money into a house will earn more than your bank account when it's sold in a few years ;-)


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## Dixondmn (Oct 12, 2007)

just dont bite off more than you can chew, as low rates now will not ast for long. Its a tough call to say how bad things will get in future, but the banks will need to start making money again, so rates will shoot up once the lending process gets back on its feet


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## swiftshine (Apr 17, 2008)

Most rates are nowhere near BofE base rate though Not sure what the LIBoR is at just now, but it seems to me the banks are still making their pound of flesh, either through the rate or the arrangement fee:wall:


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## 1Valet PRO (Nov 2, 2005)

there really is no good or bad time to buy a house.

When i brough my first house i was have a similar chat. he said to me You buy a house to live in so choose a house you like. What ever happens in the finatial market in 10years from now your house will be worth more than you paid.

buy a house you would like to live in is really the only though that should go through your head. 

its worth checking the type of build though we looked at a house that had a steel frame but found it hard to get a mortgage on it because of the build and if we brought it we would have had to pay a higher interest because it was a steel frame. The lesson i lernd from that is that you may want to sell the house in the future. So the house we brought was based on would we like to live here, Build quality and could we sell it easly if we wanted too.


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## APK (Oct 6, 2008)

Had a meeting with Nationwide yesterday, word is they will be re-introducing 90% ltv mortgages soon, as they feel the market has now bottomed out, this certainly is borne out by my experiences, I feel november last year was the best time to buy, prices now are still good, but vendors are not accepting the "silly"offers. As 1valetpro says, you should be buying as a home first, but with an eye to being able to re-sell if necessary due to a change in circumstances.


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## bluevortex (Aug 10, 2007)

I'm in the process of moving house. We put or property on the market for a Fixed price £170K and 5 days after advertising we were made an offer for the full amount! Absolute result  

We have purchased a property for £240K which 12 months ago would have been going for around £260-270K so you can't argue with that! Yorkshire building society have provided me a 80.79% LTV mortgage fixed for 3 yrs at 5.29% and I believe this could have been up to 85% if needed. They have been nothing but helpful, turned around my loan offer within 1 week and kept me updated the whole way via text/email. I really can't rate them high enough - superb service (and no - I don't work for them!)

All in all what I thought would be a nightmare process has turned out to be an absolute breeze. I think now is a great time to buy a property :thumb:

And the best bit is you should see my new car detailing area at this property - and the cherry on the cake - the Mrs has authorised purchase of a new pressure washer up to £350 :detailer:

Blue


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## Mat430uk (Sep 17, 2007)

we moved in january and got 15% off orignal asking price in a desirable area where the houses in the past in the "boom" were going 5% in one case over asking


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## rak1 (Mar 31, 2008)

now is a great time to buy,we moved house over christmas,and managed to get 30 percent knocked off the asking price.we bought from barratts,and if you go in and show genuine interest and haggle hard.you will get a good deal not to mention a low interest mortage.very soon things will level out and home owners/house builders will stop lowering prices .so haggle hard and grab a bargain


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