Going to buy a house in Ireland right now - am I nuts?

Victor

HelterSkelter wrote:

Erm, probably the simple little matter that he might get the house for 20, or 30 or 40K cheaper if he waits. It's not small change you know.

But it risks having to pay that 20, or 30 or 40K in interest.

DublinWriter

Just watching Biffo on Q&A right now, restating some of the issues that we already said, that a reduction in stamp duty is a side issue, it will be absorbed by the builders and that the opposition are gambling with the economy.

Freddie_hobbs

iguana wrote:

I could be wrong, but I get the impression that you are buying in Raheen. If you are then tbh, that is an area I wouldn't touch with a barge-pole right now for a number of reasons.

I'm not looking at Raheen.

gurramok wrote:

If 1 or 2 interest rate hikes have you stretched to the limit, why would everyone else not be in the same position as you say for many your age?

What I said was "I would take the hit of one or two interest rate hikes at most" - I didn't mean this was my limit but instead I meant that if there were any more than two interest rate hikes while I was waiting it would make the "wait and see" tactic a mistake.

mortimer33

DublinWriter wrote:

Just watching Biffo on Q&A right now, restating some of the issues that we already said, that a reduction in stamp duty is a side issue, it will be absorbed by the builders and that the opposition are gambling with the economy.

Don't understand the big fuss about abolishing Stamp Duty for first time buyers. Correct me if I'm wrong but can't first time buyers avoid paying stamp duty by buying new builds?

johnnyskeleton

smccarrick wrote:

I'm not saying that its crazy to purchase property in the current market- just that you need to sit down with all the information and only when you have all the information make an informed decision that you can afford (financially) to live with, come what may.

For me this is the nub of the argument. The important thing to take from all the scaremongering is not to guess what your house will be worth, because even the people who guarantee that prices will go down, can never be 100% certain. Instead, I hope people are finally reading the small print in mortgage adds, which usually says things along the lines of "a 0.5% increase in interest rates will add an extra €100 to your monthly repayment" or whatever. They also say, and this is very important, "if you do not keep up repayment you will loose your home". For the last few years people have ignored this very prudent advice because of the belief that property will always go up and up, and if they can't afford the repayments, they can always sell up and make a tidy profit. They were even encouraged to think so by the banks, who acted as if all the financial warnings were nothing more than a mere formality.

So, while prices might go up or down (in my view down), if people had not ignored the small print we might not be in the situation we are in now. The only way a soft landing could, in my view, happen is where everybody suddenly became prudent, sensible purchasers. Sadly, I think it is a bit too late for that to happen.

johnnyskeleton

mortimer33 wrote:

Don't understand the big fuss about abolishing Stamp Duty for first time buyers. Correct me if I'm wrong but can't first time buyers avoid paying stamp duty by buying new builds?

Up to a generous size (I think it's 125m2) and for second hand homes it's up to €317,500. In either case most FTBs don't need/can't afford anything near limits.

HelterSkelter

Freddie_hobbs wrote:

If there aren't definite signs of price drops then I'm not so sure.

Check out this site for some definite signs!!
http://www.irishpropertywatch.com/

Freddie_hobbs

HelterSkelter wrote:

Freddie Hobbs wrote:

If there aren't definite signs of price drops then I'm not so sure.

Check out this site for some definite signs!!
http://www.irishpropertywatch.com/

Sorry I should have been clearer in what I meant to say which was: if there aren't further house drops over the course of the year it won't be worth it to wait and see. Fair enough there are drops at the moment, but nobody knows if this is just an initial reaction to the uncertainty at the moment or if its going to be the trend for the next two years....

The_Conductor

Freddie_hobbs wrote:

Sorry I should have been clearer in what I meant to say which was: if there aren't further house drops over the course of the year it won't be worth it to wait and see. Fair enough there are drops at the moment, but nobody knows if this is just an initial reaction to the uncertainty at the moment or if its going to be the trend for the next two years....

Well, whatever about uncertainty in the market place, there are 2 interest rate rises predicted between now and October- which will knock 60k off everyone's borrowing capacity. That alone should be reason to expect further falls. Brian Cowen also put some very persuasive arguments in favour of leaving stamp-duty as-is, rather than reforming it- so the second hand market is probably not going to get much impetus after the election. A lot of the larger estate agents have sold themselves to UK multinationals......... writing on wall?