Selling in Ireland and buying in UK

Hannaho

I'm currently awaiting my rental property to be vacated in next coupole of weeks. Working 3 days a week in UK, and one of my chidlren wants to go to college there. What are people's advice on buying at this time in UK, given all the Brexit mess. I am looking to buy around greater Manchester area - also considering parts of the Wirral near West Kirby/Hoylake. Prices there do not seem to be affected by Brexit, i.e. they are not going down, as people move from London to cheaper areas - estate agents have confirmed this - nervous about buying, and would welcome any advice.

IamtheWalrus

As long as you’re buying within your means and you feel you need the new property, I say go for it. You’re right; most of non-London property actually rose this past year. When Brexit is settled, whatever the outcome, prices should rise further as sentiment increases. Not an expert mind but I think now is a good time to buy (provided you’re in for the medium/long term).

davindub

Hannaho wrote: »

I'm currently awaiting my rental property to be vacated in next coupole of weeks. Working 3 days a week in UK, and one of my chidlren wants to go to college there. What are people's advice on buying at this time in UK, given all the Brexit mess. I am looking to buy around greater Manchester area - also considering parts of the Wirral near West Kirby/Hoylake. Prices there do not seem to be affected by Brexit, i.e. they are not going down, as people move from London to cheaper areas - estate agents have confirmed this - nervous about buying, and would welcome any advice.

Wait until after brexit...

A major driver in the uk market is lack of zoned building land, investment companies buy it up and take options on land that might be zoned in the future. Regardless of the economy if they release this land, prices will drop.

Add in Brexit issues, possible eu citizen/ investment exodus, employment etc. It's a lot of risk, I would be happier to wait until at least there is a deal in place and review then.

Lumen

Difficult to say without knowing all of your financial circumstances.

Do you currently have a Euro-denominated mortgage to service with your Sterling-denominated income? That would be a risk in itself.

Hannaho wrote: »

Prices there do not seem to be affected by Brexit, i.e. they are not going down

Prices in £, presumably. What has happened to the prices in €?

You are proposing to transfer your housing asset from one currency zone to another, so the most significant factor is the exchange rate.

There is no way to predict exchange rate movements, but the effects of different outcomes may be asymmetrical in your circumstances.

Assume Sterling-denominated prices stay the same, but the exchange rates move significantly in one direction or the other. Is one of those two movements going to cause you a problem that you want to insure against?

Hannaho

Hi! Thanks to all of you for your replies. Lumen, I'm buying the equivalent sale price - minus, of course, auctioneers fees, etc, in UK - so roughly 420k euros - is about 375k stg, that's the house price bracket I will be looking at in the UK - can you explain a bit more about how I might be affected by currency exchange in that situation.

Re mortgage - there won't be a mortgage on the proeprty in the UK.

Lumen

What I mean is, if the house were to suddenly become 20% more expensive, how much of a problem would that be?

theteal

Lumen wrote: »

What I mean is, if the house were to suddenly become 20% more expensive, how much of a problem would that be?

I'm assuming you mean within the space of time between going sale agreed and completion?



OP, just a little FYI, we found currencyfair the best at the time for exchanging a large lump when buying our house.

3DataModem

Lumen wrote: »

What I mean is, if the house were to suddenly become 20% more expensive, how much of a problem would that be?

Bear in mind OP that this is exactly the thing that happened two years ago.

Having income in one country and significant outgoings in another includes some risk. For example, I know someone living in Ireland who has a kid in college in the UK for the past four years. Two years ago their rent, fees, expenses etc all jumped 20% after the referendum.

Lumen

3DataModem wrote: »

Bear in mind OP that this is exactly the thing that happened two years ago.

Having income in one country and significant outgoings in another includes some risk. For example, I know someone living in Ireland who has a kid in college in the UK for the past four years. Two years ago their rent, fees, expenses etc all jumped 20% after the referendum.

Right, details matter. For instance...

Hannaho wrote: »

Working 3 days a week in UK, and one of my chidlren wants to go to college there.

How likely is "want" to transform into "will"? What happens if they change their mind? Are you paid in sterling or Euro? Is your job likely to be affected by Brexit? etc etc etc

What I do in these situations is scenario planning. Look at the various outcomes, think qualititatively about the probability (likely, maybe, unlikely) and outcome (good, bad, catastrophic) and work out under what circumstances you'll be screwed. And do what it takes to avoid that happening, without fixating on unlikely scenarios that aren't catastrophic.

People tend to suffer from loss aversion, i.e. be much more emotionally impacted by losses than gains. The high of an improvement in circumstances is much more short lived than the grinding woe of a loss.