The High-Risk Cash Buy Strategy That Wins When Home Prices Fall

This bet comes with big risks: in the worst-case scenario, movers may find themselves forced to switch from one (expensive) Airbnb to another, and local prices may stay firm (or even rise for the best properties in their category) while looking for a place to buy.

Vibha and Chris George, both 46, are accidental ‘sell first, buy later’ house hunters and are eager to see how the market plays out over the next few months.

With two sons, the couple needed more space than their two-bedroom flat in London Fields, east London, but wanted to stay local so the boys could stay at the same school.

They put their apartment on the market early last summer and by July they had accepted an offer and were house hunting.

Unfortunately, after two potential purchases failed in the fall, they resigned themselves to renting.

In November they moved into a “much smaller” flat, which costs them £3,350 a month, and most of their belongings are in storage. “It’s costing us more than our mortgage used to cost,” says George. She and her husband now plan to find somewhere to buy this year.

“We need to have somewhere by summer, or at the latest by autumn – by then we’ll have spent £50,000 on rent,” she said. “I search every day, but there is not much on the market. »

If the forecast for lower prices proves correct, Georges’ budget could go further than it would have last year, and they are no longer encumbered by a chain.

“We could mobilize tomorrow if necessary,” says Ms. George.

On the other hand, if the real estate market has taught us anything since the start of the pandemic, it is that we should expect the unexpected.

Maximizing your buying power and negotiating the best real estate deal possible is, of course, important. But for many buyers, quality of life has value.

Natalie and Oliver Trice, both 48, rented a house in Devon for almost a year before moving into their current home.