quote:

Originally posted by holy cheeses:

quote:

fur coat no knickers houses

what the hell is one of them?!

Is it a professional term?

Put it this way, if I see swaged? curtains, lace, dolls, toilet paper covers, kitchen units with leaded glass I run a mile.
Get your house sorted structurally HC, clean paint, shiny windows and leave the rest to the vendor. Stop the right side of gilding the lily so the buyer can imagine themselves living there and leave room for them to make their own mark.

How much do you think your former ecclesiastical outlook influenced the price when you bought?

quote:

Originally posted by cakehead:

There's some psychology involved. If a buyer thinks they're getting a bargain - i.e. slightly tatty house - they're happier. When I flick through agent's particulars I avoid fur coat no knickers houses like the plague because the vendor invariably wants to charge me for her 'impeccable' taste and the fact you can eat your tea off the toilet carpet, factors I'd like to make my own mind up about and not be charged for.

I completely agree. I don't want someone's taste in adornments influencing the price, as I probably won't want them. I much prefer, say, a kitchen or garden which needs stripping out than a 'done' one, because I will inevitably want to redo it myself, so I don't want to pay for it twice.

HC you have been quite vocal in the past about the loss of 'your view' when they bulldozed the pretty church for affordable homes, so presumably you must take that as a negative, just as your improvements are a positive? You did say you thought it would impact on the desirability/price of the house. Guttering is fixable whereas a view is not.

Had two more opinions today.

The first, very optimistic and said it is a good sized semi, the garden was really nice and after tittling jobs he'd be seriously looking at putting it up for £150k. He said we would have scope for offers then and still achieve a reasonable price. £140/145? He also mentioned the 50 buyers they had requiring 3 bed semis in the area - porkies? (the second bloke said yeah we'll have more) their fee 1.75

Second man, he remembered it. He said if it was last year he'd have guaranteed a sale of above £140. This year, he said minimum £135, not less. but their fee is fixed £2100 and vat on top.

All EA's have played down the houses being built saying them being there, new and tidy is no problem. The only slight downer is they're still being built - they haven't valued it down for that at all.

Mid 2nd viewing, little boy bangs on upstairs window and shouts to us in the front garden - Mummy! Little cheese has painted!

OMG. I did not leave the one coat satin open (and bloody brush!) in my bedroom from doing the wardrobes!!

The streaky cream mess on my dark red carpet and paint running down my newly done wardrobes told me, yes HC you did.
I took it very calmly and the EA bloke looked as if he was going to burst into tears. White spirit poured onto it, and carpet washer has made an acceptable difference so I still haven't gone freaking mad.
My daughter chewed the first EA's folder and my son later bit the second EA's jacket and wouldn't let go.
one of them days sent to try me!!

I'm seriously toying with really smartening it up (lots of little easy no cost or small cost things) and putting it up myself at £145k, stamp duty paid on asking price. And a toddler that paints included at any offer.

quote:

Are there any shared ownership schemes in the area you want to move in to? If not how about looking for a house which needs modernising so that you can invest your time and money gradually?

The affordable housing in our old village was promised in 04. Then there was the big fuss that the auction mart was being sold and lots of cheap housing for people in the village was being built. Go rightmove pilling and look for anything on Riverside Court. That's our nod to affordable housing. 4 and 5 bed detacheds £300k+

It has caused a little outcry in the village. There is no houses that need modernising even slightly in our price range there.
We agree with getting one that we can spend money on bit by bit. The mid way former shop will be a fantastic house eventually. we would stay in that for a long time we think. But first we need to get it.
There's no shared ownership anywhere near the villages.

quote:

What are the real figures then HC?

Would you say that the Royal Institute of Charters Surveyors (RICS) might be a reliable starting point? What figures did they publish earlier this week?

BTL, would you just look at what some fools are running round saying?! Don't they know there's only supposed to be wide-spread panic allowed for people to read?!

...According to the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), there are many positives to be taken from the Rics survey.

Most notably, the organisation pointed out that Rics figures are not definitive and need to be looked at in context.

"Rics survey showed that just under a quarter of its respondents appear to have reported a rise in house prices, which shows how regionalised the picture is," said Peter Bolton King, NAEA chief executive.

"We do need to exercise discretion in the figures, for instance the report states that the East Midlands is showing falling prices, yet the recently released Halifax house price index showed a 2.2 per cent rise in the same region.

are these shared ownership houses supposed to help people get on the housing ladder??
I called about a house 2 years ago.
140k for the house but could buy half for 70k. I can't remember the exact figure but a mortgage on 50% was around £500 per month and i would then have to pay 'rent' on the other 50% which was another £300 per month.
So 50% of the house would cost me around £800 per month or i could own 100% for another £200 per month.
CON! CON! CON!!!

quote:

Originally posted by lv1369:
are these shared ownership houses supposed to help people get on the housing ladder??
I called about a house 2 years ago.
140k for the house but could buy half for 70k. I can't remember the exact figure but a mortgage on 50% was around £500 per month and i would then have to pay 'rent' on the other 50% which was another £300 per month.


So 50% of the house would cost me around £800 per month or i could own 100% for another £200 per month.
CON! CON! CON!!!

Yes, me too! I have never,ever got my head around this set up either.
How does it make economical sense to buy-in... as quoted in the example above which is pretty typical?
Mel.

Speaking as someone looking for a new house right now I see few signs of price collapse. New flats in big developments are cheap(er) and houses in the £650+ bracket are hanging around a long time but their owners can usually wait as they didn't pay anything like that for them.

My guess is the same thing that happened in the early 90s will occur, overheated, top of the curve buyers are vulnerable, everyone else will sit tight. This is no good for the general economic picture or job flexibility but seems to be a fact of life once every twenty years. I'd like to think I could shop for house bargains in the next year but I rather doubt it. Anything nice, or slightly cheaper than the norm has plenty of interest in it.

I was reading old threads (till half 3 this morning!! - caffeine in the paracetamol possibly??) and came across Melboy saying people know what their house is worth - it was on a thread about private selling god knows where.
Then you say that you thought your valuation was low and sure enough it went straight away. I don't think people are suddenly slashing their asking prices either! Rightmove certainly hasn't changed a bit since Christmas or so. There's the odd one that's dropped a fair bit but that's more the length of time it's been on and TBH they might've been a bit high in the first place. So that's no bad thing bringing them more into line.
I don't like these EAs coming and down valuing my house so much. And it's not because I was expecting LOADS and want as much cash as possible. The average of all three valuations is £143,300 and that sits pretty well with me. Which is what I will be pointing towards.
There is still plenty of interest, cakehead's right. As a prospective buyer I'm not eagerly hunting down a slashed bargain, just looking as normal.
cakehead I think you are very sensible to accept that probably house prices are sticking a bit. If everybody did that there'd be no massive crash, just a stop or slow down. And I agree completely, next year I doubt there'll be half price bleedin houses everywhere. Sorry Pflusk!

and I keep getting the impression that everyone thinks I'll be forcing my interior design ideas on future buyers and making them pay for it twice, simply by doing all my little jobs.

People, it really is just like re-paint front door, repoint brick work, finish the flagging off, paint that door, clean the lights in the dishwasher, do hanging baskets, clean upstairs carpets ( even more now little cheese!!)
new clean switch/socket covers on (Mr gets them free).... things like that.
Every single wall is stone white. All woodwork is milk white - all I will be doing is freshening it up. I have the paint and want it to look clean for appearances sake, not value.

A viewing is an interview. My house will simply be wearing a nice suit and go with clean shoes and smack of understated potential. NOT a clip board full of overbearing ideas and a projector show of why they should hire it, dirty trainers and a hoodie.

ooh, sorry!, and I got my pics up at last at t'other side

For god's sake I hate people who post repeatedly (but not you Pflusk, you're funny when you get property bitter and narky!)...

anyway I meant to say I was looking at rightmove and for about two weeks now, nada has come up in the villages where I came from or even nearby ones since this "crash! crash!" started. So for people looking like me there may become a little bit of a demand!!

I was reading Laura NB's thread of getting the railway cottage last night and forgot how exciting it all was, offering, upping offers etc. Hope my proposed move is slightly less exciting but with the same outcome

Everyone has some idea of their properties value in their mind when placing onto the market but these are uncertain times right now as we all know, so it has to be accepted that EA valuations might not meet expectations when selling.
EA's will be down valuing house prices in the coming months just as they were up valuing in the good years.
Property is like stocks and shares... the value can rise and fall in any period,what people may not be able cope with is the fact that their expections may not be met.
I don't mean you personally HC this is a generalisation as I see it.
Incidently 2 properties I have had my eye on for the last 4 weeks are now under offer so it's not all gloom and doom in my area even though we are showing a pricing downturn at 4.9% on property prices.
Mel.

quote:

Originally posted by holy cheeses:
BTL, would you just look at what some fools are running round saying?!

...According to the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), there are many positives to be taken from the Rics survey.

"Rics survey showed that just under a quarter of its respondents appear to have reported a rise in house prices, which shows how regionalised the picture is," said Peter Bolton King, NAEA chief executive.

Indeed, you shouldn't just listen to what people are saying but who is saying it too. One must listen widely and draw ones own conclusions. One must also look at facts.

Personaly I wouldn't trust anything that the NAEA said, afterall it is a body whose sole purpose is the promotion of its members interests i.e. EA's.

"Rics survey showed that just under a quarter of its respondents appear to have reported a rise in house prices..."

No it didn't, not at all, read the RICS full report and see how the figure is derived.

It was just an mischeivous eg. I'm not really that interested at present to actually go trawl thorugh everything properly!! I just look onhere to get it filtered down in terms I understand
But my point is you can spin anything any way if you read enough of one side and blank out the other.
It stands that there is plenty of light reading out there playing down the price drops. Just as there is plenty pointing the other way.

I wish there was one definitive opinion. The actual total truth, no spin no getting figures out of other figures out of....
Just a definitive view of the housing market from one knowledgeable person that the entire country has to listen to.

up you step Pflusk, for the good of your country. No, hang on you have to be flexible in your view

I could see it,
newsreader... "EA's, land registry and surveyors all talking of a bouyant housing market, but it seems Lord Pflusk has reported today that the entire housing bubble is about to burst tomorrow and you are all in fact doomed. He says he's miscalculated when he said it yesterday and the day before that and it is definitely tomorrow. Or Wednesday."