Dead Spider Posted December 20, 2008 Share Posted December 20, 2008 Less than £61,950 , assuming the £199k house is in good nick :-) Also the house sold at auction has 3 bedrooms rather than just the 2 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dead Spider Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Lol , that house down Queens Road which sold at auction 09/12/08 for £138,000 http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sa...y-20473747.html is being flipped for £165,000 http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sa...y-20716078.html . Should be fun to watch . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dellboy Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 ...According to my "rent vs buy" excel worksheet, if they manage to get the asked price, they will be £18k worse than if they had rented (90% mortgage assumption) or £19k worse than if they had rented (100% mortgage assumption). ... In the "good old days" of cheap credit, 19K propably seemed like a small number. Now people will discover just how huge 19K really is; when they have to sell and take the hit. My wife kept falling for this one. We took a preliminary look at places during the 2005/6 mini-dip just to see where things were going. If a house was £250K or £260K seemed to make little difference to her; after all, the bank would say "yes" no matter what. But try saving £10K! Try saving £10K plus interest! These are not trivial sums of money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepy_fish Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Those houses in Mount Pleasant that were mentioned back on page 1? A couple of my friends had a look at the 2 that were for sale there in autumn last year... She's a surveyor and he's a builder, they sold-up at the peak and were looking for a bargain they could 'do up' while work was slow. Both the houses were structurally unsound. The fall to £95-100K sounded nice until they worked out you were looking at another 60-70 thousand just to make them safe to live in. Similarly a lot of the terraced houses they checked out in Caversham had major foundation problems... From hearing their experiences, it seems there's a reason that some prices in the area have fallen as much as they have! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonoP Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 (edited) Those houses in Mount Pleasant that were mentioned back on page 1? A couple of my friends had a look at the 2 that were for sale there in autumn last year... She's a surveyor and he's a builder, they sold-up at the peak and were looking for a bargain they could 'do up' while work was slow. Both the houses were structurally unsound. The fall to £95-100K sounded nice until they worked out you were looking at another 60-70 thousand just to make them safe to live in. Similarly a lot of the terraced houses they checked out in Caversham had major foundation problems... From hearing their experiences, it seems there's a reason that some prices in the area have fallen as much as they have! Hah hah, a Reading Bull! Who would have thought it? I agree, the price drops have not been that steep. Yet. Terraces that were going at £180 are now on for £160 and those that sell are probably accepting £145 -£150. However, now that the tech industries are cutting jobs, we should start to see a few forced sales. That said, I do not expect to buy anything for a good 24 months. Sleepy Fish, hope you did not buy anywhere in Reading since the turn of the millennium? It is gonna sting if you did..... Edited January 26, 2009 by Pond321 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.bartlett Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-...ty-1515738.html Winner: Reading *Reading is second only to London in the Centre for Cities economic prosperity index, and is rated as one of the best-placed to ride out the recession. The town, with a population of 140,000, has one of the slowest-rising unemployment rates (the number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance went up by only 0.5 per cent in the year to last November), partly because it has many "knowledge-based industries" such as computing, accountancy and insurance, which are less likely to suffer. This sector employs nearly 30 per cent of Reading's workforce. The town also has good transport links, creating what the Centre for Cities calls as a "mutually supportive economic relationship" with London. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dead Spider Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Similarly a lot of the terraced houses they checked out in Caversham had major foundation problems... I know buggerall about buildings but weren't most of these terraces built in the 1890's (they look the typical red brick type from then) . Surely they would have fallen down already if they had foundation problems ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonoP Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-...ty-1515738.html Yeah, right..... So the major Job losses announced at Yell, Bank of Ireland & Microsoft in the last few weeks will not impact the town then..... And Reading relies on the Tech Industries for a lot of its wealth. Believe me, the big Tech players are REALLY suffering right now. There might not have been many layoffs yet, but they will come....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonb Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 I know buggerall about buildings but weren't most of these terraces built in the 1890's (they look the typical red brick type from then) . Surely they would have fallen down already if they had foundation problems ? There are some 1890s houses built on top of disused chalk mine shafts, for example round the Castle Hill area. See for example http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2007/mar...ntityandsociety Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dead Spider Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 There are some 1890s houses built on top of disused chalk mine shafts, for example round the Castle Hill area. See for examplehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2007/mar...ntityandsociety Interesting insight . Thank you . Mines "darn sarf" aren't something I'd have thought of . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrillsBears Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Yeah, right..... So the major Job losses announced at Yell, Bank of Ireland & Microsoft in the last few weeks will not impact the town then.....And Reading relies on the Tech Industries for a lot of its wealth. Believe me, the big Tech players are REALLY suffering right now. There might not have been many layoffs yet, but they will come....... Yeah I found that article risible. The town centre is now awash with empty commercial property and more being built. Major employers Pru, Yell, Anglo Irish are either dying or moving work offshore. ING, Microsoft have also announced culls. I think the premise of the report is wrong. Computer literacy in the SE of England will be as useful as deep face coal extraction in the North was in the 80's. For exactly the same reason too. Offshore resources are cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dead Spider Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Lol , that house down Queens Road which sold at auction 09/12/08 for £138,000 http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sa...y-20473747.html is being flipped for £165,000 http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sa...y-20716078.html .Should be fun to watch . The flipper has now reduced the asking price to £159,950 :-) http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sa...y-21166225.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonoP Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 Hmmm, there is actually a NEW EA opened in Reading. Called Westgate. And Romans are advertising for a new Sales Negotiator. This is not good news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrillsBears Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Hmmm,there is actually a NEW EA opened in Reading. Called Westgate. And Romans are advertising for a new Sales Negotiator. This is not good news. I wouldn't worry. These chaps got rich over the last 10 years. They know nothing other than boom. They are gambling on a return to "normal". They are wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ducky Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 Hi all, I am new to the forum and I wanted to share some opinions on the Reading area. We have been living in Reading for almost 10 years and we have looked around to buy a house several times, but really don't seem to get the hang of it (well, we are foreigners....). We thought that lately it would have been easier but I don't know if the house price crash has really materialised in Reading, as houses seem to sell quite quickly. Today I called an estate agent to view a house at the border with one of the worst areas in Reading and the EA pracxtically grilled me to understand how much we could spend and then she said: " Well, because if you cannot afford it I won't waste the vendor's time". I am still fuming, I mean, how rude is this, houses are selling but they are not really flying off the shelf, are they? Also, we used to check the sale prices on www.houseprice.co.uk but they haven't updated the information for ages and now we don't know how the market is moving and what a reasonable offer might be. Does 10% less than asking price sound like a reasonable approach? Personally I would offer 20% less, but that is me. Any views on what is really going on in Reading? Many thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReadingRabbit Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Prices are falling - you can use PropertyBee or Zoopla to confirm it. Remember there are NO first time buyers it is just a matter of time when reality will sink in. Most of the houses which have been sold in the last year it seems are still stuck in chain as there is no sold price data (ourproperty.co.uk) I dont know what your situation is but it is best to wait and watch Hi all, I am new to the forum and I wanted to share some opinions on the Reading area. We have been living in Reading for almost 10 years and we have looked around to buy a house several times, but really don't seem to get the hang of it (well, we are foreigners....). We thought that lately it would have been easier but I don't know if the house price crash has really materialised in Reading, as houses seem to sell quite quickly. Today I called an estate agent to view a house at the border with one of the worst areas in Reading and the EA pracxtically grilled me to understand how much we could spend and then she said: " Well, because if you cannot afford it I won't waste the vendor's time". I am still fuming, I mean, how rude is this, houses are selling but they are not really flying off the shelf, are they? Also, we used to check the sale prices on www.houseprice.co.uk but they haven't updated the information for ages and now we don't know how the market is moving and what a reasonable offer might be. Does 10% less than asking price sound like a reasonable approach? Personally I would offer 20% less, but that is me. Any views on what is really going on in Reading? Many thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ducky Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Thanks for your reply ReadingRabbit. I will keep an eye on PropertyBee and see what happens. I don't know if there are many first time buyers around, but there must be buyers of some sort because the last 4-5 properties we were looking at were sold quite quickly, one in less than a week! (it was in my favourite location by the way so if for any reason you need selling quickly, just get in touch, I will pretend to show interest and the property will be sold straight away! This is my main concern about Reading, that there still are people with money (e.g. professional BTLs) who can outprice anyone else therefore unless a vendor is really in a hurry they are better off waiting instead of lowering the price. Some new letting agents have sprung up in the last year or so and they practically snapped up any property that was coming on the market within a 1 mile radius from our place and they were paying top money for them. I cannot compete with professionals... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReadingRabbit Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 May I ask which areas are you looking at? Thanks for your reply ReadingRabbit.I will keep an eye on PropertyBee and see what happens. I don't know if there are many first time buyers around, but there must be buyers of some sort because the last 4-5 properties we were looking at were sold quite quickly, one in less than a week! (it was in my favourite location by the way so if for any reason you need selling quickly, just get in touch, I will pretend to show interest and the property will be sold straight away! This is my main concern about Reading, that there still are people with money (e.g. professional BTLs) who can outprice anyone else therefore unless a vendor is really in a hurry they are better off waiting instead of lowering the price. Some new letting agents have sprung up in the last year or so and they practically snapped up any property that was coming on the market within a 1 mile radius from our place and they were paying top money for them. I cannot compete with professionals... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Our day will come Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 I've also been following the Reading market very closely (lived there for 5 years until 2005 - now working overseas). In the area I'm following the prices seem to have dropped a bit but not significantly, certainly not enough to consider buying. In other areas, i.e. New Town, prices seem to have fallen back to 2005 levels...but I don't want to live there. Generally, though, not much is coming onto the market and there are a number of properties whiuch have been for sale for well over a year, sometimes 2 years, and yet the price remains the same... They will drop though - another 30-40% at least. When they do I'll buy somewhere in our preferre area - I hope! I've been following this market for at least 6 years now so I must get lucky at some point! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ducky Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 Hi ReadingRabbit, Because of where we work, we are looking at the usual area: University/Hospital/Town Centre, but we are considering also other areas (e.g. Bath Road or even East Reading... at a push!) if the house really looks nice. Reading is such a tricky town, because it is so easy to end up with bad neighbours. Certainly prices in New Town have fallen, sometimes by around 40k, but parking around there is terrible and the area looks so "unloved".... Have a nice Easter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nnj10 Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 Hi All, I am a new member on this forum. I have been looking for a 2-bed house with garden and a garage in reading area (RG6-Lower Early - to be precise), but it seems over the last 2 weeks, all the property in the marker is either under offer or SSTC. I don't know, why such a sharp turnaround? House prices are still way above the fundamentals, but I want to buy a place to live in rather than as an investment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ducky Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 Hi nnj10, So I am not the only one who thinks that in some areas houses are selling... however in some areas they don't seem to be selling quickly (e.g. New Town), and it might pay off to be flexible about the location, if you can. I have just been for a walk (to digest the Easter lunch...) and at one EA I have seen several terraced houses for sale at good prices, but not in Lower Earley. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dead Spider Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 (edited) Also, we used to check the sale prices on www.houseprice.co.uk but they haven't updated the information for ages Try putting an s on the end of price . http://www.houseprices.co.uk update at the end of every month . I just looked and February had 54 recorded sales . What kind of budget are you looking at ? Edited April 18, 2009 by Dead Spider Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Our day will come Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 I've looked at houseprices.co.uk. for Reading sales. Some of the conclusions I draw from this data are: - Not much is selling at all - Prices are falling. Look at sales of terraces in East Reading. They have sold for 120k and 140k. That's back to 2004/2005 prices. -Flats have sold for less than 100k. Generally though, I think the market in Reading is stagnant. I'm watching it very closely in certain areas and, in the areas I like, hardly anything is coming onto the market or selling. I'm poised for big reductions over the next 6-9 months though, as property is still extremely expensive in the Reading area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReadingRabbit Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Yes, thats a good analysis. I had a look at properties which have been SSTC since last year but most of them are yet to complete the sales which implies that they are still rotting in chains. I won't be surprised if many of those SSTC houses will be coming back to market again. The mortgage availability is completely shutdown to FTB's i.e not many FTB's can afford those 25% deposits so the EA's and the sellers will have to get real. There are three main EA's in Reading who are renowned for over pricing (agency names starting with Pr, Ro and Wh) - you can work that out :-) I've looked at houseprices.co.uk. for Reading sales.Some of the conclusions I draw from this data are: - Not much is selling at all - Prices are falling. Look at sales of terraces in East Reading. They have sold for 120k and 140k. That's back to 2004/2005 prices. -Flats have sold for less than 100k. Generally though, I think the market in Reading is stagnant. I'm watching it very closely in certain areas and, in the areas I like, hardly anything is coming onto the market or selling. I'm poised for big reductions over the next 6-9 months though, as property is still extremely expensive in the Reading area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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