BearShaped

Nice position to be in! I'd play it safe. In 2020, I had enough in stocks and shares ISA to pay off my mortgage OR continue chasing gains in stock market. I opted to pay off mortgage and glad I did as the small residual fund in my ISA, mainly invested in FTSE250 and AIM shares, has been hammered past 2 years. Zero mortgage is one less thing to worry about.

Thanks for bringing a smile to my face! I love a bit of sarcasm

Some of you may remember my post from last month when the seller decided to pull out on exchange day http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/ind...howtopic=121151 Well we found another older style place and agreed to buy it at asking price subject to the findings of a survey, it was 285k. The EA was happy with this and so was the seller. It had only been on the market for a short period of time. The surveyor came along and was very negative about a number of things most notably some movement in the rear extension, timber infestation, the main roof and the amount of basic renovation required against the ultimate value of the place. In summary he valued it at 250k. I got some quotes for renovation and indicated to the agent I'd meet half way between surveyors value and original asking price. The buyer refused and said they want 285k minimum and asked the agent to pull out from the sale with us. Additionally, apparently a family friend has expressed an interest in buying it for 285k. The process of buying a house in this country is comical, the level of greed we've bred in everyone above 30 is absurd. Its not even as if I've trying to get it for a discount.

this was my game plan but mrs bearshaped won't let me

I've gotten to know the agent pretty well during the last 8 weeks, he's a decent type of chap running a one man operation and we've had many conversations about the state of the market, he's fairly realistic. Although he's totally stunned by this. He suspects the seller has taken all the equity and spent it on renovation on this and other property and so it was the bank that pulled the plug on the sale at the level we'd agreed. The place was originally on for 295k and we agreed a sale at 250k. I know from the documentation she had regularly had it valued throughout the past 3-4 years, MEW MEW MEW MEW methinks! I'm pretty calm, my views on the market are still pretty bearish. Its my wife and kids who are really distressed about it all.

I was due to exchange contracts yesterday. I'm a cash buyer having STR'd in 2005. I chaps the 10% deposit across and took in the contracts to my solicitor only to get a call later in the day to say the seller had decided to pull out as they think the market is on the up and they are going to rent it out in the meantime. We agreed to pay 250k, it will probably rent for £700 a month. I am amazed, the price we agreed to pay was the surveyors valuation, it wasn't below the current perceived valuation. I'll get over it, I was just shocked someone would pull out at such a late stage. Interesting?

Just an update on this- I've spoken to coininvestdirect several times and have now purchased the "additional" order. They basically stood their ground with persistant but polite emails. I'm not sure what the next stage would have been, I guess it depends on the size of the order as to whether they would pursue this type of scenario through legal action. I still think their ordering system is comical. Anybody with an internet connection and a webmail address could place a multitude of bogus orders if they wanted without any security or validation on their system. I didn't want to rock the boat with them since the coins I've ordered before were always delivered quickly and prices are competitive. I'd recommend them, just don't screw your order up!

Thanks for the feedback. I agree their service is great and I was well pleased with the coins but ultimately if their business model "earmarks" coins and bullion on the basis of someone creating a login, password and address without actually making payment, then they are opening themselves up for some serious abuse. Maybe I'll phone them tomorrow and try and come to some arrangement.

Hi I placed an order for a small number of silver coins from these guys but wanted to change the quantity. Since there is no mechanism to do this I put through another order and sent them a mail asking them to cancel the original order. The coins arrived a few days later and everything was cool. I've received a call today from them asking for payment for the original order. I explained what had happened. To my surprise I was told I was still liable for the order and my account was now in arrears with a 5% fee until I paid for the coins. I started sprouting about Distance Selling Regulations and UK consumer law but they are standing their ground saying they will pursue payment through legal channels as I agreed to their T&Cs Now I've double checked my facts with DSR http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/consumers/.../page38102.html and I'm sure they have no legal claim over me. Having bought and sold things on the net for many years I'm baffled by their stance. Am I missing something here?

my advice would be to diversify as much as possible but don't tie up capital for too long just in case you find a place you really want to buy. I STR'd in 2005 and have never really worried about inflation since I've steadily grown my house fund whilst ensuring I could still get reasonable access if needed. I've only sweated once and that was when I had £30k in a Fixed Bond with B&B and they went pop. House prices where I am are pretty much where they were in 2005/06. Here's where I've got my stash- - bullionvault - ns&i index linked certificates - a couple of decent fixed rate bonds from the high street, Westbrom building society currently doing 4.3% 1 year fixed - Ulster Bank instant access account, 3.46% - ICICI bank Instant Savings Account (debatable!) - some silver coins - sell on ebay if necessary - some oil and silver ETFs CRUD OILB and PHAG - a small portfolio of shares via ISA - Euro Savings Account

they need to get some employees who are the right calibra.........................wee hee!

I introduced several work colleagues to the valuations on zoopla and at first they were generally accepting of the valuations it was serving up, infact there was a frenzy of postcode searches to see what friends and families houses were now worth! However, the other day I overheard one of them say she had successfully "adjusted" the valuation of her own property by adding in bogus rooms and extensions - zoopla added another 40k to its current market value! WTF :angry:

lol. maybe prices are holding up because there are simply too many people looking to buy in Cheltenham and EAs inventorys of decent property in decent areas is low. I've certainly found this to be the case.

I would say there are parts of Cheltenham with a degree of immunity to price drops simply because of desirability, schools etc If you look at Gloucester, Evesham or Tewkesbury (10 miles away) price drops on propertybee are much more significant. I still think Cheltenham will get hit but it will take longer to filter through.

bargain, is it a stanley? they go well on ebay £30+

definitely, most people just see a field of sh!te, which to be fair sometimes it is but if you get there at the right time you will usually find decent items.

without doubt you could. I've been buying collectible stuff from local car boot for years, 99% of which I've sold on ebay but the real gems I've still got for when things get tough. Best buy for me so far was a vintage boxed Omega De Ville gents 14ct gold watch.....................£1. I did feel slightly guilty when I handed the pound over but heh

I suppose my recent actions suggest I tend to agree, I've pulled funds from bullionvault thinking I might get "The page cannot be displayed" one day and what would I do then? certainly can't go crying to the FSA!

unless you want to start taking risks with spread betting, then I think the answer is Yes. As long as HPI is negative or stagnant I'll continue to keep it simple. FWIW, I've dabbled in the FTSE with 10% of my STR fund for a couple of years and its not a pretty picture!

why are STRs worried - houses are devaluing considerably more than your £s are. Just keep it in nice 50k slices and spread it around NS&I, Oil ETFs, Virtual Gold (e.g Bullion Vault), a few FTSE blue chips (Glaxo, BP) and sit back and relax for a while

this seems to be happening everywhere at the moment this is the aftermath of the executive country homes built near me- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10...ers-dry-up.html meanwhile Bovis continue to market the big 5 beds via rightmove for 350k and quietly sell the smaller units to the council for less than 50k a piece! http://www.propertyweek.com/story.asp?sect...3130851&c=1 Genius

Evesham is my home town, I did escape 20 years ago! I've got fond memories of the place when it was a busy market town. It used to have a huge range of shops including Evesham Micros in the middle of the town. Now when I drive through it my heart sinks - Kebab and Charity shops, sprinkled with Estate Agents. I walked round Abbey Gates Shopping Centre with my 7 year old daughter three or four weeks before Christmas and it was shocking, and that was when woolworths and M&S were open!

Does Pete Watts from Mott the Hoople still run a record shop in Hereford? I used to see him wandering around the Gloucs car boots desperately looking for rare vinyl trailed by a shopping trolley. I was told not to mention Mott the Hoople to him under any circumstances.

I went to view a couple of Bovis new builds on a local development last week, Deans Lea in Bishops Cleeve. It seems that the remaining larger 5 beds are being offered at a discount whilst the rest of unsold smaller 2 and 3 beds are being offered to the local authority much to the anger of some of the residents that bought at peak http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10...ers-dry-up.html Interestingly, no mention of this from the sales team!!

This is what freaks me out about the current climate. If you are a buyer, agents will freely tell you trade is "terrible" and then still proceed to tell you about properties that are comically overpriced :angry: I've had several calls recently to tell me about new instructions and they are generally on for 10% more than this time last year. I feel like telling them to f@@k off