YoungFTB

Totally agree with you BB BUT if you're a cash buyer I think you'll be able to put in lower offers than those relying on mortgages (more potential to negotiate imo) It still totally depends on what happens to the economy (think we agree it's not looking good though) I think the key factor is going to be unemployment, the higher unemployment does the more people there are going to be who are going to be more realistic about what they can get for their property, they simply won't have a choice. I certainly don't believe that 2009 or 2010 will see the bottom of the property crash but I think by the end of 2009 we will be near the end of the big drops (Around 50% - 60% down hopefully) For some people like myself I'll be happy with that, once I see 2005 rateable value houses for sale in my areas I'll be looking to buy. Everyone has different opinions and goals on this aspect and I respect that.

Sounds like you're sorted Ricky. Just my opinion but I'd say by the end of 2009 or start of 2010 will be the time to start seriously looking for a place. Hopefully house prices will have dropped at least 20% this year, if I was in your position I'd want to buy a house with cash. I think that would give you extra room to negotiate and the ability to put in lower offers Cash buyer, no chain Welcome to the forum!

I would wait until at least the end of 2009 before buying a place. Some people seem to think that the posters on this forum have a vested interest in trying to influence the opinion of potential FTBers. Truth be told it makes no difference whatsoever to posters on here whether you buy a place now or in a year or 2, the only real difference is going to be the size of your mortgage. If we genuinely thought house prices had bottomed out we would be advising new posters to buy now, we'd even be buying a place ourselves but house prices have a long way to go before they are affordable again. EAs and developers may be saying that house prices have stopped crashing in value but remember that they are desperate for business at the moment. Also http://www.treesdontgrowtothesky.com tells a different story, over 700 reductions last week along suggests that house prices are still crashing in value and will do so for the next few years. Welcome to the site!

Welcome to the site

Don't worry you're in good company, most of us feel the same Welcome to the forum.

Warning For Ulster Homeowners http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/Warning-f...ners.4868312.jp Another quality article from the Newsletter! It's really nice to see this stuff becoming mainstream

We've had Newsletter employees posting on the Northern Ireland forum before, they seem to agree with a lot of the things that are said and I'm very thankful that in Northern Ireland we have a Newspaper who are stating facts and telling it like it is.

ROFL!

Nice post Trax, bang on the money imo

I suppose it really depends on what happens with the economy. I'm hoping for a 20% drop in 2009

Thanks for the clarification Passedit, much appreciated.

I'm a happy FTB! House prices are falling every month, it's great!

I'll check those out. Thanks VT Nice Yep I totally agree with you. Long term I'd like a base in Northern Ireland (For the summer months) to catch up with friends and family, I could never see myself leaving Northern Ireland for good (Only if the troubles started again) but considering that over the next few years taxes are going to increase it certainly seems like a good idea to research all options. Thanks man, I'll also see if I can find any useful info online about the subject.

Correct me if I'm wrong VT, I think you need to be working outside of the UK for at least 9 months of the year to qualify as an Expatriate and this allows you to avoid paying tax to the UK because of your Expat status. Also you gotta watch out for those Double tax treaties that a lot of countries have As I understand it countries have different rules when it comes to taxing internet incomes, I've only checked a few but I understand Thailand, Panama & Costa Rica don't tax offshore income (i.e. internet income) I work online so I've researched this and thought about doing this, I'll be considering it more seriously over the next few years as I completely agree with your post. Higher taxes, more stealth taxes and a lower standard of living. I'd also like to do some research into our dual citizenship, considering that we are allowed to claim Irish and British citizenship would it be possible to renounce the British citizenship (and forfeit paying taxes to the UK) so you become an Irish citizen BUT because you live in Northern Ireland (different country) could claim Expat status. If anyone knows more about this I'd love more info, I doubt my suggestion above is possible otherwise we'd be seeing a lot of NI/Irish companies doing so.

What on earth is your point? What is annoying posters here is that fat arrogant git Nolan is portraying himself as a "victim" of the housing crash when infact he's a property investor who made plenty unloading his portfolio in 2008.

Steven Nolan is a piece of shit! In reality he lost nothing because the price is pure speculation. Anyone remember about a year ago when the HPC was starting and he would not even touch the subject of property on his shows? Too busy offloading his property portfolio in 2008 Just like the scummy EAs who where up to their eyeballs in BTL, yep get those properties sold to some mug before you start to discuss the local house price crash. Gotta hand it to him, he's a devious git. Offload property investments and then make up a "sob" story for publicity, another "Victim Of The Credit Crunch" I seriously can't stand the guy!

Bingo! Without the wage increases we would be screwed, making housing even less affordable

The 9-5 thing you mention is a very valid point! One of the things that separate these people from the rest is their workaholic nature, most people would not even consider working anymore than their 9-5 hours and is one of the reasons why they would never succeed at business.

Not sure that Richard Farleigh is still on Dragons Den, I think this guy will be the only one who will have no problems at all. To the best of my knowledge he doesn't use borrowed money to fund his investments unlike all the others. To be perfectly honest he's the only investor on Dragons Den that ever impressed me.

The problem with the music industry is greed and a lack of innovation. Ever since P2P programs like Napster where launched it became "socially acceptable" to download things illegally and it's almost impossible to stop trends like this once they develop. When these P2P programs become popular THAT was the time for the music industry to become innovative, if the music industry had of got together with the film industry and launched a website where you could download unlimited music and films for a fixed monthly fee they would have created a new multi billion dollar industry, instead they sat on their asses and did nothing other than try and find ways to shut down the file sharing websites/programs. There are strong similarities between the decline of the adult magazine business i.e. Penthouse etc and what happened to the music industry. In the case of the adult magazine businesses, they failed to embrace change and simply assumed that the internet was a waste of their time (No doubt it was a threat to their income streams) but if they had of adapted through innovation and embracing the commercial potential of the internet they would have become market leaders instead of watching their business die a slow death by doing nothing but complaining about it.

Thanks for the link BB, that was really interesting stuff

First and foremost welcome to the forum! Personally I am waiting until houses return to rateable value (2005 prices) If houses fall to that level then I'll be happy to buy. No one knows where house prices are going, it really depends on what we are facing economically. If it's a sever recession then 50 - 60% drops are very possible but if we are facing a depression then who knows! The majority of people who post here feel that prices will drop 50 - 60% in total so I'm waiting until the end of 2009 to see what happens and then I'll start looking for a place.

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Merry Christmas folks!

Congrats guys, that's a nice little earner!