pablopatito

So what is going to grow the economy RichC? You seem pretty sure of yourself.

You mean in the way that an apple is like an orange?

Fair enough. I think I've probably set the bar too high for politicians.

Too subtle for me then. What was the answer out of interest?

I thought it was a fair and simple question. Are you happy with your government's policies? He could have answered it! I am politically naive Labour voting idiot though, obviously

This is another odd one. http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-29515645.html If you do a comparison report on that street, you see that identical houses have been listed recently around the £230k mark. http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-value.html?searchLocation=NN4+0RU&radius=0.0 It appears that they're basically asking for a hundred grand for doing a garage conversion. I'm just not sure why estate agents are wasting their time with these kinds of vendors? Are they that desperate for instructions? £320k for a shoebox in East Hunsbury? It really is a tiny house. Its just madness.

What choice do I have when even small bungalows in my area are coming onto market for a whopping £375k http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-29606272.html I think I'd rather rent until I can get a job up North and then buy a proper Victorian house for £200k.

Politicians say different things in opposition than they do in government shocker! I'm sure Osborne and Clegg would never dream of such opportunism.

That's 86, High Street, Upton. Bought new two years ago for £225k. I guess they might get their money back. I've always found the concept of a gardenless mock-Georgian town-house on an estate next to a dual carriageway and Sainsbury's quite bizarre. They should really be called out-of-town-houses. My mate built these and he said the five-bedders were the hardest to shift. Which is understandable. Who are they are for? If you've got a big family you're not going to like the lack of garden and parking. But if you haven't got a big family what do you want five bedrooms for? Its really screwy. I wouldn't mind one overlooking Abington park or the Racecourse where you've got stuff going on, but not Upton. What were you planning on using all the rooms for, Count?

I think woodworm treatment is similar isn't it? My surveyor told me to do both, even though the worms probably vacated the wood in the house I was buying over a hundred years ago.

Good thing. Though I'm not sure the rate should be the same in Surrey as it is in Durham, when living (especially housing) costs are so different. My lack of wage increases in the last four years mean I'm scheduled to be earning minimum wage in about fifteen years time

I don't know if its just because I'm poorer than last year, but it seems that supermarkets are discounting (BOGOF etc etc) much more than previously. If you're flexible with what you eat, you can shop very cheaply. Morrisons do a selection of fruit or veg for 30p a bag. If you want to live on parsnips, potatoes and pears for a week you can live on less than a fiver a week I reckon! Yet still chavs on the telly claim they eat at kebab shops because its cheaper than buying proper food, wtf?

Invade Belgium?

I'm forty next year and there is no way, as things stand, I'll be able to retire before I'm in my mid-sixties. As an IT worker in the Manufacturing industry I'm desperately trying to think of an exit strategy before its too late!

I'm not worried about waiting as prices certainly aren't rising. Its just frustrating that they're not falling (yet) either. I tried to look round that house when it was on the market with O'Riordan Bond over three years ago but the agent never turned up (they claimed their computer crashed and deleted all their appointments!). Its worth about £210k. £255k was a joke price and I doubt they got a single viewing. One of the good things about HIPS is at least these joke vendors had to stick their hands in their pockets in return for wasting everyone's time. Saying that, as a vendor there's always a chance that you'll catch a sucker that is happy to overpay.

I suspect The Man will turn a blind eye to people selling the odd cake for pocket money, in the same way they do for people selling a few things on ebay or car boots and not paying income tax. I hope they do anyway, society benefits from people selling things small time. It seems to happen far more in France and I love it.

I take a cat with me to viewings.

So are builders or the state to blame? I was under the impression that in this country the state strictly controls what is built, when it is built, and how much room it takes up. Builders can't squeeze as many houses as they want into a development without the state giving permission. Similarly the state is reponsible for setting and enforcing building regulations to ensure houses are of acceptable quality. Someone by us has allowed an estate full of *five* bedroom townhouses with *one* allocated car parking space and limited or no street parking. This was an estate sponsored by Prince Charles, who I presume doesn't have to worry too much about parking his car. It looked lovely until people started living there. It must all be the government's fault, surely?

When you say "Two-fifty" is doesn't sound as crazy as "A quarter of a million pounds". My wife quite likes this house: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-29427439.html but it has no garden. I said to her, if I'm paying just shy of "a quarter of a million pounds" then I want a bloody garden with it at the very least! I also despair of some vendors. They're trying to sell me something for a quarter of a million pounds and they can't even be bothered to tidy the place up a bit before I come round? Its a small thing, but it really winds me up. Rant over.

If you assume most housing transactions involve chains, and most chains require a first time buyer at the start (I don't know how true this is), then every FTB entering the second hand market will generate several house sales, increasing prices. This scheme only serves to reduce the number of FTBs in the used market, so will surely have a negative effect on prices? It will also soon increase supply as those using the scheme realise they can't afford their mortgage payments and try and sell their crappy, overpriced flats on the used market.

The trouble with putting offers in that I know won't be accepted, is that the agent then tells other potential buyers 'we've had one offer very close to the asking price, so you'd better put a high offer in quick', and I suspect some poor saps fall for it, thus, in a very small way, delaying HPC. Plus, even a low offer probably boosts the morale of the vendor, and I want them despondent and desperate.

This is a nice price drop, from £300k to £260k in the space of a couple of months. http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-27624116.html Only another £20k to go and I might buy it. Mind you its been on the market for about 4 years now.

Well, I wouldn't advise my kids to move to France then. It sounds like most of their income would go on tax to fund your lavish retirement .

When you are young you have less need for the welfare state as, on average, you don't have children that need educating, or any serious healthcare needs. So it makes sense to move somewhere with low taxes. As you get older, your needs increase, so it makes sense to move back to Britain. This is what my parents did, is what I did, and is what I'll encourage my kids to do when they grow up. It makes being British something of a win-win.

I found this interesting: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-29354653.html Normal house for sale, but the agent is claiming the following: "THIS PROPERTY COMES WITH:- RE-DECORATION - NEW BATHROOM - NEW KITCHEN - NEW TILING - NEW CARPETS - NEW INTERNAL DOORS - NEW GCH BOILER. YOU CHOOSE THE RANGE, COLOURS & STYLES. ALL FITTED BEFORE YOU MOVE IN!" I like the way the photos include before and after shots, which seem to imply that as well as adding a new bathroom and kitchen they will also the knock the house down and rebuild it with much bigger rooms. This is the first I've seen of this sales technique. How common is it? I'm not sure if this is the right forum for posting this, as the main forum no longer seems to discuss houses, its all economics, politics and war?