Quinch

FFS http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-44783564.html £180k west st!!!!

Penthouse just come for sale, No 23 I believe, 2003 sold for £349,000 2013 asking £295. Thoughts?

That house was nearer 400k when they first put it on the market, several years ago. Unfortunately it has been relisted by minchen fellows so any earlier changes do not show up on property bee.

For what its worth. My observations on the Chester market are; there has been very little change over the last 5 years. Decent house, in good condition, desirably presented and good location will sell, possibly at a premium. The further away from those criteria you get, the bigger the haircut the property will take. Take a trawl through rightmoves sold prices for Chester and you will see quite a few properties have taken a hit (new build flats especially), also a few have gone up in price, notably Hoole. Prices are not sensible, but compared to London, Chester seems fairly sane. IIn fact it surprises me how often some of the more expensive properties seem to be sold to people from the smoke. Bye for another five years. XOX The Quinch

Bump

I think the EAs are getting wise to Property Bee, I see quite a bit of this where I live. Very frustrating.

Just been on the Zopa web site and they appear to offer an interest rate of 9.1%. There are charges, you are required to tie up money for 3-5 years and I think you may be liable to bad debts. I have read about this site a couple of times in the money sections of the sunday papers. Has anyone used them or have any experience? Thanks Quinch

Glad to see some activity on the Chester thread again. From what I have observed, very little in real price reductions, maybe 5-10%, but I believe that some estate agents are pricing with the expectation of offers in the region of 10% less, although they still don’t seem to be selling anything. The only EA who appear to be pricing to sell are Humphries and they are subsequently increasing market share, and as a previous poster has noted they have started to auction properties as well. I would expect a couple of the EA’s to start going under in the new year. Quinch

Krusty should come with a tog rating! Quinch

Try the Chester thread, sub title Hush House, on page 2 of House 'Prices in Your Area'. I have been past a couple of new developments lately, one of which amused me. It appeared to be a Gorgian house converted into three flats, the tag on the advert was phase one sold already! Difficult to tell what's happening in Chester, from what I have said in the other thread, it appears flats are going down, generally not much selling, but some higher price properties continue to sell, especially top spec good location. Quinch

I did a similar spread sheet to the Hush house one on Charlton Court (built ~2001), on Hoole Road. Charlton Court is a good quality set of apartments. Basically, prices initially went up, but have fallen back to close to original asking price. There is another set of apartments opposite Chalton Court and I recon they were completed about 1 year ago, I can see no evidence of anyone having moved in. Although they look pretty poor quality. So the way I see it: Rubbish apartments will lose close on 50%, everything else 20% plus, but difficult to predict exactly. From what I can gather from the EAs, there have been no first time buyers since last year, to speak of, and if you have anyone to view your property you are lucky. A lot of sales are falling through and the only ones I can see selling are top spec. I am aware of quite a few properties that have been on the market close on one year. I think we are in a bit of a stand off, no one selling and no one buying. Although I am aware of a few people who haven’t been able to sell, have rented their house, so they can rent a larger house or one in a more convenient location; schools, work etc. Quinch

How desperate are you to sell and how desperate are they to buy? Is the buyer going to live in the property? If the purchaser plans to live at the property, then they probably have an emotional attachement to the purchase, and you could get more than the £135k they have offered, suggest you meet halfway between the £135k and £147k. Although to receive more money than they are now offering, you have to be prepared to lose the sale. Someone tried to gazunder me, and I told them were they could go, they eventually paid what they originally agreed, but that was in a rising market, and my circumstances were such, that I could lose the sale. Remember, it's all a game, you don't always know what the rules are! Good Luck Quinch

I am similar; house no mortgage, and lump in the bank, made from various property investments, although more luck than financial acumen. This HPI has been good news for me, but I worry how my kids are ever going to afford a house (it certainly won’t be a 2 bed luxury apartment, if I have anything to do with it), even if we do get a crash. The property market was and is cyclic, which is what I will advise them. I know people who purchased at the last peak, and are only just recovering, I was lucky and purchased right at the bottom, with a few fortuitous moves, purchases and sales, I am sitting well. I remember the last peak and thinking if I didn’t buy I would never be able to afford a house, I sat and waited patiently for five years, as I new it was unsustainable. For the final roll of the housing dice we are about to STR….

I have observed too many price reductions which property snake has not picked up, to consider using this web site worthwhile.

Super Saint, Check out this weeks Chonicle page 28 & 29, double page spread on Hush House and the fall in values. I will see if I can find a link for everyone else over the w/e. I think the journo's have been reading HPC again! Quinch