itsdave

If house prices fall by 35%, as most (even conservative) pundits seem to believe, that would leave them selling at about £68k. If I were them, I'd be tempted to drop it to 87K (or less) immediately. There's no point in dropping in small increments, in my opinion - they'd just end up chasing the market down over a number of months and into next year. The quicker they sell the better. They could always let it if rental income (minus estate agent fees, 2 months void & predicted repairs) covers the mortgage, but I guess that if they're seperating the last thing they would want is to be tied into a joint financial commitment over the long term.

I couldn't agree with you more! I'm primarily intersted in location, position of windows in the property, parking, and square footage. Just about everything else internal to the property can be changed if need be. Price per square foot offers something concrete and objective, which can then be considered against other more subjective factors when comparing property. Currently looking at New Town, Bruntsfield, Merchison and Marchmont, but have no real idea as to a realistic price per square foot baseline for these areas. Seems to be anywhere between £280 - £330 based on 'fixed price' asking prices being achieved, but this is only a very rough estimate. SelfDoIt, did you manage to find out anything more? The only thing I could find was this bbc article from Feb 2004, which stated "The average cost per square foot of these top properties in Edinburgh is now £232, compared with £500 in London and in excess of £400 in Paris." Not very useful though! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3480669.stm

Wasn't the point of your thread to encourage people to make offers of 30% less than advertised, even if you have no intention of buying? I don't think anyone would disagree with the argument that offers in the current market should be on the low side. I do, however, take issue with your assertion that people should make offers on properties they have no intention of buying.

It might be worthwhile doing a bit of an audit just to check that any decision you do make is based on an up to date picture of your finances. A friend of mine realised she hadn't claiming about £100pcm of tax credits after a quick shuftie on this site:- http://www.entitledto.co.uk/ Best of luck, whatever you decide to do.

I don't know whether or not you've noticed, but inflation is headlining at over 5%, mortgage costs are on the rise, energy prices are running at 40% up, wages are increasing at a lower rate than inflation and we're on the cusp of a recession which will result in hundreds of thousands of job losses, and small businesses going bust. All of these factors will likely mean that many people simply cannot hold on. I'm not saying that some people haven't been greedy, overly aspirational and downright stupid in their borrowing. But to raise a rallying cry for people to make offers of 30% under asking price to desperate families - with absolutley no intention of buying - is a completely unwarranted cruelty which would be cause unnecessary distress to families already on the brink. Selling houses is stressful enough at the best of times, without timewasters like you putting families through the emotional wringer for no reason other than the sport of it. Yours is an idiotic and cruel suggestion.

Thank you, 'BTL_and_milking_it', for bringing a much needed sense of decency to this thread. To hope to buy a decent home at a reasonable price is one thing (and I hope to do so myself in the the next 12-18 months); but to revel in the misery of others* and seek to cause ordinary, struggling families deliberate distress is despicable. What an unedifying display of bitterness and malice. I do agree, though, that estate agents need to get the message that prices need to be further reduced to have a hope of selling in the current market. *Bovey and Turner being the exception which proves the rule, of course

If you want to complain about a TV channel 'dumbing down' fine. What on earth the skin colour of the presenter has to do with anything is beyond me. Pathetic.

Only caught ten minutes or so, but interesting stuff. Hopefully it will appear via the link below in a few hours. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/search/?q=hardtalk

Ah, I see! I thought for a second it was merely the "Public sector workers should all be on minimum wage" thread, but I see now that it's the "****, I wish I had the balls to earn that much" forum. Thanks for the clarification, Wires .

My apologies, I thought this was the "The main discussion forum on house prices" thread. I must be mistaken.

Count me in as a fellow flat-dweller . I also like the sense of security I get from living in a flat - I feel a bit exposed living in a house, as a female living alone (I know my name implies I'm a bloke, but I'm not!). Most ridiculous example of Flipping I've seen for a while... http://www.espc.com/Buying/266345.html Bought in January for £145,000 and now asking £229,000. And they've done a really shit job of the 'renovation', with a horribly tacky chavtastic fireplace, nineteen eighties style black bathroom tiles, and a nineteen seventies formica-look kitchen. And the light fittings look like f*cking silver hemorrhoids dangling from the ceiling. Urgh! Greedy sod. With no taste, to boot. I'll continue to monitor this one for my own amusement. And offer £100,000 in 12 months time.

Hadn't realised that, Muswell - thanks for the correction! And it is good to see the flipper getting the virtual finger . Greedy devil. I don't like to gloat at the misfortune of others, and feel genuine sympathy for many of those who will become casualties of the crash ... but in the case of the flippers, I can't help but have a silent Sid James style filthy laugh in my head when I see them lose money. Please do post more if you find them .

Thanks for posting this, Muswell H. Being originally from south of the border (it can't be helped!), I'm still a little unsure of the etiqette of the Scottish system, in terms of what's just common practice, and what are the actual hard and fast rules which must be adhered to. I note that some are still trying it on though (looks like the ground floor flat below the one you've mentioned!). Bought for £220,000 30th November 2005, now asking £275,000 'fixed price'. Have you seen what they've done to the kitchen? What with the increasing obesity crisis in this country, a fat kid could waddle in there and be stuck for weeks! *sets off on rant about ruining beautiful tenement flats by sqeezing an extra bedroom in at the expense of the dining kitchen*

Scotsman article here. Hopefully this will bring a new sense of realism to the sellers in the market. Am hoping for a drop of around 20% over the next 12 to 18 months - fingers crossed. Still some in denial, though, in my opinion. Though sounding increasingly desperate and ridiculous:- Sandy Burnett, a partner with Murray Beith Murray solicitors and estate agents, said: "These figures reflect what everyone knows. There are far too many modern two-bedroom flats in Edinburgh. These are the ones that have been clogging up the market … and there is no demand for them. Developers have had to cut their prices. But stone-built, traditional family houses will hold their value."

And it seems that the fixed prices are (finally!) starting to drop. For example this one down 20K today. They've got a bloody cheek marketing it as a 2 bedroom place, though! So much wasted space, when you look at the floor plan - could probably be re-configured into a nice (proper) two bed place with some thought, imagination and a decent builder. And that ridiculous 'block' in the middle of the kitchen would have to come out - looks bloody stupid just stuck there.

You're not the only one - I wouldn't buy it at any price either. It can't even be 400 square feet - barely liveable. And calling some tiny mezzanine landing area a 2nd bedroom is seriously pushing the bounds of credibility. I don't think it's "worth" more than 100K. I wonder what the present owner paid for it?

I must confess that when I was down with that 'tummy bug' everybody seemed to have earlier this year, the ensuite was absolutely invaluable! As a single person, I do like an ensuite. However, if I had a partner, it would be an entirely different story. Good luck with it! I'm also saving up for a 2 bed tenement (nice Victorian bay windowed one, or 'posh' Georgian one) with roughly the same budget (proper dining kitchen a must, of course!) - don't want to go over the £200,000 mark really. Let's agree upfront not to get in a bidding war ; and keep our fingers crossed the prices continue to fall to meet our budget.

Arrrrrrgh! This is one of my absolute pet hates. These flats are generally really well proportioned with the dining kitchen and either one or two bedrooms, and taking away the dining kitchen rips out the heart of the home to me. Another thing that winds me up is the insistence on shoving an en-suite in tiny flats. Apart from the fact that in small flats I'd much rather have the wardrobe space and a well proportioned room; en-suites in anything but the largest of mansions are disgusting! Who wants to be woken to the unique sound of his or her partner performing their morning ablutions, with the accompanying aroma wafting under the door? Please do, Muswell Hillbilly. I, for one, will be keeping a keen eye on 1 and 2 bedroom tenaments in the Marchmont, Merchison and Bruntsfield areas so am most definitely interested to hear what you have to say. It's going to be an interesting six to nine months.

So true . Just noticed it's a basement flat as well - it's like a dungeon! By my reckoning, it's about 462 square foot for which they're asking £163,000 notes. At over £350 per square foot, they've got to be joking. I'm all for buying the least expensive plot in the best area; but the space on offer seems barely livable to me. Very claustrophobic.

Brilliant! I got this comedy property sent through today - note the position of the bed in relation to the walls! http://www.edinburghprimeproperty.com/imag...;constrain=true

I think your hypothesis is very probably spot-on, EdiLass. Thanks for shedding some light on it . Normally the FP seems to be around 125% of the OO figure, and I was scratching my head trying to think why this particular flat was an exception . This one (a bit grotty) was also on at OO £135,000 a few weeks ago, but has now gone to FP of £165,000 which is round about what I'd expect.

This one (funny shaped!) bedroom flat in New Town made me chuckle earlier today - it has gone from OO to FP today. I've been monitoring 1 & 2 bed flats in New Town, Stockbridge, Morningside, Bruntsfield and Marchmont for a while now, thought it looked familiar and had saved the original ad. It's gone from OO £135,00 to FP £199,500 ! Almost a 50% uplift? You've got to be joking. If it wasn't selling at OO £135, what on earth makes the Vendor (and Agent) think it's a good idea to go FP at such a ridiculously high figure? The world's gone mad.

A mate of mine phoned Sky and said she wanted one of their packages but she had no phone line, and could they help? They paid her £120 to get the line connected from BT in return for her signing up to their 'See, Speak, Surf' package. She pays £10.50 to BT for line rental, then £15.00 to Sky which includes off peak phone calls, unlimited broadband and a couple of Sky channels - excellent package IMO. Might be worth giving Sky a call.

Thanks to everyone contributing to this thread. For those of us wanting to buy a home of our own in Edinburgh it's great to have the views and detailed analysis of other members in terms of where prices are going. Particularly with the 'offers over' system up here which can muddy the waters. A friend of mine has had his house on the market (4 beds, OO £249K, not bad area) for over a month now with just one viewer. Any views as to when the market will hit 'rock bottom'? Purely speculation, but my guess is that the agents and sellers will try and brave the summer when sales are traditionally high (but sales will stagnate), and then when the autumn/winter hits we might see some real slashes and depression in price. Total speculation though :-)