johnsp

I had a [place off ormeau rd. it, like all it's neighbours, was leasehold (something like 990 years left). ground rent was insignificant, like maybe £2 a year or something. no issue with mortgage etc. don't let it put you off, although property details should include length of lease as ours did.

I've received the following guestimates based on experience and mainland labour costs. any comments? Windows say 20 windows and 2 doors 7,400.00 Scaffold 6,000.00 If the felt and battens do not have to be removed, tile with concrete tiles 5,500.00 Facia & Soffits plastic or wood 2,500.00 Guttering and down pipes assuming drains have been completed 2,000.00 Render 4,000.00

ausdave - "Generally if you have to ask it's not for you unless you've a lot of good trade mates." why is that? are you seriously suggesting that everyone who has ever self built was somehow born knowing the cost and didn't need to ask anyone? general points - cash purchase, no mortgage. 5 bed, roof is minus slates, but battons are on.

thanks for the replies.

anyone any real idea of the cost to finish a part built house? walls and roof are on, but no windows/doors or slates on roof. interested in cost to make watertight and then cost for internal stuff, cheers, John

thanks for replies guys

thanks, reason for question is to work out how much is a reasonable offer. property has been on the market for a long time. was reduced 7 months ago and has only had 1 offer ages ago for 20% below asking price. vendor determined to hold on for full asking price as 'that's what he needs to get his money back' originally wanted to develope the land, but obviously not going to happen now. the other offer is surprisingly similar to my valuation. not really sure the other offer is real either.

anyone know if the ratable value of a property includes the land around it? so if I enter the street number and get a ratable value, is that just the house or would that include land / outbuildings? thanks, John

I would like to thank all regular posters on the NI thread. I am based in the south east (of England) but have a NI wife, so we all know what that means this site has saved me from buying (in NI) at the peak when arguments were, 'if you don't buy now you'll never be able to buy here' how wrong they were! in answer to realistic NI EA above, I find many (most?) EA's are still completely delusional about prices. there really is a widespread feeling that 'it was worth x in 2007, how can it be worth x-y now' I did find a place we liked and was told what the minimum price 'had to be'. a bit of digigng and I found out that the purchase price (in 2007) for the whole minus a couple of fields sold off, came to the 'minimum price' delusional. thanks everyone

thanks for replies, if I wish to apply for a delay in repossession, do I need to do that before the court date? to be clear, a court date has been set for 19th July when the mortgage lender is seeking repossession from the owner.

thanks

thanks for the reply. I suspect it's not above board btl mortgage as, believe it or not, one of the joint owners didn't know about this mortgage. they did know about another mortgage that they were servicing. not even sure how the second owner managed to mortgage it again without either the first mortgage people or other owner finding out. court hearing is july 19th, so I guess even if the court hands them the property it will take a while to get around to issing notice etc. the irony is, we are in this place because the previous rental looked like it would be repossesed as we kept having bailiffs looking for the owner! the joys of renting.

Anyone offered on a part finished rural property recently? there seems to be quite a few about. assume many are being sold by mortgage companies/banks. are they likely to go for low offers? curently based in England, but likely move to NI soon. anyone local know if it's easy enough to find builders at the moment, I suspect so. anyone have general views on overal rural market (Fermanagh / Tyrone)? cheers, John.

hi, renting a house on assure short hold tenancy, 6 month term. 3 months in and I get a letter telling me the mortgage company is going to court to reposses the properety. presumably for mortgage arrears. question, can I be evicted during the 6 months tennancy term? thanks.

surprised to see no comment on the piece yesterday (see hpc front page) showing Dublin prices dropped 2.4% in June, yes ONE month. they have been dropping for 43 straight months! anyone looking to buy would I presume be looking for the rate of decline to slow first. in my view this points to more significant drops in the near future. on a slightly different subject, I have been looking at sites in the west of NI. I am curently based in England and have started getting calls from agents saying to ignore the asking price and just make an offer. does this match other's experience? on a third point, anyone experience of buying semi completed hosues?

I see to many people asking a price 'they need to achieve' rather than a realistic price. this WILL change.

catmandu - as a general rule I wouldn't bother with subscription websites for building sites. I subscribed to one (plotsearch) and found that a significant % of sites listed only gave basic information and a link to another pay to view website. really irritating. as an asside, I am looking for sites in western NI, maybe around Enniskillen and have noticed a lot of sites advertised that seem to have planning permission expired.

belfastvi of course the asking price is related to the final selling price. it will obviously vary as any seller can ask any price. but, as a broad concept asking prices are a starting point, and if people are routinely achieving (say) 20% less than asking price it tells you where the market is going in the same way as market makers paying 20% less than the bid price means the price is likely to drop as they don't want stock.

dmac, out of interest at what level below asking are you offering on sites? looking at sites myself, but really not sure what is a 'reasonable' offer. cheers, John.

whilst on the subject of rural building sites, anyone know how easy it is to get the actual shape /materials of an approved design changed? every single rural plot I've seen has exactly the same design. two storey with door in the middle and slightly lower side extrension for sunroom / utility. also, all seem to have double garage slightly to one side. I've even seen one that specified red pvc door!

thanks for the reply. "From a price point of view, each site will be priced on its own merits. In my target area, the average site of about 1 acre is worth around 55K. Additional acres of quality ground should be priced around 8-10K. " out of interest, where is your area. I've been looking both in the west and also Co Down. seems to be a huige range of prices. guess some are still priced at hope levels.

thanks guys.

thanks for the replies. I am surprised that 5.5 time joint salary is still available. can you point me at the thread? thanks, John.

Hi Guys, been a while since I last posted. some may remember I was looking at prices for rural sites in NI (I'm currently in England) have not been watching too closely whilst england has had it;s little (false?) bounce. wondering what the situation is like in NI? are prices dropping again? do (most) people expect further falls this year? any specifics about rural sites or property with a few acres? cheers, John.

I Think the important thing is that this is saying out loud to joe public in denial exactly what many on here realise, that an average house should not and will not cost more than 3* average salary. Many people (sellers) have forgotten this. This could be the big wake up call.