nigooner
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Posts posted by nigooner
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18 minutes ago, RoShad said:
Woohoo! Thanks for replying. A little bit of light in this whole s*itstorm ?
AirBNB’s can probably self certify for a £50k bounce back loan though. Not free money as it needs repaid, but will still keep them afloat another while yet.
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Seems a new approach. Mostly seems to be small agents I’ve not heard of, with mostly property west of the lough. Strange to see a few lough Erne houses- I know a load of these were included in the sale of the hotel, wonder if the buyer is now looking to offload them
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2 minutes ago, Belfast Boy said:
I don't think auctions use the same rules. You bid and win - it's yours! Maybe I'm wrong?
Yes but if they provided all the info, they might get more than 1 person willing to bid and drive up the price. But unfortunately they’ll never know as they just do the bare minimum!
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4 minutes ago, Belfast Boy said:
You can't just cut out the middle of standard roof trusses without weakening the roof structure. That is why steel is needed for reinforcement.
I know that, that’s why I mentioned using the existing loft access hatch.
would have expected to see stairs in the hall if they’d done a full conversion? Def a half ass*d job regardless of what they’d done, if it had been good they’d have shown photos!
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12 minutes ago, Belfast Boy said:
When my last house was being built using standard roof trusses, there was an option to upgrade to attic trusses. I didn't bother.
One of my neighbours in the development did a loft conversion. It was fascinating watching the steel beams being inserted by crane through holes in the side of the house to support the roof.
I'm fairly certain if you do an attic conversion without building control and the necessary reinforcement - then you have messed with something structural. Something that will take a lot of money to put right.
I don’t know what this Portrush house is like, but they could have just boarded out the attic and used the loft access hatch with slingsby ladders. The same caveat would normally apply- it’s not a room with building control etc.
Usually agents and auctioneers throw these caveats in without thought or due diligence just to cover their own backside and it saves them doing any homework- if I owned an EA I’d want as much info as possible up front to answer questions and save time, no point getting the house sale agreed only for it to fall through because there’s no building control cert for an attic that’s been boarded- either find out if it’s an extension or not, at least that way you can save everyone’s time and money!
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29 minutes ago, Belfast Boy said:
I was looking at the Portrush property out of curiosity as I regularly drive that road.
The rateable value is £95K and it's for auction at £70k. Relatively cheap at this moment. Then I noticed this -
"The property has been extended into the eaves however, we cannot confirm it would meet with Building Control Regultions."
Caveat emptor - let the buyer beware.
This doesn’t mean much, just means that if they’ve put an extra bedroom up there then they can’t market it as a bedroom (Provided they haven’t messed with anything structural that is!).
There isn’t much of substance in this auction, plus Wilsons have a notoriously low success rate anyway. I’d want to see a few houses in bt4 or so sell at auction to truly test the water. -
https://www-bbc-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/business-52390860
(Some) Mortgages back to normal
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3 hours ago, Belfast Boy said:
The tide has gone out. We will find out if the banks have been lending responsibly. Airbnb investments may be a (sub)prime example.
I wonder will this crash be similar to the last one? House prices peaked in Northern Ireland in the summer 2007. When did prices bottom 2012/13? 5 or 6 years?
Average House price currently £135k? A 30% drop in prices would bring the average house prices down to £94k which I think is unrealistic long term, so even if it drops that low I don’t see it being there for long with most of the population being furloughed on 80% of their pay. Might take a bit of time for those workers to be back up to full pay, and then longer for the staff of companies that do go bust to find work again, but if the banks still have money to lend then the paralysis in the market from lenders should be relatively short lived compared to 2007-2013. I also think the companies that do go bust will just start again fairly quickly- they still have the skills and access to their staff, they’ll just go bust and start up under a NewCo (it will be genuine cash flow problems that killed them rather than poor business sense, in the majority of cases).
I do agree that Airbnb purchases were overpriced, but I don’t know of any mortgage lenders who based the rental income on an actual Airbnb model, I only know of them being based on traditional monthly rent- so I would guess that those ones that are in trouble now, the banks won’t take much of a loss on those loans. I don’t know banks that were lending say £200k on an air bnb model for a flat that was only worth £150k for example. It’s more the Airbnb-ers income that will take a hammering rather than the actual LTV of the property.
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Difference this time is that the banks aren’t going bust (yet). They still have cash in reserve that can be lent out when the coronavirus has passed, rather than the last time when they had no cash to lend and needed bailed out. The government are propping up wages this time round (for now) up to £30k per year which is above the national average salary for NI. Even if they’re only getting 80% of their salary, they’ll not be spending anywhere near as much as they were before socialising and dining out etc. With such a high % of workforce in public sector it will help cushion NI.
I still expect house prices to drop in the next 12 months, but if we see big drops I don’t think it’ll be for long (like the credit crunch)- it’ll just be market jitters like after the referendum coupled with higher unemployment for a year or two. That’s my guess anyway, no need to slag me off if I’ve got it wrong and it all goes tits up! -
1 hour ago, 2buyornot2buy said:
Surprised to see these look so dated!
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13 hours ago, 2buyornot2buy said:
Not sure it has been announced. Solicitors have been advised to delay completion indefinitely. Banks have been withdrawing mortgage offers. Some at the very last minute.
I saw an article about it in Scotland but hadn’t heard of anywhere else. Not sure why it needs to happen, surely it can all be done using technology rather than needing solicitors to physically sign/witness things and hand deliver etc.
aspects like surveys obviously need done in person, but I can’t see any real benefits to justify stopping every property transaction for a set period. -
1 hour ago, 2buyornot2buy said:
Isn't an issue now. All completions have been put on hold now. There will be a complete collapse in transactions now.
If you haven't exchanged, you've probably dodged a bullet. If you have exchanged I expect some legislation soon to address this.
I see Barclays have withdrawn all products with >60% LTV.
Where was this announced?
edit- transactions stopping, not Barclays mortgages
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6 minutes ago, 2buyornot2buy said:
Actually yes you're right. For some reason I didn't think this place had a kitchen.
Not a kitchen that the purchase price would warrant anyway!
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3 hours ago, 2buyornot2buy said:
Zero chance this is bought with finance. Not "traditional" finance anyhow. It would never in a million years meet that valuation. It's going to be a cash buyer or someone with a bridging loan perhaps.
It can still be bought with traditional finance, it just won’t be at a high loan to value %
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13 hours ago, jwrag said:
Surely everyone here knows that every area has a ceiling price over which no matter how good or how big the house, the house cannot will sell for more that the ceiling. There are not many areas in Belfast outside BT9 where I would say a price of £400K plus can be supported. I would consider Ravenhill to be a good area, something similar but not quite as good as Stranmillis, so all things considered I think £400k is the upper limit for this area and that would be for the very best house in perfect/refurbished condition. Estate Agents make money by attempting to exaggerate prices and earn commission on a higher sale price, they are particularly adept at selling project houses at close to the value of a refurbished one, unfortunately some buyers will fall for this. I have a particular formula for estimate the house of project/refurb type purchases
Price of house in need of refurb = (Price of Perfect/Refurbished house in same area) - (Cost of Refurb * 1.5)
You need the 1.5 factor in the equation to compensate for the hassle of having to organise the refurb. Considering 47 Ravenhill Park, I would say some money needs to be spent, around 60K before extending is considered. Therefore this house is worth about 310K.
Price of house in need of refurb = 400 - (60*1.5)
A house can sell for whatever the buyer wants to pay for it, regardless of the ceiling price. The ceiling price only affects the financing of the purchase (if required).
As for your formula, each to their own.
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2 hours ago, JoeDavola said:
Interesting how Sydenham Park is listed as being on the Belmont Road despite it being 1.5 miles away:
https://www.propertypal.com/58-sydenham-park-belmont-road-belfast/572546/photo-3
I see agents now putting ‘ballyhackamore’ in the listing address on PN, even though the house isn’t in ballyhackamore.
Have seen agents do it with Ballyholme in Bangor also.
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3 hours ago, JoeDavola said:
Ha! They're welcome to it. I just don't get it - you're still only getting 2 and a half bedrooms for what will be coming in at almost 10 times the average wage by the time it's renovated.
I grew up in East Belfast and I have plenty of not so great memories there, so I have no desire to return. The only reason I'd return to the East is if it's cheap, but it's looking like it'll be on par with South Selfast in terms of cost soon.
10x the average wage of one person.
This isn’t the type of house that an average single person should be buying. An above average house in an above average area should be for a couple on above average wages.
In saying that, I’m not agreeing that it is good value, just that it’s comparing apples and oranges. I’d imagine an average house for the average single income would be more along the lines of a small terrace in greater Belfast, not a 2.5 bed in an expensive area.
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2 hours ago, 2buyornot2buy said:
Used house salesmen are scum. They're involved in some of the largest transactions you'll commit to in your lifetime and they can do the job without a GCSE in maths. I can only hope automation makes their 'services' redundant in the not too distant future.
It makes me laugh when I hear someone frantically asking for recommendations for a conveyancing solicitor to save 50 quid, yet the same people will gladly pay a used house salesman 1% plus VAT to put their house on the internet and not even handle evening viewings.
They put more research into saving pennies from someone who spent 3 years at university, 2 at the legal institute and 2 years as an apprentice, than they do with Gerry and his grade D media studies BTEC and his Mercedes CLK. How much does it cost a month, on a 35 year term for this 800sq foot slave box new build? Why yes Gerry I'll have a chat with your mortgage advisor, obviously there's no conflict of interest here and you're ensuring I get the best deal possible. Those prices seem quite expensive Gerry!! Oh you're right I dont intend to have any children or save for a pension.
It’s always baffled my why the likes of estate agents and car sales people don’t open late into the evenings and longer on weekends and bank holidays. I’d have thought that’s the time that suits most people to come in and make enquiries, leading to a purchase?
Ive mentioned before about freakonomics, where EAs are only incentivised up to a point. As the agents cut is only 10% of the agency’s fee of 1%, It quickly gets to a point where it’s not worth thier time to chase every offer.
£100k house means agency gets £1k, with the agent getting £100. If he has to spend 2 more hours doing viewings and chasing people to get the bid up to £105k, the extra money in his pocket is only £5- so not worth his time. They’d be better spending those two hours on another house to get an offer somewhere near the asking and move on.
It stinks, but that is sales I suppose! Until the system changes, expect more of the same.
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Australia market is largely in reverse because they’ve built a gazillion apartments in locations that nobody wants to live in
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17 minutes ago, mmca22gr said:
Sign outside it says sold.
Maybe new owners are back to renting it while they decide what to do.
You could be right, but generally the agent will just stick up a “sold” sign whenever they’re changing the instruction just to make themselves look good.
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Yes wouldn’t be the typical auction lots! Good way of getting cold hard cash in though, provided they sell...
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20 minutes ago, 2buyornot2buy said:
Herbert bought it. Failed shopping centre owner but great chicken sales man Herbert.
Could be the council refused to let him name it Lesley something or other and he's taken the hump and is going to flip it.
Haha thanks for the info. Googled it, looks like it was in OK’s last auction.
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See this site back on the market:
https://www.propertynews.com/property/OKY670710
Anyone remember what the story with it was or what it was listed at before? Must have been a deal fallen through?
Auction property information
in Northern Ireland
Posted
It’s self certifying...