headwindow

People, wake up. We've had our property crash. It was 12 months ago. Some amazing opportunites for savvy people. I got 50% off my new build. 9 months later worse flats in my block are £80k more than mine. I bought at the bottom. Oh, but let me guess. This time next year we'll be 80% down. Yawn!!!

Nobody has mention an important point. When I rented I hated it. You are living in someone elses house. You can't really do anything with it, and it feels temporary. That includes when I rented for 6 years in London! Now that I have bought a place it is amazing. You wake up in your house. You can paint the walls, do what you like. A real sense of pride that you never get from renting. I bought in January this year. I think I picked it just right. No regrets at all.

Face it, this "70% fall in prices" which you all bang on about isn't going to happen. You'll all end up with a cellar full of beans for the D day that never happened.

I agree with a lot of the above. We'll get through this recession, and people will be thinking 'was that it? what am I going to do with these 400 tins of beans?' This is Britain, there is a lot of wealth out there. If you see a place you love for 30% off, grab it. Those waiting for 70% drops are going to be renting like losers for the rest of their lives.

I just bought a sofa from Habitat 70% off - I'm very happy. The build quality is amazing. Tried DFS, all the seams look weak, and they are ugly as hell.

Cash sale. Years of saving paid off. With the rates of return I was getting with IF.com and the others, property suddenly seemed more attractive. I fell right into GBs trap!

Just put in very silly offer, but in a serious way. Say things like "If we can do it at that price, I'll shake your hand now and we'll have a deal" Use sales techniques on the sales people!

Everyone here would have done the same. My conscience is clean!

Spot on, this was a condition of the sale. I had to use their solicitor. I had another look over the documents at my own expense as well though. I'm guessing they made me use their solicitor for a couple of reasons. To speed things up - the lease was an inch thick. And to also fiddle the figures. But what do I care - I got the keys! If a higher price goes on the LR, then when I go to sell it, it should 'hold its value' more. But in this market, who knows.

Just completed on a new build. Yes, I am mad etc. But I got a good deal. 50% off. But here is the strange thing. Lots of the paperwork showed the asking price, although what I paid was £70k less. This was put on the paperwork as a 'gift' from the builder. I asked what would show on land registry figures, and they confirmed it would be the higher price. here is the scary thing - LR figures are used by governments to make policy decisions. The BoE uses them to make interest rate decisions. But they are 30% off! Why do you think the builder would have done this?

I had an idea to set up a website that allowed people to raffle their houses nice and easy. easyHouseRaffle.com or something like that. But from that performance of less than 100 tickets, then I'll think I'll pass...

FTB Very large deposit - finance wasn't an issue And as for offers, factor in another 12 months worth of price falls. And explain that when you make your offer. And don't act desperate! But act serious. Say you'll pay the deposit today if you can secure it at the price you want. With the state of the market, it's very tempting for them, just to get the cashflow. I've spent a lot of time in India, backpacking around. It's no different to haggling for a t-shirt. Don't act keen. Come in with a very low offer to set the tone and to give yourself room to move. Be emotionless. And if they let you walk away then perhaps you have come in too low. But don't worry - you'll be remembered as a good lead. And one day they'll phone you.

Well, things are selling in the block at a much higher price. They are chasing the market down though. I was told not to tell the other residents what I paid. It would start a riot.

Wow - first I felt the love, now I'm feeling the hate. Fair enough I suppose. That's how it works in the UK. I am not an EA, I'm in IT. When I lived in London I remember being taken out in a Foxtons mini around Islington. This was 18 months ago, at the beginning of the crash. The first bad housing news was starting to filter through. I asked the guy if he thought the market was a bit iffy. 'Never better' was the reply. He was such a pr1ck, and I hope Foxtons go bust. Slimey thieves. Bucks is not expensive - compared to London anyway. I was looking around Upper street N1 and it's heart breaking. £400k for a small two bed flat. I have paid less than half that for a lovely 3 bed. Not a future slum either. To those in London, there is life outside believe it or not! And you can commute in fairly easily.

If I want, I can buy a can of bright pink spraypaint, and spray a giant, 8 ft, crudely executed c0ck on my wall. And not worry about losing my deposit, or the damage, or a landlord. That's QoL !! But if it wasn't for this phonecall out of the blue, I'd still be renting and waiting. Lucky I guess.

These flats don't have these issues. Not saying they are perfect, but I'm very fussy. And no, I won't link to the development. I could have bought a house, but the GF and I aren't ready for the suburban life just yet. We like being in the middle of things. I also need to sometimes go overseas for long periods of time, and it's great to know your stuff is 100% secure. (I'll be back on here in a few months, crying into my keyboard about what a terrible mistake it all was...)

No stamp duty to pay. Very small mortgage - less than my rent by miles. Funnily enough, even though the market doesn't affect me any more, I'll still drop by here with my morning cuppa. It's a stimulating place.

Yes, previously the interest I earned on the high interest savings accounts covered my rent. So it was fine. But Labour have screwed us, and has decided to punish savers. Well, their trick worked. I went and spent my savings.

OK, so two or more years of reading this forum with my morning cup of tea. And late at night. Trawling rightmove, globrix and the local papers. Juggling my money between high interest savings accounts. Living in rented accomodation which don't really like. A process that just went on and on, and seemed to have no end in sight. But on the weekend something remarkable happened. I got a phonecall from the sales office, and they had accepted my 'joke offer'. My joke offer was 50% off peak. Checking land registry figures people bought at twice what I have just paid. And I have the best flat in the block by miles. Best views, most private. King of the castle. So, to all of you renting and waiting - hang in there. You'll get that phone call. Just start putting in silly offers. They are not as silly as you think. Just wanted to give out some hope! And yes - maybe if I had waited another 12 months I may have got 60% off or whatever. But there is a factor at play here which sometimes gets forgotten - quality of life.