Ricky_FTB

All good thanks. 2 kids and a wife since last on lol. Fond memories of this place from back in the day. It kept me sane when all the media was talking up the housing market! I’m a bit out of touch with the housing market these days to be honest.

Haven’t posted on here in 9 years! Crikey where does the time go! Still some familiar users around ? Hope you’re all well!

If the seller is going to play the game of waiting until he gets a better offer, then i would put a time limit on your offer to put them under pressure to make a decision. For example you could say 130k is valid until the end of June but after that time you will be withdrawing the offer to concentrate on other houses you are interested in (make them up if necessary!) or just say you dont want to waste your time any longer. It might work, it might not, but at least it puts the onus onto the seller and if the answer is no, you can move on!

The 'popularity' graph on the stats page is rather amusing - if the vendor happens to check it out - 335 views yesterday! and 3,5,10,1,2 ..... etc on the days before it Amazing what a link on HPC can do for popularity!

You must be talking about a different place mate coz ours isn't in a development - it's on its own. Think i might know what ones you are talking about though.

Thank you all for your very kind words! Without stumbling across this place i could have easily bought half the home with double the mortgage a few years ago, so in all honesty i owe this place big time. 2buyornottobuy - without going into too much detail, i managed to get the house for £180k less than it was originally for sale for (in mid 2008) and 25k less than the asking price when i offered. Also got some extra 'add ons' shall we say (worth about 5-10k) into the deal.

Well guys and gals after about 3 years of house hunting, the wait for my fiancee and I is finally over! Really cant tell you all how good it feels to be saying that!! Our (low) offer on a detached new-build was accepted about 2 months ago, and we have been going through all that follows ever since. Lots of decorating is the plan for the next wee while! I still think that the housing market in the uk, and here in NI especially has further to drop, but we have found a lovely home that is ideal for us both and have managed to get it for around half peak price and with a relatively small mortgage, so we decided not to let the opportunity go. I can't thank the folk on here enough for all the invaluable advice over the last few years that saved me from making a BIG BIG mistake. Good luck to the rest of you in finding a home - your patience will pay off i'm sure. ps I'll still be calling on here by the way - reading through the above again sounds like i'm bidding farewell!!

Doccyboy i totally agree. I drive past this abomination every day and it's as bad in the flesh as in pictures. Green wall here, blue wall there, wooden panelling over there....sticks out like a sore thumb against the surrounding houses.

I nearly forgot! I'll go for 600 please.

575 please

It's a very open question and obviously depends on many factors such as whether you source the workers yourself or hire a contractor to organise everything for you, standard and type of finish, shape of the house etc etc. But if it's any help, i was quoted by a local well known and reputable builder, in the middle of last year - 2400 sq ft 2 storey house, fairly standard rectangular shaped, 4 bed, 3 reception, rough cast exterior finish, black roof tiles, oak doors+trim, 3rd fix electrical installation, heating/plumbing fitted and tested - all for around £115k. That was without garage and without kitchen or bathrooms.

I'll go for 606 please.

I'll go for 600 please.

I've had some contact with this agent in the last wee while and the staff i've dealt with actually come across as relatively bearish. They admitted to me that some of their own listings were far overpriced and that they have been spending time battling with vendors to reduce their asking prices. I've had the usual rants with them about overpriced houses, state of the country, unemployment etc, the like of which i usually hear discussed on here, and to be honest they didn't seem to disagree with me! I've said for a good while that Ballymena seems to be even more overpriced than the rest of the country. Depressing

450 for me please.