binbag

Yup, haggling defintely a good plan. Helps if you can apply the normal rules that apply to buying other things: e.g. don't look too keen. leave 2 weeks between viewings, put in offers with a time limit, say "well, you know where I am" when derisory offer is turned down. Alas, the market in Sheff doesn't seem that weak nat tyhe moment - its bloody house buying season again and there are lots of viewings. hey ho. When do I get an interest rate rise? My str fund is getting bobbins returns.

Ah, thants better. Thanks MEtallic. I was beginning to get dperessed going to see stuff in S10 and there are bloody loads of viewings going on. Fortunately, most people seem to reluctant to offer. The student housing situation is interesting. I think any fall in student numbers will take a while to show, as (i think) the two Unis still have rising roles - however, there must be some doubt as to whether these are all full time (who mainly need housing as they are new to the area) or part time (who don't, becuase they already live here) Public spending drop is good point. Does anyone have the Sheffiel housing prices in the last 1989+ drop? I have hunch that Sheffield was a later and lower drop, but total guess on my part. Could do with a decent large scale company going bust to really make an impact.... as long as its not mine...

Beautiful. Unfortunately there is not much for sale in Sheff at the mo so when i went round a fairly crap £320k five bed (you know the score, next door to students and no parking) the owners were smugly filling in their 20th viewing. Be interested in the possibility of a spring bounce, I don't think it can be ruled out as the spin is all stable market now. Any Sheffield anecdotal gratefully received.

Hmm. I've accidently discovered a good way of passing a few minutes. Agent rang up, I said: "hmm, nice house. Yes like it a lot" (excited noises down phone from ea) "second viewing? yes, that sounds like a good idea. But I don't want to waste your time, would the vendor be willing to consider an offer 20% below asking? Cos otherwise I'm not coming out to see it again" (long silence, followed by sound of ea choking on warm cup of overpriced latte) "fair enough, I'm renting at the moment, not really in a rush, give me a ring if the vendor changes their mind" (poor argument on local market from ea) "no, I've noticed at least 3 houses at this price coming back on as chains collapsed, so I don't see that I'm going to miss the boat as you whimsically put it(OK, I didn't say whimsically, but I wanted to) ah. So enjoyable. I feel guilty just thinking about it. Oh, no, the feeling has gone.

AER on cahoot is 4.94% for monthly interest over £15k. Maximum £100k. I've just been filling in the online app cos ING have done the dirty. hey ho.

And from the same edition "Interest rates more likely to rise" http://www.in2perspective.com/nr/390510/31...71707A59C095433

I think I'd settle for solid case of whiplash at the traffic lights. What I really need is a couple of "nasty traffic accident in house prices" headlines in the Guardian. Then my other half would then believe that HPs weren't actually going up and we can continue renting. My BTL landlord must obviously be pleased with his 2.4% gross yield....

Nov 2003, 4 bed detached E Mids valued for probate at £210,000. Possibly a bit low, but no comparable transactions around that time, so I think buyer at around £210,000 to £235,000 would have been possible. Valued in march 2005 at £225k, £235k, £245k, £250k, £250k by five agents. Went on at £245k. Four viewings, no offers. Price dropped to £210k. Three viewings, three offers at £210k, £210k, £214k Completed recently at £214k. Showing up in land registry, nationwide, halifax etc.....oh, round about now I should think. Should prove useful to anyone buying in the area as it establishes a new floor and nothing else that was on sale at that size has shifted. So not a crash. But not a pretty market either.

"inflation a red herring" - by this logic you would borrow £100,000 at 5%, put it in a bank account yielding 4.5% and claim that the value of the debt is being eroded by inflation, therefore all is well.

"We believe that overall rental yields are dropping not as a result of reduced rental demand but due to other market factors. House prices are stabilising and, in some areas, even falling forcing many vendors to drop the price of their properties in order to sell them. This has created an environment in which landlords are finding it harder to find under market value properties, as sellers can't lower their prices further. This has led to yields on newly purchased properties falling causing overall yields to drop." "Despite these falls, I believe that the market will remain relatively stable for the remaining quarter of 2005. With strong rental demand and a historically strong housing market, there is no need for investors to panic about their property investment." Quoted from the link at the top thread. I love the logic. This guy deserves an award. I think his logic says that yields have fallen because.....no, lost it again. Help. 1. "Sellers can't lower their prices further" Aaah yes, of course they can't. Becasue they have unrealistic expectations I guess. 2. If yields are falling one of three things is happening, either rents are falling or prices are increasing or both. If prices are falling as per his logic above, then rents must be falling too. 3. No, got lost again. Anyone help?

Yup, and yet still in business. Boxclever (ex radio rentals) used to have a similar business called telebank (they may still have it, it was a small compared to the Boxclever operation which came out of receivership in Jan 2005) The way it worked was that if you were turned down for a TV rental then you were offered one of these TV meters, through which you could pay the rental and also buy overproced goods. Homebuy run the same model. The reason it works is that the target customer has practically no access to mainstream credit (although the growth of the "sub-prime" loan market has extended that somewhat). The meter becomes the piggy bank for the house. The box is emptied by an agent who comes round regularly and the agent is basically the reason it works (or worked) and s/he builds up a strong relationship with the customer. The only other credit access is usually the informal loan market, where the APRs are quite a bit higher. All part of the gearing up of the UK. But before you knock it as a rip off, people were using this system and thinking it was the best availbale option. Takes all sorts doesn't it?

and the problem with this is what exactly?

Yeah, I think its more like the £800/month. Its a fair size but my that's a busy road. may I'll ring up and ask about it if I get bored...

Hmmm, £995 a month. Now let me see, I rent in bit of a better school catchment about a mile away, away from busy roads, opposite a park, 5 beds, same size garden, single garage, less poncy fittings. I'm paying about £900 a month. so if it rents for £900 (and I would suspect an offer from a decent tenant would get it at that) then the gross yield would be 2.4% at £450k. Tremedous return. Under 2% after costs. Do you know, I think it might not be worth £450k after all?

I've repeated what I think MEtallic has done, same source for data, but for S11 and with 3 month moving averages. Basically shows the same thing: 1. Prices have reached a plateau and have fallen slightly. 2. Transactions have fallen dramatically 3. The Xmas selling season spike just did not happen in 04. And yet I don;t really see much in the way of outright price falls. Odd, isn't it? S11_Chart.doc S11_Chart.doc