Englaender
-
Posts
294 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Posts posted by Englaender
-
-
15 hours ago, Debt Slaves said:
IF you bought your house for cash, why do you want zero interest rates?
Has @Stewy actually said that he wants ZIRP or just that he thinks that interest rates will fall back somewhat to the "new normal"?
From what I've seen, all of what he's posted has been his opinion rather than his desire. I might be wrong though, and I desperately hope he is, but he's entitled to that opinion, even if the majority of us don't agree.
-
5 hours ago, The Angry Capitalist said:
Christ on a bike!!
Literally trying to turn water into wine there.
They're literally not.
-
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/137816432
This place really pisses me off but not worth starting a new thread, so adding it here.
New build "eco friendly"... and yet the EP Rating is D.
New builds shouldn't be anything lower than a C. B ideally.
And yet it's still Sold STC.
-
It appears as though this property has been purchased by Birmingham City Council and is currently being renovated in order to be turned into "temporary housing":
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/133143215#/?channel=RES_BUY
Considering this house opposite was on the market at the same time for £30k less, it seems pretty obvious that financially bankrupt BCC haven't learnt any lessons recently:
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/136085798#/?channel=RES_BUY
I'm willing to be proven wrong when the LR figures come out, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a difference of £25k in the purchase prices, with the better positioned house actually going for less.
-
On 21/02/2024 at 17:30, EnglishinWales said:
No. Mass immigration is ruining us.
I assume that you don't consider yourself to be an immigrant?
Because some might.
-
21 hours ago, winkie said:
Sure, not unusual for large families to live in rooms that are not allocated as bedrooms, certainly not living in poverty.....my point is if so bad here why come here......more room in other democratic safe countries throughout Europe.
Because the English language is more widely spoken and they're more likely to be familiar with / fluent in that than French / German / Spanish / Italian etc.
Unintended result of the UK's history of colonisation / sticking its nose in other countries' business.
-
On 21/02/2024 at 19:57, Grumio said:
Proportional representation
+2
-
On 29/04/2023 at 12:26, Englaender said:
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/134160071#/?channel=RES_BUY
66 Claremont Road, Smethwick, B66 4JY
Sold at auction at end of 2021 for £152k (and showing on Land Registry which is odd as it usually wouldn't / shouldn't)
https://www.bondwolfe.com/auctions/properties/155223-property-auction-smethwick/
Words almost completely fail me
I (wrongly) assumed that they pulled this from the market and decided to rent it out.
It turns out they actually managed to sell it for £275k, despite the piss-poor renovation and the terrible job they did of presenting it for marketing purposes, and the new owners (I believe) started renting it out instead:I think it might be time to give up.
-
On 19/12/2023 at 19:04, Englaender said:
Well, they didn't have to drop the advertised price any further to get Sold STC. Time will tell whether the sale completes and what for. Still can't quite believe it though
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/135952250#/?channel=RES_BUY
Drove past the other day and noticed Hadleigh's "SOLD" sign was no longer outside, but Knight Frank's "For Sale" board is. Just remembered to have a look on rightmove and sure enough, the listing is no longer there either:
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/135952250#/?channel=RES_BUY
However, they do have an incredibly similar looking house listed:
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/144657113#/?channel=RES_BUY
I'll be letting the good folk at rightmove know, because I believe this is against their listing policy and I'm sure they'll have something to say about it. Or not.
-
On 15/01/2024 at 07:15, Roman Roady said:
p191
Price Change History08/09/2022 Price changed from £200,000 to £190,000 09/08/2022 Price changed from £270,000 to £200,000 09/05/2022 Price changed from £280,000 to £270,000 04/04/2022 Price changed from £300,000 to £280,000 25/02/2022 Price changed from £325,000 to £300,000 12/01/2022 Price changed from £350,000 to £325,000 17/11/2021 Initial entry found: £350,000 Overall change: -45.7% (-£160,000)sold in 2022 for £190k
This one looks quite interesting though. Can't work out why it was "cash buyers only" from the pictures. Nothing immediately obvious.
Suspect it was bought by a landlord and is now being rented out or a developer who's doing it up and will stick it back on the market this year.
If it has gone to an owner-occupier, probably a downsizing boomer. But the price doesn't look unreasonable when compared to other local sales.
-
31 minutes ago, Roman Roady said:
p193
Sold in 2022 for £1,675k....26%
The problem is that that is still a phenomenal amount of money for what is essentially a pretty bog-standard detached 5 bed house with a conservatory. The whole thing looks very 90s / 00s too.
I find it difficult to celebrate this
-
18 minutes ago, wighty said:
Looking at video tour it's the only one they could get into
I'd have missed that if it weren't for you. Thanks!
-
On 10/01/2024 at 15:21, Stewy said:
Only decrepit tips have to sell at auction.
Thank you for giving me somewhere to post this:
-
21 hours ago, mynamehere said:
Estate agents don’t value the property - they advise what price to market the property at.
Some sellers like high volume and a bidding war. Others prefer low volume and finding just one good offer with no drama.The market ultimately sets the price. Whether you price it 100k over or 100k under. The end result will be similar.
It’s very regional too. In Scotland it’s common to list 10 or even 20% under expectation to drive volume. Serious buyers understand the list price has nothing to do with the value.
I agree for the most part. Surveyors theoretically value a property.
As strange as it sounds though, surveyors to an extent don't necessarily take decor or condition into account when arriving at their "valuation" figure, as although those things will be commented upon in their reports, the valuation is primarily based on "comparables" (completed sales / purchases of comparable size properties in close proximity etc) and in particular square footage. Which means a surveyor should be valuing a traditional 3 bed terrace with downstairs bathroom the same as the house next door which has had the third bedroom turned into an upstairs bathroom. But that's obviously not what estate agents and many buyers / sellers think, as marketing prices became increasingly about multiples of potential rental income. And their valuation should have little to do with dropped kerbs, outside space and a lot of the things that might cause an EA to suggest a higher marketing price.
However, where the system falls down in my opinion, is that (from my surveyor friend's intel) if his valuation was no more than 10% less than the agreed sale price, then the agreed sale price is what the "valuation" would magically become. Even though that meant an inflation in prices.
And, of course, affordability and interest rates aren't taken into account at all, which I think is another contributing factor to current prices remaining stubbornly high despite the base rate going from 0.1% in Nov 2021 to % in Aug 2022.
So, whilst the market will set the price, the market isn't being controlled in the way it should.
-
Just now, Frankie Teardrop said:
Footballers have to live somewhere...
They do indeed. And if this house was somewhere else, then I'm sure they might. But if you look at picture 44 of 45, you'll see it's next to a crossroads at a busy junction, with a double-decker bus route stop next to it, and directly over the road from a pub.
It's not a footballer buying this. Although maybe someone with presumably more money / credit than sense / taste. -
5 hours ago, Locke said:
Just abolish planning permission
I implore you to drive around Birmingham and see what monstrosities get constructed with planning permission, never mind the number of alterations that seem to ignore that process and the building regulations requirements. I'd be loathe to see planning permission completely abolished because I can't see it leading to anything other than more hideous and dangerous slum-housing. Councils are really pretty ineffective and ineffectual when it comes to policing this because of the lack of funds.
-
On 13/12/2023 at 13:43, winkie said:
How do you know they were selling the food they were given, did you ask them?.....or did you just think they were, in all walks of life you get those that will take advantage of a situation, most are referred and those that work there will know who is pulling a fast one.
Because it had got back to the people who organised the foodbank that they were from other local residents.
But, still anecdotal evidence rather than physical proof, I'm afraid.
-
On 18/09/2023 at 19:40, Englaender said:
Now £1.75m
I reckon they're going to need to drop it a lot more to find a buyer
Well, they didn't have to drop the advertised price any further to get Sold STC. Time will tell whether the sale completes and what for. Still can't quite believe it though
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/135952250#/?channel=RES_BUY
-
Can we have an "absolutely no bloody idea" option?!
Not least because I don't know how the sale of the property mentioned in this thread / article (which sold for £57m in 2020 and has recently sold again for £138m) would affect average house prices, let alone what it says about anything other than people being happy to spend anything they've got irrespective of whether it makes any sense.
-
48 minutes ago, staintunerider said:
There's so much in that story that makes me really just want to give up on the UK so I am not forced to pay into this lunacy while getting no safetly net myself like the majority of us who actually provide the funds to make any of this at all possible... I literally despair...i really do....liberals and socialists spending other people money for their vision of the UK..
However that Landlord is risking serious porridge if something happens, does this not occur to them ? The local Authority will put it all on him or her that's for sure......
Likewise, and I would say that for the most part, I'm one of those with some liberal and socialist leanings. However, to put it all on liberals and socialists ignores the fact that we've lived under a Tory government for the last 13 years.
The landlord clearly doesn't give a flying ****** though. And either the staff at the council are the same or they're so completely overwhelmed that they don't have the time / energy to do anything about it.
I'd do more digging and like to kick up more of a fuss, but knowing their tenancy is up next year, I don't want to cause any potential problems for the family either. The family are lovely, the kids are all settled at local schools and it's not really my place to jeopardise that for them.
I'm pretty sure this is just one of the landlord's portfolio of houses and wonder how many times this situation is repeated by him alone, never mind by others country-wide. it's probably best I don't think about it too much and just get out and go to the gym.
-
28 minutes ago, supermarioj said:
For far too long, many people have deluded themselves that being a landlord was easy, secure money. A consequence of cheap money. Cheap money is a thing of the past now. I don't believe the rental market can ratchet up rents for much longer and there will be a big correction. The danger is that housing benefit will increase because, as we know, many MPs are landlords.
I don't see anything to suggest it still isn't though. Take this rental for example:
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/105774308#/?channel=RES_LET
Went on the market last Friday. They had a queue of about 10 waiting outside for the letting agent to view on Monday. Despite the state of the bathroom and the kitchen (tile hanging off the wall, ceiling tiles not even put back in place) and having to walk past a mattress that was dumped in the street when previous tenants moved out and was then back in its front yard.
Rent has gone from £650 pcm in April 2021 to £950 pcm now and I suspect anyone looking to rent it is getting at least a sizeable chunk of that paid for them. Landlord who bought in Feb 2017 for £115k must be laughing because even if he put it back on the market, he'd easily get over £175k for it, despite the state it's in.
-
On 05/12/2023 at 15:28, anonguest said:
Greatly appreciate all the various threads and posts by others showing, supposedly, lots of price reductions all over the place over the past many months - this year in particular.
BUT, having been very recently helping daughter no.1, in mid-twenties, to start looking for her first place to possibly buy/get on the property ladder... I SEEM to be seeing what little signs there had been recently of what would hopefully be a more prolonged downturn in prices, going into next year even, now disappearing? With asking prices starting to creep up again.
Anyone else/other market watchers getting a sense that our much awaited HPC has been a 'blink and you'll miss it' event? And that, perhaps with less panic about interest rates than recently, 'confidence' is starting to creep back out of hiding again - both on part of sellers and buyers ??
For context, am looking in East of England (Suffolk/Norfolk/parts of Cambridgeshire)
I think you're right that in many cases, asking prices are creeping up. But then it's very hard to undo the mantra of the last 25-ish years that house prices only ever go up (even if they most definitely did immediately before and for at least a couple of years in the middle-ish). Besides, most people's homes are always "different" or an exception to the rule...
I'm not sure about "confidence" creeping back out of hiding though. I think it's more likely a reflection of sellers being naive or greedy and EAs being naive or incompetent. There's definitely been a softening of prices in the area in Brum that I keep a close eye on where the houses are predominantly early 20th century 2 or 3 bed semis or terraces. This is despite them being popular with FTBs, landlords and down-sizers and the area being historically somewhat undervalued in relation to some neighbouring suburbs.
What I have noticed is that houses that require any work, even if it would primarily be cosmetic, are taking longer to go Sold STC. My suspicion being that whilst FTBs are desperate to get out of the rented sector, they don't have the time / energy / inclination / money to invest in improving a doer-upper. And even if the place they end up buying has had little more than a cursory refurb and probably didn't have the really important and slightly more expensive stuff (roof, electrics, central heating, insulation etc) done.
I don't envy anyone looking to buy at the moment. As @Obiwoncanary posted after you:
I also think too little has been made of the fact that even buying at -10% of peak because of increased mortgage rates you are still worse off. After having another rent rise (another factor seldom spoke of) I've decided to buy. It's all so depressing.
-
16 minutes ago, msi said:
I don't want to take this off topic, but my understanding is you can't just rock up to a food bank. You need to be referred by a support agency (GP, Social Worker etc) so wouldn't that cover the identify and eligibility checks?
Pretty sure that the local church which runs the food bank I donate to doesn't require people to be referred to it. And suspect that the "community re-use social enterprise" I was in didn't either. But the one my friend was assisting with definitely didn't as that was clearly the topic of discussion.
Happy to be proven wrong by others with better first-hand knowledge, but I suspect this still doesn't mean there isn't the opportunity to play the system as I intimated.
-
On 30/11/2023 at 13:19, winkie said:
I don't agree necessarily with food banks, nobody in a first world country should have to be dependent on charity.......the government is relying far too much on the good will of others to avoid providing for people's needs, not just food either.....we really don't want to go backwards to workhouses no social safety net......as if wealthy big businesses and individuals that knowingly and are able to be paying less in taxes via accounting, moving, fortune or luck making themselves feel better, more accountable by giving what they are prepared to give, choose to give and feel happy to give to charitable organisations makes it better..... Most people do not want to be reliant on charity, they don't like to see food wasted to boost the profits of corporations that would rather throw good food away than reduce the price.
I'm somewhat on the fence about food banks. I agree that nobody in a first world country should have to be dependent on charity and I'm glad that they are there for those who genuinely are.
However, I was donating some furniture to "community re-use social enterprise" (a charity that isn't a charity basically) a few weeks ago and whilst I was there, two people came in to collect food parcels. They'd clearly rushed out to get them as soon as they got a notification that some were available as the staff commented that they weren't ready yet. The intended recipients seemed somewhat affronted by this, so they went outside to sit in their cars (which were a number of years newer than mine) and scroll on their smartphones (which are definitely more expensive than my phone) whilst they waited.
I also have a friend involved in organising a food bank in an affluent area of West Londump, and overheard some of their meeting a few months back. They were having serious issues with the same people collecting from numerous food banks each day, some of it clearly organised with a view to reselling to others. They were loathe to put in place any form of checks of identity to restrict the availability to those who are genuinely in need and might not wish to identify themselves.
Whilst most people probably do not want to be reliant on charity, there are undoubtedly some who are willing to take advantage of it, to the detriment of others.
Apologies for slight thread drift...
The great HPC is HERE
in House prices and the economy
Posted
I feel the same about Birmingham. Housing is still relatively cheap in a number of areas compared to other major cities and plenty of it is still being bought up by cash-rich Chinese investors / HK relocators and BTL slumlords. The effect of the rule change about EPCs for rental properties was evident pretty much instantly as the latter started buying again.
Even the financially (no, I did not say morally) bankrupt Birmingham City Council are buying places on the open market to refurb and house people.
Prices in some areas are definitely slipping slightly, but in the areas they should really be dropping, there are still a number of buyers stubbornly keeping prices high and ready to jump in if they drop further.
I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think I am.