southeast

Well done. It seems that you have been seeing the same trend as me. Very frustrating the southeast!

The areas we are looking at are quite specific, I save details of all properties that come on the market in these areas over a certain price threshold. When they go under offer I add them to my spreadsheet. Address, starting price, reduced price, floor area, comments. Then when the LR is updated calculate % off initial and % off final and price per Sqm. It is a bit laborious but not that much due to the small number coming up. As I say been doing the sheet since 2010 as a suggestion form someone on here actually. Been saving electronic details much longer. The spreadsheet must be about 400 lines or so, of which only about 5-10 properties would have been of interest to me. Obviously large plots etc will make a difference. Also don't count Sqm of garages etc. I haven't gone as far as post codes etc, but have a good memory so have a scan of the sheet for comparables. One thing I forgot to add was price for really bad condition, that seems to be about £2500 per Sqm (as in uninhabitable). It does vary but the categories I posted of average, good village and prime spots do seem to give a good indication. In the past this was the way agents valued property, but now I think they just make it up, or look to see how disappointed you are when they give you a price lol then up it! As everything it's just a guide but its better to be informed than not....I guess a lot of people on here are analytical so would like this approach, but as ever not everything conforms to rules or averages so I might still get it wrong

I thought my post was sort of balanced, did you not read the whole thing, I did point out that I have seen discounts upto 35% but these are not on properties that are suitable for us or ones which I would like to buy. The objective is not to buy the house with the best deal no matter what. This is only applicable if its an investment, whereas I want somewhere nice to live in, I.e. a home. As for trolling I don't think so, read some of my previous posts. It's just this is my view at this moment in time. I wouldn't recommend someone with a small deposit or a young first time buyer buying just now. But for some people it might be ok. At this time I just don't see large scale widespread discounts or a crash. It might be different in your area, but not here in the south east I'm afraid.......... Just to sum up I agree that prices are crazy and I'm not saying there is value in any way...but sometimes enough factors come together to change your mind about buying that's all.

After all these schemes to prop up prices and QE I don't think we will see anywhere near 40% off. They have shown that at least for now they won't let prices drop, or at least try everything they can. Even without this I think 40% is ambitious. As I posted a few weeks ago everything around here is going mental, even in the last few days 1 million plus houses going straight on rightmove as under offer. We decided to go for a property in the best area possible and one big enough to live in forever, although it is pricey. But when you can get rates at around 2.5% and the worry of all the cash in the bank then it's starting to look like we should just give in. So fingers crossed it goes through.......it will probably crash when we have bought though!! Our strategy is to overpay loads in the 1st five years, I don't see rates moving much in this timeframe. It's a risk yes but so is life. Faced with several years renting, seeing the local market going mental, and the opportunity to live in a cracking house in the best area with no scum agents in involved (letting agents really starting to bog us off) we have come to the conclusion that we should give in! As for offers, we have made a few serious ones, but either someone else has ended up getting it for about the same amount, as we went in too early etc, or the vendors have taken it off the market. A repo we tried to get is looking to resell for a significant profit and we are kicking ourselves! We thought the agent was lying about a higher offer! I have been keeping a spreadsheet of sold data, and although haven't got it to hand here, discounts are something like a range of -35% to plus a few percent. Not many are real discounts though, just initial delusions. We are getting about 10% of the property we have in the pipeline from initial asking, but only a few % off final asking. What's more important is to understand price for area/street against price per square meter. In our area this is about £3000 average, £3500 for good village locations and £4000 for the very best locations/houses. Ok a few gave been over this but not typical. Like anything this all depends on the area and personal circumstances, but after several years renting we are definitely fed up, worried about our significant deposit, and seeing the local market going mental!

I would say my 'haggling' falls into various camps. Firstly there is just doing good research and getting a good deal. Somtimes it is convienitent to ask a more local company if they will match the good deal you found from research and this can make logisitical sense. Then there is the type of haggling on your car insurance where you get the best quote and then politely ask if they can make it any better and get another £50 off or whatever. If you are polite and just say what can you do and then save another £50 why not, dont think this has anything to do with 'getting one over on someone'. I only tend to haggle on products, and shop around for services. As a service can always be reduced to account for the discount, and you may not be happy with the outcome. Although saying that we usually ring round when getting the car serviced and get the local dealer to match. This saved about £55 last week, just by aksing, not being pushy or anything. Estate agents fees are another good exmaple. One of the occasions we used an agent they quoted like 1.4% and I just said how about a fixed fee equivalent to 1% of the asking price, and they jumped at it.....so no being clever or anything just polite enquiry... So disagree that it is all about being clever or getting one over, although I conceed that there are people like that....in fact an old line manager I had would spend hours on the phone annoying various sellers/retailers about very small amounts, then find some problem latter on and try and get some money back....but he was a d1ck.

I think discounts are very much car and dealer dependant, not just relating to HP. I know many people who have had massive discounts off list price, just look at some of the web deals on some of the more expensive cars. Margins are built in to make it look like you are getting a good deal. Unfortunately some people don't haggle. Granted some dealers won't discount, just move on to the next! Got about 20% off a car in 2009, and about 10% off a less expensive car more recently.......and as another poster said some dealers often have adverts of no vat, like Skoda have been doing in the last couple of years.

This is the problem, no one values science and engineering anymore. This should be where investment is aimed, not houses! But unfortunately some non skilled 'project manager' can get paid more to boss about engineers and cause chaos. Often on some ludicrous contractor rate, and the mental thing is everything goes better when they are not there! The UK does not value skill. How many institutions recognise a professional/Chartered Engineer. They just lump non-skilled/craftsman/technician/chartered engineer all in the same basket......and that's when they're not calling planners cost engineers or risk engineers or some rubbish....... Rant over (ish)

Yes, seem to remember they bought the tower for like 3 or 400k and said they wanted to do it for 750k or something but ended up implying they had a mortgage over 1 million at the end but kind of didnt say. Said they had to sell some of their other properties or something... Remember at the end they were like, but its so worth it for the best view in london...blah etc...... Looked good, but persoanlly, too tall, not enough space outside (although did have a garge) too close to the modern rubbish around it.

Which is exactly why I added: ------------------------------ So as long as the house is actually worth what you pay (and by worth I mean being able to resell for at least the same price), then it doesnt look so bad does it! -------------------------------- Its a dangerous game whichever way you look at it....I just thought i'd add that example to show that its not straightforward.......... Plus in my case if prices went down, then surley I already have the buffer of the magic HPI fairy that forms 'part' of my deposit? So until the loss breaches that 'profit' (lol) then I wouldnt have lost yes/no?

You didnt read it as I meant it. I wasn't saying a fixed rate. I was merly making a comparison, of course rates might go up, but in the near term i very much doubt it. I was using the numbers to provide a comparison between what i could pay now and what i have had to pay previously.....just used 10 years as a reasonable time to pay it back.....and a number on which to base my calculation.....

I agree that most people look at the payments rather than the total cost, and that is why personally when we had a mortgage we overpaid like there was no tomorrow and if/when we take our next we will do the same. However an interesting comparison: Borrow 300k @ 2.5% over 10 years and pay 39k in interest. (I can get this rate now!) Borrow 150k @ 6% over 10 years and pay 49k in interest. (I was paying this rate or more from early 00's to 2008) So as long as the house is actually worth what you pay (and by worth I mean being able to resell for at least the same price), then it doesnt look so bad does it! This coupled with the fact that they are probably going to keep rates low for 5 to 10 years starts to make you think. I know it could all go wrong and I am in no way advocating people go crazy (although the bank will lend it!) its just food for thought.................................

I think where an agent becomes useful is where a property is truly difficult to sell. They can convince people it is worth a look on the off chance they will fall in love. An online advert can not do this. Also don't underestimate how stupid people are. I have a friend who is selling at the mo and some people get freaked by the most minor details that are insignificant and need someone to talk them round, his agent has at least appeared to help in this case. Don't get me wrong i hate dealing with EAs and also the fees when selling. I guess online is a good route though if you have a really desirable property that people would be fighting over. Although without an agent in this case you may not get the desired bidding war. What the industry really needs though is some sort of binding deposit upfront to stop all the breaking chains and time wasters, but no one is going to do something sensible like that are they oh no.....

Good to see a breakdown illustration, brings a bit of objectivity to the debate....

Maybe, I did qualify it by saying one cant live like a king on 100k. Still think its ok though. As for private schools I know you can pay 10K a term, but looking at some of the websites (looked at st pauls) you can pay about £1600 a month or more like 1k ish a month for us not so close to londoners (looked at Readng based examples)......per child obviously Think what it must be like for people who have ordinary jobs and live in the south east or worse London...............................

Lol, at least its not Rosie Millard now that would wind me up! Although not in London we are only 30/40 miles away and the number of people I know who must have a household income of over 100k (not each, just combined) and wine about being broke is unreal. They borrow money off their parents to buy relitively cheap stuff etc etc. So lets assume they are taking home nearly 6k a month gross, paying lets say 1k to 1.5k in mortgage or rent, and 1k in food and bills. I think thats about right based on my own outgoings. So they have about 3.5k a month as disposable income, that is some serious eating out, flash financed cars etc before you are in trouble! Even if they have kids they will be using child care vouchers and claiming 15 hours a week free care (over 3), or they will be at school, harldy any of them use private schools. So whilst I can see that it may not give you the life of a king, 100k, either sole or houshold income is hardly rubbish (I know London will be a lot worse, but we are talking within easily commutable distance here). Lets face it in the 90s we had to live off 3-4k a year at uni, you then left and got a job around the 20k mark and you felt rich. I think the current uni leavers are fecked......the price of everything is mental, then add what 50k+ of student debt, and say a starting salary of 24k, if they are lucky. My approach has always been save, haggle on everything and buy good quality stuff (only ever have to buy it once)....dont really eat out much, or waste money on tat. Dont buy unless you have saved the money up beforehand etc..... Oh and I didnt like the way she proposes that it is ok for her mates to marry guys they dont like.....like it is ok to treat people badly to get what you want, i.e. she has sympathy for her friends rather than the guy who is getting used!!!!!!

I have seen some of this sharp practice, but not that much for my local villages. I was referring to genuine stuff. I keep a very close eye on the local market. Being saving details on the PC since 2003, in an organised way since about 2006 and been keeping a very detailed spreadsheet since 2010. So at least I 'think' I know the value of things. But then the odd house price surprises me, sometimes more, and in a few cases significantly less. However any potential good deals haven't come off, and the circumstances have been a bit suspicious. Like saying things are sold when showing available. Like people accepting an offer, then changing their mind (maybe EA passes info to a mate perhaps).....etc etc

Withdrawing your offer is pointless. If you ring up and ask them to do that they will wonder what you are going on about. The fact that someone has offered 95% has given them an indication of what people might be prepared to go to. If they could use it as a lever for others they still can, and quite legitimately now. I.e. they can truthfully tell others 95% has been rejected. If I were you I'd just wait and see if they contact you. We have an agent who rings us about a house every couple of months asking if we want to increase an offer we made, we just say no but if they change their mind we are still here. I doubt they will, it's been on about a year and a half so far!

I posted a couple of weeks ago that this is what I have been seeing too. North east Hampshire here...... Some selling before hitting rightmove. Much of the cheaper stuff going quickly. Even some of the utter rubbish thats been on for years is selling. As said (typed) previously really feel like giving up. It might all end in tears, but if that takes 5-10 years then for me it would be better just to give in and buy (plus points, no more lettings agents, permanent familiy home, getting screwd on savings anyway why not take some cheap money) Personally the budget showed me the true colours of our new leaders!

Granted there are lots of cheaper places to live. Places where we could buy some quite nice/large houses for cash, however I doubt we could get a job. We moved to the south east for that very reason, couldnt get two good jobs in the north, easy to get a job in the south. Yes the cost of a house is mental, but still overall better off with two good jobs and the prospect of renting/buying an expensive house than two poor jobs and a nice cheap house. Swings and roundabouts...... Our area of the sout east is mental (comutable to london), but those prices in cambridge are even more out of touch/insane that here!

According to the claculators online Nationwide looks like about 5 times and HSBC about 4 times. Peronsally i think 3 times is about the limit, although it does depend on a number of factors. From my conversations with these people as long as you can verify your income etc and dont have loads of debts etc then the calculators are a good guide to what would be lent. In the past I have also found this to be the case, with MIP offers being around these figures.

This is what makes it hard to decide what to do. If it was clearly booming or crashing the decision would be easy, but it is doing neither so it makes it hard. We have been renting for far too long now, and the local market seems to have kicked off quite a bit in the last couple of months. Even the real rubbish has started to shift, that makes me worry. Whilst at the same time I am getting robbed by the bank with low low savings rates. When i could get over 3% i was content, now that is looking more like 2%. Dont want to fix as I want to be able to buy if the right place comes up. So the choice, get 2% minus tax, or borrow at 2.5% ish. Oh and we have had numberous things go wrong with the rental house too and the agents are starting to annoy me (a lot). So we had decided to buy something this year, then the budget......lets give everyone a free deposit, this sounds like a recipe for more HPI to me! So fed up of renting, prices and government defy logic for far too long, make it clear they will do everything possible to support the feckless, suggest telling us how long interest rates will stay low, blah blah. You will probably get your crash the day after we buy somewhere lol! The best I hope for is that there isnt another boom and it will be sorted for future generations. Dont think the budget was the last of the crazy ideas...there will be more to come!

These agents dont half make me laugh. Lines that we have had in the past..... ..new sales centre:......"whats your abosolute maximum budget".....me: it depends on what the house is worth! .......Mrs put an offer in on a house........agent kept hassling to find out how much we needed to borrow......just kept saying if the offer is accepted we are happy for our solicitor to confirm that we are proceedable and can borrow funds....hassling went on for ages........agent says "dont tell me numbers just percentages if you like (WTF she was either very dim or thought we were)......eventually when they realise you are not for giving in they just give up.....stick to your guns. She even tried to say it was a legal duty of care or some rubbish.......politely give them the offer and stick to it and refuse to elaborate. The only inch I would give is getting the solicitor to confirm you are good for it......or by saying the deposit is at least 20% or somthing so not to give away that you really have 50% or whatever lol. That way they know you can get a mortgage but you are not giving them any leway to try and shaft you!

Been a while since I posted in this section. Made a lowish offer on a house a while ago, consistent with condition though, surprisingly accepted, but weeks on vendor changes mind...............back to square one then.........

I voted against this too, think a member on here alerted everyone to it. Too much apathy though from voters. I have found nationwide a very mixed bag. Back in the early 00's their call centres were appalling, their branches better. Branches actually quite good in 2005/06. Then had the misfortune to deal with the savings call centre, they were pretty bad. Only reason stayed with savings last couple of years was the rate. Over 3%, but these as everyone else have plummeted to just over 2%. Might have to buy a house lol

Bit one sided I think. Never been to lancs for more than a couple of days, but it can't be as bad as Slough, Reading and Basingstoke......I think perhaps a lot of southern residents have some quite rose tinted glasses lol....and I've now lived in the south for quite some time.........