NIOWEN

I know a girl who bought her house for £160k a few years back, its peak value was £200k or so. She became ill then lost her job so then had to take a low payed job just to get by but she couldnt afford to pay her morgage for over a year. She ended up moving out and the bank has put the house up for sale. Its on the market for £55k (N Ireland is in a real mess). So if it sells she will still owe £105k or so but she has no job so will probably go bankrupt....who pays the bank the other £105k? Do they have insurance or is the dept wrote off as a bad debt?

We need to cut wages to compete with China, NMW should be £4 per hour. A max wage should be introduced of £6 per hour unless your middle-class or above. No benifits for anyone and disabled people should be shot or put into camps.....Condem Nazi goverment

What do MPs call Housing Benifit?.......Expenses! The Benifit systems is just one of many systems in "Great" Britan that is broken. I would say its the landlords who benifit more from HB than the claiment. In N Ireland HB is payed direct to the Landlord rather than the tenant. Average rent here is around £450 pcm, most landlords say "NO DHSS" as they dont want the hassel. Im not sure how it works on the mainland. Another point on benifits in general. You can blame unemployed people all day long and stop benifits if you like but if there is no work where will they get money? Crime! Who will they target? You and me the "upper working class" (think we ares but arnt). I dont know what its like on the mainland UK but i can tell you this for a fact..."There is no work, skilled or unskilled in Northern Ireland! I wish there was, ive been looking for over a year with no luck. Theres plenty of work in China, maybe head over and send some money home lol the Polish did well here and must have sent millions if not billions home.

The wife was interested in that house about a year ago, think it was on for about £275k, they said there was an offer of £240k so we decided not to view. We were going to offer £225 but there was no point as they wouldnt even consider £240k...maybe they wish they had excepted our offer. Wonder where the other people went with their £240k lol

Hi there, we have just bought a site and are planning on building once our other house sells. Were not sure on how much it would cost so asked around. You can go timber frame or block construction. Timber frame is ment to be cheaper. With low labour costs we found block cheaper. Timber frame 4 bed 2500 sqr ft is £30k erected on site in 2 days, includes roof plasterboards and insulation. Mate put an add on belfast gumtree asking builders to quote per 1000 block. Most are charging £300 per 1000 block (30p per block) and blocks and cement is just under £1 each. Worked out he needed about 12000 blocks = £15600. Less than half price of the timber frame as you have to build blocks around it. He worked out it would cost £80-£100k to build a 4 bed 2500sq ft. We hope this is the case in a years time.

We (wife and I) are thinking of building a house (replacement). We want a 2 story 4 bed house and would like to be able to use the attic for kids play room or games room. Before we get plans we would like a rough idea of how much it is going to cost. No point of getting plans for something we cant afford. Has anyone any rough idea of cost for a basic house per sqr ft or mtr? Or can anyone recomend a good builder who could quote a price? Antrim area....thanks for any advice.

Look at picture 6...is the bedroom is sinking away?

My mate is thinking of leaving the country and wants to rent his house out, his sister would like it and thats suits him having someone he knows renting it. Thing is she lives in a council house and isnt working so gets her rent paid, could she get the rent paid if she rents the house from her brother? He would be asking market value for a furnished house, approx £500 pcm....thanks

We looked at this house a month ago and it looked good enough, went today for an internal viewing and we were handed the keys and told to look away ourselfs. What a mess it was, seems to have been broken into and wrecked, most windows had been broken before they were boarded up. Should have brought a torch. Wonder will the £140k offer be withdrawn due to the state of it now? Most we would offer is £120k

I know that the sister in law and her husband were looking a house in Lisburn to rent. Both on minimum wage so most they couls afford was £450. Everything was gone...EAs kept saying they would need £550+. They have ended up in a 1 bed apartment in a real bad area and are paying £425 per month unfurnished...best they could get and its only guarented for 6 months. Seems rents in Lisburn are defo rising and nothing sits too long. EDIT...I sound like a rental bull lol

Oh the good old days of cheap diesel. Mind going for a spin over the border with a friend with about 50 25l drums to fill with diesel. Took ages to fill, then he got a 1000l cube into the van to save stop start filling....lol some crack

http://www.propertynews.com/brochure.php?r=1&c=19&s=113018049&i=0&p=PNC522870&fp=1&sort=h2l Works out about £4.5k each. Would the DHSS not pay the rent? Bargin or other?

Pole dancers

The only way prices will rise anytime soon is if banks agree to let you pay them with air! If you have no job and cant get help to pay what else are you ment to use? Id say any price rise will be regional and there will be big falls in other areas.

I see the Housing exacutive sold 285 Houses compared with around 80 the year before. Any idea how much money was taken from sales?

Went to Wilsons Auctions at Mullusk last night, first time i have ever been and have to say it was poor. Not like Homes under the Hammer or the likes, everthing that was bid on (except maybe 2 out of the 26) had to be put to the banks to see if they except the offer. Only good thing was there was a house we were interested it and it was way off the guide price so i think its unsold, now we have a bit more time to get money/finance sorted out.....if we bother. Wifes job could be going after xmas and i think theres going to be a big crash here in N Ireland. If anyones interested, Wilsons next auction will be shown Live Online....save you the trip.

The way i see it the crash was like a car hitting a brick wall...sudden stop...then the dust settled and your thinking its all over....then (now) you see your car has ended up in the middle of the road and you are about to be hit by a lorry.....not so much a double dip but a double smash! Good luck at A+E

Thanks for the reply, i was reading his paper work from the H E and it said you can appeal the valuation and the send somone out from Lands Agency to value it. I think he is going to hold off and re apply in about 6-8 months no matter what they offer it for as things look like they are getting alot worse (or good for buyers).

Never thought of looking on Gumtree. Googled his number and he had another for sale "near reposesed". 10 years rent would pay for that!

Thanks...now i know ive fixed my mistake, if only all mistakes were so easy to fix lol

I made a mistake with the bull/bear thing when signing up lol i thought it ment somthing else. Im defo a Bear...may get my account edited if i can.

My friend has applyed to buy the family home from the Housing Executive. The fella called out to value it and the whole time he was there he was saying about how the market is about to take off and that things are on the up. What planet is this fella on? Has anyone any experence with buying from the H E and how do they value the propertys? He has been told by neighbours that they got their houses for next to nothing but nobody has bought in about 5 years because they have been asking way above market value. Thanks for any info....Owen

I seen this on my way back from Dobbin road (Clearways Metals) was heading home towards Belfast and stop at trafic lights and there it was. Has to be a real sign of the times...not good....or is it?

Ive been looking at some houses for sale and comparing the asking price with that on the LPS web site. I have noticed that the prices being asked are very close or only slightly above that of the LPS. Would this be a fair way to get the value of my own property? How and when did the LPS value the propertys? Thanks for any help on this matter...Owen

P.S what is the Bull or Bear thing all about?