covvy

I'd hardly call them FTB properties!. Higher value properties such the ones you describe are moving fine, which is why the average prices in Edinburgh have looked healthy on the face of it. If you look at the lower end of the market its a whole different story.

Depends what you mean by FTB? I'm looking in the £200k region around City Centre and North at the moment. New builds are pretty much static from what I can see. Of the rest, the only stuff I see selling is homes with character that are pretty much perfect in every way and at HR value or slightly above if they are exceptional. People are getting desperate if they have to move though. I put a cheeky bid of £30k under asking on an exceptional place in Shore, Leith and was really close to a deal. I just didn't think that the location was quite right for the money.

Currently a cash buyer, renting in Edinburgh and looking in the £200k region or just above. I'm searching for a medium/long term home so short term drops in house prices don't concern me as much as inflation/deflation and interest rates. I'm seeing only the nicer homes with perfect surveys/no work required selling for Home Report value or just above in Edinburgh at the moment. Stuff with minor/moderate work needed is being discounted to between 5 and 12% of Home Report value to sell. Everything else including anything high value in a poor area is just sticking on the market.

You mean like the last 13 years of Labour government? Though I feel for Ireland, having relatives there myself, I'm saving real worry for the knock on effect to the UK, there's a good chance it will drag us down too due to the amount of Irish debt we fund

The effect on Scotland will for a large part depend on the SNP's policy. With over 60% of business generated by the state in Scotland, how well they apportion budgets to minimize job losses will make a huge difference. I work for the NHS and however popular protecting NHS from any cuts might be politically, in my view it's a huge mistake. I see hundreds of thousands of pounds wasted annually.

Guy I work with has first-hand experience of the sharp practices involved in Statutory Notices. His £3k share of repairs ended up at £6k, plus of course the 10% to the council for managing that project so well! It's common knowledge that you can get repairs done 25% cheaper if there's no enforcement notice and you can convince your fellow building tenants to get it done amicably.

Heh, the more properties I see, the more I think that surveyors just stick head in the sand and a wet ass in the air to judge home value. I saw a flat yesterday with a HR value of £230k that needed a new kitchen, bathroom and full stripping/redecoration restoration of blocked fireplaces etc. This is with with an identical one across the road available in immaculate condition at £210k Fixed Price....

Bathroom: Tiny compared with the flat size at 6' x 4' - I would have hesitated to wash a dog in it, full refurb needed Kitchen: Again tiny at 10' x 6'. Again, rip it out and start again condition. Living Room: I'd say they were chain-smoking in here for all the 33 years. Lots of work needed incl floorboards, but worst of all though was the bulging/cracked plaster work across the ceiling and (very detailed) cornicing/ceiling rose so would require specialist plasterer etc. This room would cost a small fortune to rectify due to the (admittedly impressive) size. Main Bedroom - Huge. Again needs full refurb. If possible would try to steal some space to give to Bathroom/Kitchen as the built in cupboards back onto those rooms but I didnt look to see if the back wall was load-bearing which it well could be. Second Bedroom: Nice condition, sensible room. All windows needed refurbishment or replacement. No central heating and no mains gas in the flat. The owner wasn't a fan of gas and didnt want it so the supply was terminated on the floor below. At the opposite end from the Kitchen.... Currently heated by electric panel heaters. Exterior stonework very bad at top floor level above living room window, which wasnt mentoned in Home Report. Together with various stuff that was mentioned, I'd expect a big communal bill in the near future and bear in mind theres only 4 flats sharing that bill. I'm no expert, but I guessed that you could sink at least £50k+ into this flat to get it to the standard required and more to rectify communal areas - maybe even more considering I didn't look too hard into cupboards/floorboards etc as I usually do this on a second visit. The owner's wife has cancer and could no longer manage the stairs so I'd guess that £200k would have bought it. On balance, in a falling market, it was no for me.