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kevla22

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Everything posted by kevla22

  1. Kinda depends on the size of the development, the larger it is the cheaper the cost to the developer. Small exclusive developments are still sought after and commanding good prices, larger estates built by Persimmon etc have and are suffering huge drops. The can afford a 20-30% drop in price and still walk away with some profit. Try and go for a show home if you can, it will be built and finished better than the other properties. I have seen a few repossessed houses that were bought a couple of years ago, the build quality was terrible and i have seen DIY makeovers that were finished to a higher standard!
  2. Haha, the funniest report i have heard this year! Sound like a desperate attempt to shore up the wealth in the south, they know that the South is headed for a real fall now that financial services industry is falling of a cliff. Me and the missus moved from Berkshire to Lincolnshire / notts border a couple of years ago and everytime we go back to visit friends and family we can't wait to go back home. The south is one of the most un-friendly places to live in the UK, people go out of their way to ignore each other and fights break out in every town come the weekend. Since we moved I have not seen one bit of trouble, even hearing a police siren is a novelty! Housing here is actually affordable and there is plenty of work with wages not far behind the south (except the London premium), schools are excellent and not overcrowded, getting into London is also a doddle with fast GNER trains to Kings Cross in 90mins from our local train station at a cost of £21 return if booked in advance! People from the south are moving up here in Hordes and i can't blame them! Getting to work means further to travel but traffic jams are a rarity, i used to work 10 miles from my house and it could take an hour at least, now i generally travel 20-30 miles to work each day and it takes around 45 minutes! Anyone slating the "North" (above watford gap seems to be the divide?!) has clearly never spent any real time here or actually looked into how good life is, sure there are depressed areas but that is true everywhere in the UK, I have worked all over the UK and I would rate London as the worst place to live, I have a few friends who live in London and they really struggle to make ends meet even on a London wage, overpriced, overcrowded, noisy and polluted. edited - this excludes the south west by the way! great people in the west country so sorry if you felt insulted by this little rant!
  3. Thing is Nickolarge if they aren't getting viewings then the price is too high, it really is as simple as that. Take this as an example: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-224...=1&tr_t=buy Sale agreed within 2 weeks. then this one: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-185...=1&tr_t=buy was on the market for months at 130k with no viewings or offers, dropped the price and hey presto, under offer in a week. http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-204...16&tr_t=buy On the market at 120k for around 8 months, dropped the price to 95k and sale agreed within a week. I could provide many examples such as this. Ok so any of these could and may well fall through, but it shows that priced correctly there are buyers out there.
  4. Hello Sledgehead, calm down there fella i am simply making an observation which i realise may upset the HPC hardcore, but then nobody likes to hear the truth. Lets recap: My point if you had bothered to actually read my post was that the many HPC members were branding people "sheeple" during the up turn, based on the fact people were being led by media drivel at the time. Now though the media is in favour of HPC and reported data is being used, so my point has nothing to do with the media but some HPC members. The very fact that you are turning my opinion into an argument really says it all, being vindictive seems to be quite high on the agenda and this was really my point. If you want my opinion on recent media reporting, i think they are hugely understating current market conditions, on the ground prices are down by much larger levels than is being reported, locally to me (notts and lincs) prices are in fact down by 10-20% already depending on the property and its condition. I keep in contact with estate agents in other areas of the UK and things are this bad right across the board with London suffering very badly at the moment. Rather than looking at media information which is always incorrect or bias in some way i prefer to base my arguments on personal experience which of course will differ greatly to others, but then isn't that the whole point of a site like this? To air peoples experience so that we can all get a more balanced view of what is happening. In many cases this site excels at doing this, at other times it turns into a pointless slanging match as opposed to a sensible debate. Quite why / how i am hypocrite is beyond me, you mis-understood my post and are seemingly looking to get into a heated debate simply because i highlighted one of the downsides to this site. Pot Noodle - why does this sound unlikely to you? Ok so you think now is the wrong time to buy and at current asking prices i would agree, but those in a position to move are able to negotiate good prices, i sold a two bed terrace in Alliance street in Newark within 2 weeks of going to market, why? because it was 15% below the highs seen last year, this is the only reason they were able to secure a 95% LTV. 95% LTV is still available even now, speak to lenders yourself in particular Halifax, BUT to be able to secure the loan the lenders are forcing surveyors to be pessimistic on value, so trying to secure 95% LTV on current prices isn't possible the deal will just fall through.
  5. There has been a few dodgy door to door "salespeople" in my area recently, they have faked ID's from utility companies and the like and are asking people for the card details after the usual sales blurb. They even have the contract documents etc, more a professional scam it seems! They have screwed over quite a few elderly people of late, makes me sick it really does.
  6. Hello yellerkat, actually no! Business this year has been good for me, it may surprise you but not all developers are greedy so and so's! I have sold five houses this year without any problems, but then I focus on the property nobody else wants, usually very run down, fire damaged that sort of thing. It takes substantial investment / effort to put these properties right and i do not sell at greedy prices hence why i am doing OK. I take great pride in what I do and consider it a service. I haven't even started my next project yet and already I have someone interested, but this is because estate agents locally trust my company to do a good job and know that i will sell at the right price, the buyers have been to see some of my past projects and want to be involved in the renovation process, basically they can choose what they want within the specified budget. The greedy guys are the ones who are struggling and to be honest i have no sympathy for them!
  7. You have made my point for me. I didn't complain about the media, it was an observation that many HPC members are now turning to the media after some years of arguing against them.
  8. Thing is saying that houses prices "will only ever go down" is as stupid as saying "they only ever go up". The whole thing about people not being able to get a mortgage is also a myth. The simply crazy lending days are over for sure, no one will argue that, but the reality is people with a deposit and a good credit history can still get a mortgage. To say nobody can get a mortgage is simply rubbish, i sold a house last month to a couple FTB'ers, they had a 5% deposit and got an agreement in principle within a week, we have now exchanged contracts and completing next week. What makes me cross is people on here were quick to slate people as "sheeple" for believing the media hype when things were on the up and now the HPC brigade are qouting the media left right and centre and using media data to back up their arguments. Calling the kettle black if you ask me.
  9. I don't think it is fair or very mature to slate a person who simply wants to buy themselves a home. People on here need to realise that many people just want a home, somewhere that they can call there own bought with the money they have earned. Yes buying at 6x salary is very risky but people can and are managing it. Any FTB with any sense rents out a room to a lodger when things get tough, that's what me and the missus did when we bought our first house to help make it affordable. Instead of taking the piss how about some constructive advice? why not discuss how things could be improved? All i read on this site is people moaning and whinging about people who want to buy, yet there is very little discussion about how to make things better for everyone, were that to happen then perhaps people would take this site a little more seriously.
  10. could be feasible, people keep making comparisons to the 90's but this is nothing like it, back then transactions were still quite high and prices dropped slowly. This time prices have dropped very quickly (by around 20% in real terms) and transactions have collapsed. With scores of people still viewing houses this is in my view an indication that the love of property is still there, just everyone now is so much more informed due to technology etc. As soon as enough people call the bottom of the market it will turn into a free for all driving up prices just as quickly as they have come down!
  11. Very well said, its not about "re-inflating the bubble" its about getting things moving, lower prices isn't really an issue for most but collapse of transactions is the real problem. The government are as usual sitting on their hands and behaving like nervous teenagers, now is not the time for a "wait and see" approach, by the time they act it will be too late, its this attitude that played a part in causing this mess.
  12. Very well said! This website should be highlighted as the glowing beacon for UK based pessimists! The thing is WembleyBoy is spot on, I too have travelled and worked in many countries and we do have it easy, even now! The UK is a great place to be despite what the gloomy lot on here say, the future COULD be bright even in the near term if people stopped being so damn miserable. Interesting to read comments about preying on other peoples misfortunes, basically what this site seems to have turned into, more about who can come up with the best reasons to explain why things are going to implode as opposed to balanced debates about what is happening and how to resolve the issues. Still some very wise and sensible people on here though! just few and far between.
  13. I deal with estate agents on a daily basis and I cannot believe how many are STILL pricing at or above highs last year to "get business", not sure how they can call this "getting business" when none of the properties sell! I probably deal with around 20-30 estate agents on a regular basis and I kid you not when I say that only around 5 of them are pricing correctly and encouraging offers, surprise surprise they are actually doing OK, not great obviously but still selling at around 50% of transaction levels seen last year. The other thing that strikes me is estate agents complaining to me because "vendors won't drop their prices" , hardly a surprise when the estate agent has convinced them their house is worth more than it really is! Many vendors are also a problem, still believing that their home is immune from the downturn, i have heard so many people say "it won't affect us" because of X, Y & Z. The experienced estate agents I deal with (all independent guys, not corporate monkeys) have all said that in the 90's houses were still selling just at lower price levels whereas now people just won't accept the market and thins have stagnated. Until people start to be realistic things will only get worse, mortgage market has apparently improved of late according to brokers (taken with a pinch of salt of course) and they are argueing that this can no longer can be used an excuse for the current market conditions as anyone with good credit and 5% deposit can get a mortgage, the issue is and will continue to be price" Another very worrying subject is people coming off fixed rate deals, many are trying to sell as they can't keep up with the payments and despite explaining the situation to the agent they are still overpricing, 6 months down the line and these people are getting repossessed and loosing everything! Crazy really as if people get advice it is always possible to negotiate with lenders to work things out, thing is many people seem to be throwing in the towel which seems a shame to me.
  14. YES YES YES! Of all this stupid property porn the one thing they have right is Location! In this market it is absolutely crucial that you don't buy anything that has a negative, it just won't sell at a good price if it sells at all! Anything on a busy road, near a pylon, tiny rooms etc is hard enough to sell when times are good, let alone right now! If your looking in Lincoln, stick to a bungalow or detached character house in North Hykeham, demand here is still reasonable as it's quite but within easy reacgh of the city centre. There are also great local schools and amemnities. Be very very careful, if you are not a seasoned developer now is not the time to be risking your cash! Paying a builder is absolutely the way to go as what is more important is time! The more you can turn around the more you might make, or loose. Whatever you do though matey do not pay 90-100k for that bungalow, at the peak last it may achieved 150k, take away the 10% loss already and thats 135k right now and the price will fall further as you have said.
  15. The 5% gifted deposit is legal provided both solicitors and the bank lending the money are actually informed. If your solicitor does not declare the scheme to the bank / other solicitor then it is illegal. (fraud actually) For this to work the valuation has to be agreed at the FULL price by the banks valuer, so if the valuer agrees a house is worth 100k INCLUDING the 5% deposit then there is nothing wrong with this. It is just a way to help people with little or no deposit buy a house! If someone adds the 5% to the value in the hope of getting the price they want then this just won't work, the house will be downvalued and the 5% deposit is worthless.
  16. hey 1800's! This is already at its max value, in fact i would have said 125k is more realistic if it is in good condition! If it needs a full refurb ie: windows / kitchen / bath / re-wire / new central heating / flooring / plastering etc then you will need to budget around 30k for a builder to come and do it for you. This should take a good builder no longer than 4-5 weeks, you then need to account for buying and selling costs including professional fee's etc. If you require a mortgage or other type of finance then i would recomend budgeting for 12 months carry costs (I have always done this, it gives you some flexibility in price) Remember empty property gets a 6 month council tax discount. Personally i would avoid this unless you can get it for around 65-70k and do some work yourself, it is on the main road and this will be a big negative with elderly people! Also look for property that will rent out easily, i prefer to sell if i can but will rent if needs be, not had to yet but will happen eventually! Concentrate on finding something that does not have any negatives!
  17. Hey 1800's! It is very difficult to get a balanced view on here, remember this is House Price Crash! I buy / sell property in Lincolnshire / Notts including Lincoln in the past. Lincoln really is in dire straits at the moment largely because the Dean of the Uni has stated that 90% of students are to be housed in the newly built student accommodation. This has sent many BTL investors running for the hills hence the huge number of west end terraces for sale. To cheer you up however a good bungalow realistically priced will sell! If your in North Hykeham even better! It is true to some extent that houses in need of work are still more popular, but as someone else mentioned it really has to be cheap! Remember there are people like myself who need to stay in business and so there will always be demand from the professionals for a house in the right location. However demand is still high for properties in walk in condition, in a falling market people don't need to take on properties that need work as they can pick and choose, you need to have the best bungalow in your area at a lower price than your direct competition. Don't be too put of by people on here, i have had no troubles so far selling this year BUT the price must be 10-15% below the highs seen last year, if you can afford a 5% vendor gifted deposit then this is sensible but with bungalows buyers tend to have cash! In bad times people tend to take the view that nothing will sell and the sky is falling in, the reality is however that the right type of property, in walk in condition and realistically priced will still sell, there are still people locally selling houses within a week!. In my experience it is better to price low and get the interest than leave it sat on the market for months on end whilst it depreciates further! As a further note you are absolutely right to judge the price yourself, many estate agents are still valueing at levels seen last year to get the business, however there are many good estate agents that actually want to stay in business and will be completely honest! Mundy's is your best bet in Lincoln, try to stick to the independent estate agents that have been in business for years, corporate estate agents (Haart, Bairstow etc) are governed by targets and will screw you over to make a sale if needs be. If you ask me you have done exactly the right thing to make your property saleable, standing out from the crowd is what it is all about in these hard times. That usually means being the best or the cheapest, if you can manage both then you'll do just fine!
  18. I didn't say they weren't affected by recent events, the point i was trying to make is that if you walked into a barclays branch 18 months ago you would not have been offered silly LTV's or very low rates. The fact that they indirectly dipped their fingers into all sorts of pies is a different discussion all together! The fact is Barclays still offer pretty much the same terms as they always have but with higher rates at present, that is what i was trying to get across! Interesting post though, banks certainly are a necessary evil!
  19. Hey VMR, I agree that some lenders have struggled, but not all banks have got themselves in a mess, in fact if I undertsand correctly one bank (i will try and find the FT article so i can be more precise)has just secured massive investment to take advantage of the current market! One mans loss is another mans gain, i think being too general is perhaps the issue. Of course transaction levels will only get better once confidence returns, regardless of what lenders do! As you rightly say nobody knows when this will be but at least the mortgage market is headed in the right direction at long last, which is really the point i was trying to make! Great reply VMR, someone with a realisitic view, always good in my book!
  20. You seem to have missed one crucial point - banks make money through lending money. The government will step in as they will be left with no other choice, the US is a perfect example. The point i was trying to make has been completely missed, I am not suggesting that cheap credit is going to be on the cards any time soon, what is happening though is that banks are lending again after a couple of months of turning away new business. Yes lending criteria will be tighter and LTV may come down to 20% full stop, but the fact is many banks are now in a position to lend again, which is better than not lending at all!
  21. Hey Dances with Sheeple! No i don't think that mortgages will return to the levels seen recently with 100 + mortgages etc, at least not for a long while, but lending has been severly restricted of late as lenders have actually been trying to fend of customers due to too much demand , this in itself tells a story! What I am saying is that lenders are actually starting to lend again! You say houses are 50% overvalued and this may be true of some areas and certain property types, but it is not the case for all areas / houses. A good 3 bed semi in Lincs / Notts can be bought for 100-125k which IS affordable for locals and as such property at this level is still selling and prices have not dipped by much. Up to 250k property in my area is doing OK and valuers are supporting realistic prices. Over 250k and things are much slower, local wages cannot support the values of larger country houses as the prices have been driven up by buyers moving from south etc, it is likely that these properties could see large falls, however at present people continue move away from the south in particular as the price of flat in London for example can buy a detached country house up here. Commuting is also good with fast rail links to kings cross in around 90 mins. I don't disagree that certain area's / houses COULD see falls of 50% (south in particular) but i don't think it is wise to tarnish all property with the same brush. Very Mean Reversion - I was speaking to my bank manager at Barclays last week, under the actual "Barclays" brand they apparently didn't get to involved in the crazy lending practices and as such their commercial and residential sides are pretty much business as usual (they have always had fairly strict LTV), of course rates and fee's are up but they are not turning away good business. I also had several lengthy discussions last week with Halifax with regards to a 5% gifted deposit scheme, they are one of only a handful of lenders who support this. They assured me (taken with a pinch of salt of course!) that they are going to continue promoting 95% LTV providing the agreed price is realistic and supported by their valuers. Both lenders stated that they can see the end in sight with lending volumes starting to increase, it will be slow and the criteria will be much tighter, which is a good thing!, but this is a step in the right direction. Don't forget the government is planning ways to enable the banks to sell mortgage backed securities again, this is from what i understand the major issue at present. All i would say is be careful what you wish for, something that doesn't seem to be discussed too much on here is the fallout should your predictions come true, if prices were to fall 50% on average say then it is likely anyone who isn't seriously loaded will be completely screwed. The result could be a large percentage of people pushed into poverty with no roof over their heads, including many of the people on here who seem overjoyed that things are heading down!
  22. Again this is not a balanced response, are you suggesting then that banks will never lend to people again? I speak to lenders and brokers on a weekly basis as being a developer i need to know whats ACTUALLY happening in the market. Halifax for example told me only last week that they intend to continue to push their 95% mortgage providing the agreed sale price is realistic, they are also supporting the gifted deposit scheme. Yes people with no deposit or a bad history have been pushed out of the market, but the majority of buyers can get a mortgage just not perhaps at a great rate unless they have a 25% deposit. People who are greedy will become unstuck, but to suggest "banks won't lend" and people cannot afford to pay it back is being overly dramatic in my view and not in touch with reality. In my area at least 3.75 times salary will buy a good house compared to local average wage. Rents are up locally because demand has increased dramatically, yes landlords have increased prices to cover higher costs but people are paying it. My point is that people are being overly pessimistic now just as people were being overly optimistic when things were on the up, what is needed is some realism and in my view that is not high on the agenda for this site!
  23. Well it might surprise you but some people actually want a home and are not so concerned about its value! Some of the auction properties have been 30% below the highs of last year, so for many it makes sense to buy at these levels especially if they get the house they want at a price they can afford! I think many HPC'ers have been equally swayed into this idea that all people view a house as an investment, i have just sold another property within two weeks (the fourth this year and all within 4 weeks) to a chain free buyer, this is because i am realisitic about the price and this is the real problem with many sellers. The guy who is buying this 3 bed semi in Newark said to me that even with a mortgage rate of 6.5% on a 90% LTV (value confirmed by valuer by the way) it is cheaper for him to buy than rent a similar property. He is also buying at 15% below the highs seen last year and his view is that he intends to live there for 10 years as it has all the space he needs so he doesn't care if prices drop a little further, it is the home he wants for a price he can afford! There are also many professional BTL investors buying at present, those looking at the long term view who can buy in cash are having a field day, 20-30% of market value is achievable with cash in the bank so it makes sense to buy at these levels, especially with rents on the up. So it's not all doom and gloom HPC crew!
  24. Christ you are right up there with the HPC sheeple! Have you considered why this house is reduced so heavily? usually for this type of discount is associated with a REASON, something some HPC'ers have abandoned all together in their quest to out do each other with silly predictions. If everyone shared your view we would certainly all be doomed. Silly vendors looking for crazy prices will always exist and cannot be used an example for the state of the market in general, i was at an auction held at the property on saturday, the agent recommended a reserve of 330k, the idiot vendor set the reserve at 400k and guess what, the best bid was 330k! I am a small and non-greedy developer in Lincs / Notts, a good house at a sensible price will still sell and quickly, prices are already down 10% locally and until the mortgage tap is turned back on (i have been discussing this with various lenders and things are improving slowly) i would expect falls to continue at there current pace. To suggest 50% without any real explanation as to why is foolish if you ask me, yes HPC crew can at last give it the almighty "i told you so" but at least be realistic!
  25. Why is this so un-realistic? Bulls are "sheeple" when things are going well and HPC'ers are "sheeple" now to current media frenzy. With many people choosing to rent now rather than buy then in 12-18 months time when prices could be down 20-30% it is feasible that these people will choose to re-enter the market, so there could be a mini boom late next year / early 2010. This of course depends on the banks turning the mortgage tap back on! Prices will rise again and confidence will return, the truth is nobody knows when! What people should be doing is focusing on the positive and looking at how we can get the UK through this difficult time, rather than all this head burying from the government / banks and constant barage of over hyped media doom. One other thing i have noticed here in Lincs / Notts is that rents are up around 8% since the start of the year, even with the current mortgage rates it pretty much costs the same per month to rent as it does to buy. If rents continue to rise at this rate and buying is clearly cheaper then this could also sway people? Just trying to give a balanced view, so please hardcore HPC'ers be nice!
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