chiefduffer
-
Posts
68 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Posts posted by chiefduffer
-
-
Like some of the other replies from the East Midlands, in and around Leicester you can still get plenty for £150K. Obviously, like everywhere though, there is a big gulf between the good and bad areas so you will now be hard pushed to buy much more than a 2 bed terraced in a nice part of town. This one looks ok and is quite close to the University so its got good rental potential.
If you go out to the Leicester Villages, you can find some pretty reasonable properties for the same price. This is in a good village:
This is in a not so nice village:
p.s. Having moved from Windsor recently, I'm laughing at how cheap it all is. Selling my 2 bed terrace with a loft conversion down there will allow me to buy a full renovated 5 bed detached period property in the best area.
-
£120K as a GP?? Am I the only one here who wished they'd considered studying something useful like law or medicine instead of some useless artsy degree?? -
Live: Leicester
Status: RTR (Live in rented accomodation and renting my house in SE for past 3 years due to overseas assignment)
Income: Around £40K
Equity: About £300K tied up in SE property. Only £30K accessible funds.
I could buy a ruddy massive house with my equity and a reasonable mortgage but I'm not sure its a great idea due to market instability, relocation possibility, re-sellability etc. etc. I mean, would you sell your 3 bed terrace in Windsor for a 5 bed detached in Leicester area at same price?? It may sound tempting but some of the houses around here have been on the market for 6+ months. Should I STR, STB, or just keep on with RTR? Decisions decisions... Will re-evaluate early next year based upon job, family needs, market trends, IR etc. etc.
-
I moved into Leicester area 6 months ago. I've been renting till I got to know the area a little better. I'm considering buying next year but I'm really not certain its a wise investment. Prices seem to be pretty stagnant and many properties are taking a long time to shift (6 months +). Things seem to get worse over the £200K mark. I'm looking at the best possible area of the city- around Knighton, Clarendon Park, Stoneygate. Even there the schools aren't great- especially at Secondary school level. The thing is, I could keep renting but I do feel its money down the drain. I am already on the ladder with a house in a "safe" area down south. If I sold up I could afford a fantastic house around here. The only problem is that there seems to be a dearth of buyers for the 4-5 bed properties (£200K-£400K) meaning that it could be hard to sell on at a later stage.
Any locals (or former locals) with any suggestions or strong opinions on the Leicester property market? Its obviously not overheated (at least by Southern standards) but should we expect a crash anyway?
-
Well I had a look for my area and this website seems to have a lot less properties than Rightmove and a few out of date properties (under offer/sold but not updated). It would be great if there was a true one safe source map based website like this. I do like the mobile phone mast feature though. I had no idea there was one 200 metres from my house!!
-
If you're selling to rent, then now's as good a time as any. Don't let the vitriol of the original HPC STR set put you off. Those guys sold way too soon and missed out on SERIOUS HPI
Prices simply can't go on rising . . . we all know it . . .But if prices stay +/- 5% over the next 12 months then I might as well continue renting/paying off my mortgage. IMO only a >10% price correction would merit STR and I just don't see this happening in the next 12 months. There is simply not enough firm evidence pointing to this at the present time. Even the recent uncertainty in the global financial markets is not enough to derail HPI at the mo.
-
Tower green is the most transient road in Middlesbrough ...
Does that mean no one wants to live there
Not really- the transient category is only based on number of sales. To get the truly most transient location you'd need to divide the number of sales by total number of addresses.
I had a look at this for my area and the most transient locations were in fact the longest streets with the most number of houses/flats. It also happens they were at the lower end of the ladder but that is only natural with longer streets- they tend to be main roads with higher volumes of traffic.
-
Yes, I know this has been discussed to death but as I am still contemplating if/when to sell my house (currently being rented), I want to hear if anyone has any new insights on the timing of the next crash.
I'm now thinking the earliest the next HPC may happen is Mid 2008. Reasons would be that the economy appears relatively robust and the BoE is being moderately sensible on interest rates. Also the limited supply in London & South East will continue to fuel growth in the short term.
Since I work in the construction industry, I am being told all the economic indicators are showing a strong 2007 in most European countries with potential for cooling next year.
Anyone care to espouse an opinion on this?
-
This is the funniest thread I've read in ages- handbags out!! Thanks for the entertainment guys.
-
Cost of borrowing has gone up 50% since 2003 and not finished yet so yes I think we have soaring interest rates since 2003 unless you think 50% increase is good for buyers?
Hang on, RB's statement was that since end of 2004 the market outside London has peaked. Since that date interest rates have only gone up 0.5% so, no, I don't class that as soaring interest rates. They are still over 1% lower than when I first bought (end of 1996).
-
I reckon you could get either of these for £190K:
-
OK, if you want to buy here are some alternatives for you:
-
So borrowing money to buy a newbuild apartment which loses money as soon as you pick up the keys is OK
Erm.. no I said a house!! And even then I wouldn't buy a new build!
-
Personally I would only borrow money for a house- never for a car (especially not a new one which loses money as soon as it leaves the forecourt). I'd rather drive a skoda...actually I do drive a skoda.
Why don't you do the Alvin Hall thing- i.e. pay for everything in cash and write all your expenses in a notebook.
-
Point out the great big blue thing thats stuck right next to the flat, no less than 200m away. You know, the great big M25 MOTORWAY!!!!!!!!
I'd be more concerned about noise from Heathrow to be honest.
-
you can't have soaring interest rates & soaring HPI.
But we don't have soaring interest rates yet do we? I am missing something?? Oh and the 20% is actual selling prices not asking prices.
-
Are you sure you have to buy something in Egham? Couldn't you get more for your money in some of the surrounding areas- e.g. Staines or Bracknell.
-
I have got to the point where I can't help thinking that many in here should just go and live a bit and do something more constructive than post 100s of messages in here to be raked over by the HPC clique.
Very true- It is easy to obsess about property and it probably isn't very healthy.
Good luck to you!! -
The top outside London was end of 2004.
By "London" I take it you mean Greater London and pretty much the whole of the South East right?
As I said, properties in my street (Windsor) are up around 20% from 2004. -
Funnily enough I am in this very position at the moment (debating whether to STR). I haven't made my mind up. The only problem about STR is that given my equity, renting is a more expensive option for me- unless I really overstretch myself on a mortgage.
I think my decision will rest upon whether I think I can get a good price on my current property and, if yes, whether there's anything I really want to buy elsewhere. I tried to sell my house in 2004 (£335K) but put it on the rental market instead (I left the country for a couple of years). By my estimate, the house would probably go onto the market now at around £400K- i.e. +20ish% from 04 price.
-
If I had a spare £100K I would buy 2 X BTL terraced houses in a university town- preferrably outside of South East. If you take Leicester as an example- you can pick up a 2-3 bed victorian house for around £120K- they give above average yields (£1000 approx. per month). You should probably check admission rates at the respective universities and see which ones are expanding. This will likely point you in the direction of an under supply scenario.
After about 3 years (& barring an HPC) I would re-mortgage and get another couple and so on.
-
I have my doubts we will see an HPC before Gordon assumes his position. Watching the recent spin about Gordon's backing for WC in 2018, it is clear that we will not see any negative news that might be linked to him- economic or otherwise- while he is waiting to assume the throne.
Even then I think it would take 6 months and then will only be "modest price corrections"- by modest I mean 5-15%. Assuming he takes over in the summer, this means we will probably remain "crash free" till at least 2008!!
-
Could you afford to buy a place that needs a bit of modernization/renovation? If so, then that would be my suggestion.
Other ideas for buying (if below 4.5 X Joint):
1. Look in lower price areas
2. Consider shared ownership
3. Buy a bigger place and rent a room
If not:
1. Rent something modest enough to save for a deposit
2. Consider moving further afield
-
This is taken from Pg. 43 of current report- if market is right it looks like IRs will probably rise by 0.25% by middle of this year and then stay steady over the next 18 months or so.
Emigration
in House prices and the economy
Posted
I'd vote for the "Tried and but back home - at least for the time being" option. Have lived in Switzerland for 3 years, and US for 2 years. Plus had 3 years in Singapore as a child. If the weather here weren't so phenomenally crap I'd probably want to stay permanently. On the plus side here are family and friends, a sense of humour, an appreciation of irony, public manners, and jobs.
On the downside is crap food, uncontrolled immigaration, poor healthcare, education, and high level of stealth taxation.
Housing is more likely to be a problem for my kids than me as I've been on the ladder long enough to build up a decent amount of equity.
This is me sitting on the fence, Leicestershire, England.