breeze49

For sure, you are correct many UK kids are put off, fees need to come down or even be scrapped as in Scotland. When I went to the graduation of my two kids I was amazed at how many other nationalities there were taking degrees. At my daughters graduation in Sunderland there were what seemed to be more than 60 % other nationalities. I thought this was wrong because our kids should be taking these places but with current governments it's all about making a profit. The point is that demand for universities has been high because of taking other nats but whether this will continue within the current climes remains to be seen.

I was looking to buy one of these houses about 5 years ago but the the prices , even then were to high, and the possibility of building new halls of residence put me off. If I had the cash I would be interested now in doing the sums and as you would live in it yourself for four years it could be an ideal situation.

Matt... We are all getting older, for sure. Once upon a time city pads had plenty of room to live in without feeling claustrophobic and we had bobbies on foot. I once parked my car in leeds on new years day [in the day time] in a quiet location and saw two hoods slinking about, I felt they were up to something so after walking around the corner I returned to the car to park it elsewhere... too late !! the low life had smashed the window and ran off with nothing other than my mobile charger. That was 7 years ago and friends tell me it is much worse now. Take a look at this flat and tell me where does one put their things, I dont see any wardrobes in the bedrooms and it would seem that one has to shuffle sideways to walk past the end of the bed. http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property/233083...ilupdates_Aug08 The developers and city planning departments want shooting for allowing such rabbit hutches/future slums to be allowed. They must take the punters to be real mugs.

Thats £85 a month and god knows what the maintenance costs are going to be especially when considering many maintenance contracts are ran by profit making organisations. I hope these buildings don't turn out be the re incarnation of the 'Polsen' nightmare of, was it, the 1980's. It will be interesting to see what these high rise blocks are going to be like in another 20 years.

I couldn't agree more. I think it's about time to stop the rot.

Nick, Agreed, for anyone young and working in the City theses flats would be ideal but no one can afford them. I think the prices will fall to what should be about 80 to 90 k before they are affordable. Actually my post today seems a bit out of place when you look around at what is happening today in the markets

I find the price for city centre flats in Leeds to be crazy. I mentioned a long time ago that the planners in Leeds had got it wrong. It wouldn't be so bad if the flats represented good value but in most of them you couldn't swing a cat. Also, I wouldn't want to be walking back to my flat late at night alone as Leeds, like most cities, is not a safe place at night. Here is a typical example of city centre living. http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property/106371...ilupdates_Aug08

Digs, With all this turmoil going off at the moment why not be contect with just renting. There are so many holiday homes all over the world and because of this surplus, rents are cheap. Put your money in a high deposit account and sleep at night. Of course if your'e rolling in money no problems, just research well. Regardles to the theft situation, in my residencia of 64 house which was finished 3 years ago there were 13 houses broken into within the first 6 months. Most of the thiefs are either the builders or friends of the builders who are tipped off by the builders and they know which houses dont have alarms or grills fitted. It seems like the companies that sell you the houses know that this theft on new houses goes on and i think they should be made rsponsible for the thefts and put on extra security when people are first moving into their houses. But they don't because they dont give a stuff about your welfare once they have your money. Also there are many impromtu thefts around the towns and cities, particularly the ladies and elderly. Having denigrated the building trades and the theft problem , as long as your are aware of these problems it is a good place to live, far better than where I lived in uk with gangs of hoodies other other miscreants. Tony

Hi Fella/feller, I think spain is a nice country to live and as you seem to know ticks all the right boxes, cheap to fly too, assessable by car, warm seas and good weather for most of the year. Coupled with civilised people [apart from the Estate agents and related professions] it makes a good place to retire too, if you dont have a job to come to then for most people forget it. Anyway my main point is that you should try to get to know an area first before buying and I think for most people it is better to buy in an established area and on not isolated, we have a lot thiefs here for sure the illegal immigrants unlike UK dont get state handouts so they steal instead, so its better to have the security of others around you especially if you are using your house as a holiday home. I dont think this theft is a new problem cos is seems like a lot of the older houses and flats in towns all have grills fitted form new. There are lots of houses for sale so there is no problem in undercutting the asking prices. Be aware that traditionally the estate agents would get 10% of the asking price so there is a large margin here that can be bartered for. Also make sure the house is legal and has no debts attached. Good luck and don't be in a rush, prices may reduce some more in the near future. Tony

I'm just glad that this crazy over building in Spain has 'naturally' come to an end and at last some of the perpetrators are being taken to task. Hopefully in 2 or three years we can reach some kind of equilibrium. It has been the same situation in UK’s cities with the over supply of 'yuppie' flats, which wil become the slums of the future. At the end of the day I blame the greedy public servants, at the higher levels, who succumb to the bribes from the developers and have a total lack of vision.

I'm a realist. The reason house prices or anything else rises is because capitalism demands a profit and those people in charge are greedy bastards. All right house prices got ahead of themselves going by rule of 3,4 or 5 times annual saleries but how long do you think it will be before wages start to inflate massively, not long i would say. We as a country have been taxed to hell and are now seeing the start of a wages revolt. I would think in two years time the wages/ house prices balance will have caught up especially as house prices will have reduced by some 10 to 30 percent depending on the area. If the above isn't true then I think we are in the shit bigtime!

Jedi.... I think your solution is a no brainer, take a hit with your 6000 deposit and then sit back and relax because you will have done you and your wife a big favour. Prices here will continue to fall for a least a couple of years and most importantly it is necessary to rent some where first, for a least 6 months, for you both to see the realities of living in Spain and if you like the area you are in. There are so many empty houses for rent that long term rents are going to be cheap so just 'explica a su mujer' that it makes a lot of sense to rent first and possible on a more permanent basis. The only other option would be to offer the seller possibly 15 to20% less than present and then you would be future proof to some extent. Personally, I would personally give buying a miss until the markets picks up and after you've rented somewhere for 6 months. I have a house on the costa blanca in a nice urbanisation and have been here for a couple of years and like the life. Tony

What affect will the East Leeds link road have on the Richmond Hill, Cross green area? I understand some of the worse terraces in cross green are being demolished to make way for a park, the old big church is being refurbished as office blocks and the new retail parks and other projects along the route of the link road should bring investment into the area. Personally i think the properties in this area will buck the trend we are seeing in the 'better' areas of leeds.

--> QUOTE(simon b @ Jan 12 2007, 05:21 PM) 524682[/snapback] Hi to you all.Im looking to add a couple more offplan investments to portfilo in 2007, but with such a choice it is hard where to know where to invest next. So far I have invested in Bulgaria(pre off plan) and Morocco (off plan) in 2006. I am in the process of developing my current uk properties and selling them off over the course of next five years. Any Sugestions Simon Simon, I have just found out that Ryanair are flying to Sharm el Sheik this year , here is the link.. I asked permission to post this on here. Ryan Air signed a contract with the Sharm El Sheikh airport just before Christmas with a view to start flying this year. Have flights starting from as little as 49 GBP. www.redseaflights.comAlso The Sharm aiport is going to give all tour operators a 2 year tax free incentive as soon as the expansion is finnished which is forecast in the next couple of months. With the increase in tourism, flights becoming cheaper and lots of residential developments completing this year, everything is falling in to place for the short term/holiday letting market to start. We do have a very strong long term rental market already. I hope that this is helpful for you. Kind regards Barry Barry Aldridge Real Estate Consultant South Sinai - Sharm El Sheikh - Egypt Pioneer Property for Investments and Real Estate Office: 002 0 693 660 625 Fax: 002 0 693 662 239 Mobile: 002 0 106 103 816 barry.aldridge@pioneer-property.co.uk www.pioneer-property.co.uk If this happens then it should help the rental market at sharm and increease the property prices. I hope that it wont be long before the budgets fly to Hurghada as well

I have just found out that RyanAir have plans to fly to Sharm el Sheik.... Here is the link.. Ryan Air signed a contract with the Sharm El Sheikh airport just before Christmas with a view to start flying this year. Have flights starting from as little as 49 GBP. www.redseaflights.comAlso The Sharm aiport is going to give all tour operators a 2 year tax free incentive as soon as the expansion is finnished which is forecast in the next couple of months. With the increase in tourism, flights becoming cheaper and lots of residential developments completing this year, everything is falling in to place for the short term/holiday letting market to start. We do have a very strong long term rental market already. I hope that this is helpful for you. Kind regards Barry Barry Aldridge Real Estate Consultant South Sinai - Sharm El Sheikh - Egypt Pioneer Property for Investments and Real Estate Office: 002 0 693 660 625 Fax: 002 0 693 662 239 Mobile: 002 0 106 103 816 barry.aldridge@pioneer-property.co.uk www.pioneer-property.co.uk

Rondy, Time waits for no man!! If I had waited and done more research , the same apartment would now cost me 7k more. I am happy.... we can't always hit the button on the head.

I think you are spot on..... Here in Spain, I have noticed a gathering influx of Russian and other baltic state people moving into the mainly English Urbanisations.... they are the people with the money now!!!!. Also Egypt is more central to middle and western Europe and thus in the range of budget airlines. Also, one can't say that the budget airlines from uk wont fly there one day, they could soon buy a few longer range aircraft and take advantage of increasing traffic there. The 737, a typical budget aircraft has he range to fly to Egypt now but would have to re-fill to fly back. I don't know if the re-fill costs are prohibitive or if there is a political reason which is preventing budget airlines from flying there at present.

Ok Crash , so where would you buy to make a buck, or are you happy to sit on cash?

Dr Good luck in Hong Kong. I lived at Kowloon Tsai in the late 70's for two years and loved it there. Guess it has all changed now with the Chinese taking over H Kong. We used to eat out 2 or 3 times a week as it was so cheap and we liked the Chinese people.

Sharm is very nice apparently and there are nice locations north and south of Hurghada, we had a budget of 40k and liked the thought of living in a town rather than isolated urbanizations, nice as they may be. We bought at Desert Pearl, Hurghada and prices started from 18k for a bed-sit through to 44k for a 3 bed apartment, which isn't bad for a building 200 mtrs from the promenade. Think most of the 200 odd apartments are sold now but the developer is doing another similar build soon. The airports at Hurghada and Sharm are being modernised, sponsored by the government, and I am hoping that the likes of Ryanair, Easy jet will be flying there soon. We used tlc-overseasproperties.co.uk who seem to be efficient, a guy called Graeme if you want details of this and other developments.

Good luck, if you get to Hurghada let me know what you think, apparently there is a lot of building going on there but from the photos Ive seen the promenade and surrounding area looks ok. We didn't visit before buying but had a good search on the internet and I wanted to get in before prices rose.

Hi, I am sure the only place you can buy anything for less than 40000 is Egypt... you have missed the boat in other places. Thats why I have bought there with my partner and I think that it has a lot of potential, despite the risk. In fact the way things are in uk , there is no more risk there than here at the moment. You will have to go to places other than where the crowd has gone already to get a desent size property for your money. I would be interested if anyone knows of any other place that can be had for less than 40k with as much potential

Bobby, You might want to look at the area at Halton Moor and Cross green areas, you can get a semi for around your 110k and it has a lot going for it. Traditionally H Moor was where the council housed all its problem cases and it got a very bad reputation and I will probably get slated for writing that it has potential. H moor has a great sports centre, East Leeds Leisure centre, a golf course on its borders and a new dual carriage way from the M1 into south leeds and new retail parks which is expected to provide a lot more jobs in the area and demand for houses. A lot of money is being pumped into the area and a lot of the 'Apalling 'houses have been removed and crime and anti social behaviour is much improved. Have a look around the area, some areas are quite nice and others less so but you should be able to get a bargain in an area that is improving. There is a a group of new houses near the social club on Cartmell drive and i think you may be able to get one of those for 110k. I am sure I will get 'slagged' for suggesting H moor but I think there are little pockets where you may find a bargain. Tony

No, I don’t know Hurghada but I do know that the Egyptian government is spending billions in the red sea area and that the airport is being modernized. I found the other places you mentioned had already gone up in price too much and I think there is more potential for Hurghada to improve. Yes, I know you can find other properties for 25000 but this is a top floor south facing and in a gated complex and that gives me peace of mind. You may have a point about the rental but we are going for short term capital appreciation... They are already going up 12% in Feb and it is expected that they will go up another 12% before year end. Yes, some parts of Hurghada are derelict but the others are good... How many towns or cities do you know where you have the nice areas adjacent to the rougher areas? Watch this space! It is sometimes better to invest in areas where there is more potential and I see Hurghada as one of these, time will tell. Thanks for your input. Tony

lesqualita, Thanks for that input and I take on board what you and 'Radio' have said. My partner likes Egypt and wanted a little overseas investment so we thought we'd take a gamble on Egypt because the prices are much lower than other countries. Hopefully the developer of the block of apartments , 'Desert Pearl' will be successful in getting a hotel or travel company to take on the apartments as holiday lets... We are not holding our breath however because guarentee rental income wont be written into the contract. Where did you live in Egypt and can you recommend a good web page for expats there. Thanks for your inputs Tony