moesasji

The mania in Bristol is clearly still continuing. The above house has now got a "sold" sign after less than a month on the market even though it is/was massively overpriced compared to similar houses. And I thought I would see a "For Sale" sign for a very long time with this asking price... I really, really don't understand it anymore. (most other houses around me have a "Sold" sign as well) *) The really surprising thing is that the number of houses to rent around seems to have massively increases since I last browsed through rightmove at considerably lower prices. Perfectly consistent with the forest of non-moving "To Let" signs I see every morning. I wonder who buys the houses....still BTL??

1) I can't comment on the location itself as I've never been there. Depending on how you get to your work I would however definitely recommend trying to get to that location in rush-hour if driving. If you have to get to Bristol itself it is likely going to be a nightmare seeing the roads you have to cross. 2) Looking at the post-code, there have been sales in the area nearby. All achieved prices are considerably lower, see http://www.houseprices.co.uk/e.php?q=BS36+2TH But I can't tell what are comparable houses.

I would say have a good look through the massive amount of information you can find through the links on this (and other) sites. Personally I wouldn't call an offer of 330k on a 355 asking price cheeky. Remember that the gap between payed and asking price typically is in the 10-20% range. If you offer 330k you would already be <10%. Somebody correlated the Rightmove asking price with actual prices achieved and the gap was massive and growing, see http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=120428 You will have to form your own opinion, but I find it very,very difficult to believe that if you could afford ~330K that you can't find a good house to rent that is affordable to you in the BS8, BS9 area in the catchment areas of the good primary schools. Personally I pay less then 1K for a 4 bedroom house in rent....similar to the one on sale for 400k in my above post. And I would really not be able to buy anything in this neighbourhood.... Bottomline is read and learn....buying a house at the top of a boom can have massive consequences. It's worth watching the following documentary on Bradley Stoke on the following link http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/articles/2007/09/06/bradleystoke_video_feature.shtml (second video) as people seem not to have learned from history. *) Remember that being sold means nothing until the house actually changes hands. The number of "sold" signs don't match the number of actual transactions or moving fans on the streets.

Indeed it is unbelievable what is happening in Bristol. A house in my neighbourhood just went on sale for 400k, see http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-13750014.html?locationIdentifier=POSTCODE^1014996&maxPrice=500000&minBedrooms=3&radius=0.5&includeSSTC=true&_includeSSTC=on&pageNumber=2&fromSummary=true&backToListURL=%2Fproperty-for-sale%2Ffind.html%3FlocationIdentifier%3DPOSTCODE^1014996%26maxPrice%3D500000%26minBedrooms%3D3%26radius%3D0.5%26includeSSTC%3Dtrue%26_includeSSTC%3Don%26index%3D10 That asking-price is substantially higher than anything ever achieved on the same street that consists of very similar houses, see http://www.houseprices.co.uk/monmouth-road-bristol-bs7/ (the one that stands with a relatively high sale-price #54 is a bigger house, not comparable). Strikingly enough the last comparable house that sold went for 265k after many, many months on the market. So difficult to see on what the estate-agents base this asking price on....utter madness!

Could you be slightly more specific on which area/neighborhood? At least I'm not sure what I see at the moment (except an awful lot of SSC-signs and some actual moving vans)

Probably not many, but I would guess that in Bristol there a quite some FTB who would be able to afford GBP 1400 per month without too much trouble. In particular as decent family homes in good neighborhoods to rent are hard to find...and if available are in this kind of price-range. *) However I doubt that people that have that kind of money available would want to live in neighborhoods in the <190K price-range. Nothing in the area that has my interest in Bristol would be in this price-range as far as I can tell. **) I assume that FTBs with this kind of money available per month are looking for decent family-homes. Not 1 or 2 bedroom flats!

I don't know the city (or the market) however just a quick look at rightmove in the surrounding area which shows a lot of 4 and 5 bed properties cheaper then this which have been on the market for a long time. This gives me the impression that this property has a pretty high asking price. Average sale-prices for detached properties in that neighbourhood give the same impression, see http://www.upmystreet.com/properties/house...in-cw7-2lj.html showing detached properties topping at 180k, consistent with the sold prices for Wenworth Grove, see http://www.houseprices.co.uk/e.php?q=WENTW...NSFORD&n=10 Note, similar property in the same neighbourhood: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sa...D4%26index%3D60 on for 215k By using firefox in combination with the property-bee plugin you can see how long properties have been on the market to find "realistic" sellers. The property for the link above has been on the market since february....in contrast to the one you link to which just came on the market apparantly. ps) You can rent a similar property for GBP 825 btw, see http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-ren...p;x=60&y=15

The LSVb is manned by student-volunteers that typically know their stuff well... I'm pretty sure that they would be willing to talk to you seeing that you basically live in student accomodation. However the contract seems to confirm exactly to the law and probably leaving is your best option as I don't see your landlord changing behaviour if he wants to sell. The only way out of paying the additional month is finding a new renter in your place. Depending on the city you live in and the amount you pay this can be quite easy especially as the academic year has just started. Remember that some cities have massive shortages on student-accomodation!

0) The law regarding renting in Holland is very different from that in the UK and it is relatively rare to be on fixed term as you typically rent until you want to leave. However to me it sounds like you are renting a room in a student-accomodation, correct? 1) A document that explains the law regarding renting rooms can be found here: http://www.lsvb.nl/upload/Brochure%20huurd...51%20(2008).pdf (unfortunately for you in Dutch!) 2) That document tells you in paragraph 6.1 that a fixed term contract does NOT end automatically at the end of the contract but needs to be terminated by the renter by giving notice. So that term in your contract appears correct to me and you are required to give a month notice if that is the agreed minimum term in the contract!! 3) Note that it is very difficult to give any advise based on a translated fragment from a longer contract. Would you have a link to the complete contract in Dutch (with personal details removed) as I am fluent in that language. However the things you mention that the landlord does, do appear to be against the law! 4) It sounds like you are renting a room in a student-accomodation, correct? Assuming that you are a student I would advice you to contact the LSVb Studentenlijn as they can probably give you advice how to deal with this, see http://www.lsvb.nl/studentenlijn.html or at least point you in the correct direction. Other options are to speak to a "rechts-winkel" in your town. edit) Remember that you can make his life really difficult as the contracts does NOT terminate on him selling the house. And for a landlord it is very difficult to terminate the contract as you will see from the document linked to above.

Just an off-topic comment. I am highly skeptical of these "offers" received as it to me appears as a trick that I would think is (or at least should be?) illegal to advertise like this for an estate agent. Rightmove at the moment has a lot of properties that have received an offer and invite people to submit a higher offer. However property-bee shows nicely how these "offers" reduce over time...seems smelly to me.

Sky has a similar "investigation" dating from May 2008. See: http://news.sky.com/skynews/video/Unplugge...270508_0900.flv Comparison with the older video shows how "advisors" have come up with even more creative solutions to give away large mortgages, including writing fake payslips!!, recommending BTL-mortgage and moving in yourself and bragging about selling mortgages at 10x salary.

Thanks for your reply Pac-Man....yep indeed the traffic is the main killer for any plans to commute. However living >15miles away should at least guarantee a parking space close to the place of work. Some of the secondaries in both Portishead and Thornbury sound familiar to me ..... looking at the "performance-tables" on UpMyStreet it is plain shocking to see how large the gap is in the "performance-tables" of these schools with the ones in Bristol itself. The secondary closest to us (Monks Park) has an average absence >>10% not good at all edit) Surprisingly enough the house-prices in Portishead/Thornbury don't seem to differ that much from Bristol. :angry:

My colleagues with children approaching secondary school indeed move away or pay for public schools (last applies only to older senior staff-members btw). The most extreme I've heard is moving to Devon (for quality of life/schools) commuting ever day by train and this is the case for more than one colleague. I personally would be very curious about which small towns around Bristol have a good quality of life + decent schools as that choice will clearly pop up here as well as I don't see the "crash" moving fast enough for our family! I definitely wouldn't be in a position to pay for private being just a single earner.

Use rightmove (BS1 and four miles around) and see what shows up. That way you can ask a more concrete question as you give no information on what you would be looking for at all. Note that the availability of good schools depends really on the age-range of your children. There are decent primaries throughout the city, but finding a good secondary is pretty challenging for anything close to the city-centre. The neighbourhoods around the good secondaries are seriously overpriced to put it mildly. I doubt that 170k buys you anything within their real catchment areas. *) Note that the market has seriously picked up within Bristol. A lot of houses that have been on the market for ages sold and houses in my neighbourhood appear to sell relatively quickly at the moment. (No clue where people find the money as they are far from cheap)

My only complaint would be that lesson 20 on "what to do" is just stating the obvious way of tackling any problem and has little concrete material in it. The rest of the crash course is well worth your time, clear and to the point.

I don't know the "starting" salary you have in mind, but the average HGV salaries gives a number closer to GBP 23.000 (so not 32K!!). Although I guess that especially international drivers take home considerably more. Although I immediately agree that the gap is suprisingly small (which probably explains recent strikes by teachers).

Although I'm not a teacher your amount seems too optimistic to me. See for example teacher pay spines For convenience, the numbers (assuming that we are talking about qualified teachers, unqualified is even lower): Qualified Classroom Teachers - 1 September 2008 Spine Point £ per annum (inc. LW) M1 £21,619 M2 £23,248 M3 £25,037 M4 £26,894 M5 £28,931 M6 £31,138 U1 £33,652 U2 £34,860 U3 £36,114 So only after 9 years teaching they would be >35K. Let alone that I would normally not expect teachers to live in the "average" house....but as a foreigner I might be wrong.

That people with a decent salary not necessarily want to buy is clear... But the averadge reported sofar simply makes no sense. Take the post above with 5% of net-income in rent. That person would earn GBP 8000,- p/m after tax if I am assuming a monthly rent of 400,- Which seems a reasonable rent as somebody on a decent income will not live in the most grotty places. That would mean a gross income of >120.000 a year, a salary that not many will earn. That a couple of people on this board earn that much I would believe, but not almost everyone. Notice that the current mean seems to be hovering below 10%.....I find that impossible to believe.

I was also pretty surprised about the percentages sofar. Here 34% of my netto income goes to the rent....and that is becoming 39% in two months. And I've seen very little "decent" houses suited for a family with children for less.

The rental-market in the UK is a bit weird compared to most other countries. Basically most places to rent are only advertised ~4 weeks before they become empty. So if you want to move to the UK in July it makes little sense to look earlier then the beginning of June. I came to the UK for house-hunting 6 weeks before my scheduled movement day....at that time there was barely anything available for so far in the future. If you are just on your own I would recommend picking a cheap hotel or student accomodation for the first couple of weeks and look from there. As a lot of places to rent have "Available Now" that probably works much better. Note that if you move to a University City it is pretty cheap to rent a room in the Hall of Residences during the holiday season (probably around GBP 100 for a week) warning Make sure that you can use your bank-account and credit-card from Canada. Getting a "decent" bank-account in the UK as a foreigner is a complete nightmare. p2) regarding the other questions....read the sticky posted in this section. I think it answers most of those questions. Nothing too special. ps3) It is always good to have somebody from the country help you with the move. See if your university or employer can give you a hand with the search for a place to live and all the paperwork.

You did notice my statement on the "horrible" experimental skills of British students compared to some other countries. As I've been trained on the continent I can assure you that in some countries there is still a strong focus on experimental skills within physics as it should be. At the end of our studies we do for example spend nine months full-time in a research lab doing state-of-the-art research, which for the good students results in their first publication. Often high impact journals as master-students are ideal for the high-risk experiments .

It seems that some UK-students fail to see that an university education is intended to "help" you learn how to learn, nothing more. And it is completely true that a big part of the knowledge can be obtained from books/internet....after all that is how the people that teach you obtain their knowledge as well. Note that in fact in many continental universities it is required that an exam in a typical (theoretical) course in physics can be passed without attending the lectures. The course material has to be specified in detail with chapters from required books. You as a student are simply required to read and understand those books as that is what the exam is based on. Note that it is simply required that you buy (or loan) those books. Lectures only serve to help you get the big picture.....if you can do that on your own perfect, but unfortunately very few of the students can do that. On the side-line: In my previous university we did test with courses in mathematics.....the results were better if we reduced the amount of lectures simply because the students had more time to sit down and read/study the material as typical contact hours were above 35 hours. So sitting down with a book is clearly highly beneficial, but don't forget that a degree contains more than that. On your own you would not know what the important books/elements are, furthermore experimental skills form an important aspect of physics. That is nearly impossible to be learned from books, but requires hands-on experience (although I immediately agree that British students are shockingly bad in this aspect compared to continental students)

Sorry to say, but in my experience this whole "credit file" excercise as a risk assesment is a complete load of ********. As a "foreigner" being hired as a lecturer at a university I've experienced the crazy things you have to do to get a bank-account set up here in the UK and all my friends/collagues experience the same problems. I remember that setting up an account in Switserland took me 5 minutes for a full-account....not the weeks needed here and this is supposed to be in the EU. Please try to explain me that showing up with previous statements of banks from other west-european countries showing that you've had a decent positive balance for >10 years. A permanent employment contract at a university. Enough money in your basic bank account here in the UK (>8.000 GBP) and you still do not qualify for a basic necessity as a debit card because the bank can "not assess your risk" as there is no UK credit file on you. However paying my car-insurance by "a loan" is no problem at all. (I failed to notice that paying it in installments makes it a loan until I received the letter to sign...stupid but true.) Getting in touch with a banks outside of the UK is apparantly to dangerous (or would requires thinking of the employee/advisor )

+++ Indeed one of the best articles on the subject I've read in a long, long time. The analogy used make it very clear and clearly applicable to the UK market as well. It is refreshing to see such clear thoughts/explanation on the housing-market. Although in the back of my head I know it, I find it an eye-opener to see statements such as: "Price of housing reflects what it takes to outbid other buyers not the cost of production" ps) I can't wait until I see part II of this editorial.

It would be really helpfull if you gave a link. The numbers on statistics.gov.uk are lower. The numbers given there a for full-time employment as payment per week for 2006. Multiplying by 52 gives GBP 25324 as median for a full time working male in the UK. For London it would be GBP 29744.