Oxford

[lemonsorbet]

Yep, it went sold STC on rightmove at 169k asking a couple of weeks later, hardly worth flipping after costs I would have thought unless it went for full asking.

Here's another similar repo to watch:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-225...68&tr_t=buy

It's hard to believe now these were going for around £250k a year ago, madness!

1 bed houses were selling for £250k???

It would rent for around £700 I guess, and the mortgage would be about £675 for the interest part (assuming a deposit is put down! - very sensible these days!), so £160k doesn't seem a bad price actually! Shame it doesn't have private parking!!

Will deffo keep an eye on this one!

edit - that £395k has to be a mistake! Otherwise something dodgy was going on, probably why they got reposessed!!

Edited August 5, 2008 by lemonsorbet

[thegirlfrommarz]

Hmmm, we used to rent from that bunch [scott Fraser]. Do they still use the 'Lifestyle Lettings' name (bleurgh) or has that gone?

They're our letting agency. Seem all right so far - professional and efficient, if expensive. I haven't heard of "Lifestyle Lettings", so I'm guessing it's gone - good thing too!

[quad]

house prices in witney are still stubbornly staying above £200k, for modest 3 bed places. i am becoming increasingly impatient for prices to come down to reality, so i can afford to move from my rented shared squat. looking for 40-50% drop for this to become a reality. hopefully within 2 years. maybe i should put in a few offers now, at these levels. anyone want to join in, with making these sensible offers, around this area!

[Crashing]

They're our letting agency. Seem all right so far - professional and efficient, if expensive. I haven't heard of "Lifestyle Lettings", so I'm guessing it's gone - good thing too!

did u know that scottfraser has exit fees clause in their contract? i was reluctant to let from them at first because of this fee. Apparently, when you move out, depending on the size of property, you will be charged a min. of 100pds as exit fees!! If you add the ~250pds admin fee just to let a property, the tenancy fees itself is a min. of 350pds.

[shavedchimp]

did u know that scottfraser has exit fees clause in their contract? i was reluctant to let from them at first because of this fee. Apparently, when you move out, depending on the size of property, you will be charged a min. of 100pds as exit fees!! If you add the ~250pds admin fee just to let a property, the tenancy fees itself is a min. of 350pds.

what does pds mean?

shavedchimp

[sooperlids]

what does pds mean?

shavedchimp

Pounds I would imagine?

[thegirlfrommarz]

did u know that scottfraser has exit fees clause in their contract? i was reluctant to let from them at first because of this fee. Apparently, when you move out, depending on the size of property, you will be charged a min. of 100pds as exit fees!! If you add the ~250pds admin fee just to let a property, the tenancy fees itself is a min. of 350pds.

Yes, I read all the documentation very carefully before we moved in and they did give us a very clear leaflet explaining all their charges. Expensive but efficient, as I said in my previous post! You're right, it's very expensive - but it was the nicest property we'd seen in some time. My boyfriend is still appalled at the idea of an exit fee (apparently to cover the inventory - although I strongly feel that should be the landlord's responsibility) but has subsided into grumbling, which I imagine will turn into an all-out rant once we move out and actually have to pay it.

We STR'd earlier this year, so it was a bit of a shock to be a tenant again after four years of home-ownership - I had forgotten just how frustrating it is to be at the mercy of a letting agent and was surprised how expensive it had become with all the various admin fees the LAs charged.

[Kaos0001]

These two are right next to each other and actually identical!!! Check them

with property bee; maybe the best example of where price wars will

be taking us in Oxford. Also of interest is the time lag of one of the EAs:

from 2nd Aug when one of the houses was reduced, it took them

2 weeks to respond with a similar reduction. That is 2 weeks down the

drain for this poor seller; who would touch it????

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-182...=5&tr_t=buy

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-218...=5&tr_t=buy

[Bear Goggles]

Yes, I read all the documentation very carefully before we moved in and they did give us a very clear leaflet explaining all their charges. Expensive but efficient, as I said in my previous post! You're right, it's very expensive - but it was the nicest property we'd seen in some time. My boyfriend is still appalled at the idea of an exit fee (apparently to cover the inventory - although I strongly feel that should be the landlord's responsibility) but has subsided into grumbling, which I imagine will turn into an all-out rant once we move out and actually have to pay it.

We STR'd earlier this year, so it was a bit of a shock to be a tenant again after four years of home-ownership - I had forgotten just how frustrating it is to be at the mercy of a letting agent and was surprised how expensive it had become with all the various admin fees the LAs charged.

You are mad using a letting agent in Oxford! They exist only to rip off wealthy students' parents and foreigners working in Oxford on overseas contracts. London doesn't have letting agencies like Oxford's, they'd be out of business in a flash.

When we first moved here, I was absolutely shocked by their tactics and their charges. I run my own company and I will not do business with people who are crooks, so I didn't.

Oxford has a huge number of properties being let independently by professional landlords advertising directly in the local press. Okay, you have to do a bit of research and look at a few places, suss out the landlord as well as the house, but the difference in costs is huge, and you don't have to deal with amateur landlords and snooty letting agent shysters.

Just don't do business with these people. I just don't understand why people seem to become subservient surfs as soon as they rent. It's the British mentality I suppose. View a house, meet the landlord, make an offer on the rent, and cut a deal directly with the person who's renting it.

Renters have zero rights in this country due to the disgraceful AST (tenancy laws) many letting agencies are just parasites feeding on the lack of regulation. Cut them out FFS, they are scum!

(I don't mean this to be a personal attack on you BTW, hats-off for STRing at the right time, it's just a general rant about people not sticking up for themselves in the face of rip-off merchants)

[shavedchimp]

http://www.oxfordmail.net/mostpopular.var....eel_squeeze.php

This is a very pleasant read and there's a lot of lively discussion below. Enjoy

shavedchimp

[shavedchimp]

Why does this property keep increasing then decreasing in price? Is it some EA tactic? Or a fault on propertysnake?

http://www.propertysnake.co.uk/site/detail/4593805

Have you also noticed how OX2 hovered for months just below 100 properties with reductions, then in recent weeks it's shot up to 127?

shavedchimp

[pharm]

Why does this property keep increasing then decreasing in price? Is it some EA tactic? Or a fault on propertysnake?

http://www.propertysnake.co.uk/site/detail/4593805

Have you also noticed how OX2 hovered for months just below 100 properties with reductions, then in recent weeks it's shot up to 127?

shavedchimp

I *think* they're hoping to bounce the property in and out of peoples' Rightmove saved searches so that they get it emailed to potential buyers on a regular basis.

Can't think of any other justification for these price moves.

[quad]

prices finally seem to be starting to go down, in witney. althought sill rather slowly, from looking at estate agent window prices.

more are coming on at the £175K range, (cheers Gordon) still stupidly high but moving down, all the same.

[Kaos0001]

I don't know what you guys are looking at;in the Oxford that I'm checking every other

day, there are substantial falls left and right. Check with with property bee:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-198...p;mam_disp=true

that's a 20% for you and there are lots of others like that all around...

prices finally seem to be starting to go down, in witney. althought sill rather slowly, from looking at estate agent window prices.

more are coming on at the £175K range, (cheers Gordon) still stupidly high but moving down, all the same.

[Basildon Bond]

I don't know what you guys are looking at;in the Oxford that I'm checking every other

day, there are substantial falls left and right. Check with with property bee:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-198...p;mam_disp=true

that's a 20% for you and there are lots of others like that all around...

Still got a long way to go before something like that's value for money: Looking at the map its pretty much slap-bang on the ring road. Not great for 400,000 nicker.

[Kaos0001]

Still got a long way to go before something like that's value for money: Looking at the map its pretty much slap-bang on the ring road. Not great for 400,000 nicker.

Couldn't agree more. Still, from £500K to £400K means that this is now £100K closer to proper value for money. Maybe another £100-£120K down to make it affordable to

the audience these houses were intended for in the first place...

[Basildon Bond]

From Nationwide's index: 7.00AM THURSDAY 2ND OCTOBER 2008

Five hottest regional towns/cities

Rank Town/ City Annual % Change Average Price

1 Durham City 2% £157,613

2 Edinburgh -3% £249,587

3 Oxford -3% £321,848

4 Canterbury -4% £215,608

5 London -5% £301,301

I guess 3% is better than nothing but how come Oxford is being so damn resilient when its 'sister' town of cambridge is showing some of country's the biggest falls (-14%)?

[lemonsorbet]

I don't know what you guys are looking at;in the Oxford that I'm checking every other

day, there are substantial falls left and right. Check with with property bee:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-198...p;mam_disp=true

that's a 20% for you and there are lots of others like that all around...

It may have had a 20% reduction, but it's STILL £400k for a 2 doubles and a box room!! I guess it would fetch about £1500 in rent, so I doubt someone would pay £400k for it??

The only reductions I keep seeing are expensive houses going from stupidly overpriced to still overpriced.

Are rents in Oxford ever going to drop, or do people see them increasing?

[Basildon Bond]

It may have had a 20% reduction, but it's STILL £400k for a 2 doubles and a box room!! I guess it would fetch about £1500 in rent, so I doubt someone would pay £400k for it??

The only reductions I keep seeing are expensive houses going from stupidly overpriced to still overpriced.

Are rents in Oxford ever going to drop, or do people see them increasing?

I don't see how rents can ever rise in a recession. On the other hand, its hard to see rents ever dropping substantially, in the centre at least, as long as Oxford has a healthy student population. On top of this Oxford just hasn't had the level of building of new-build flats that other cities such as Reading have seen which will ultimately drag rents down in such areas - or maybe I'm just in a bleak mood today

[Kaos0001]

This is speculation of course, but IMHO the reasons are:

-no newbuilts

-a nicer place to live (than Cambridge for example)

-good link(s) with London (bankers galore)

-town *and* gown seeking roof

-conservativism = takes longer for the message to hit home

-a "core" of very high quality and value houses that are

lending glamour to the rest (North Oxford).

As far as the £500K --> £400K property I posted, I agree with all posts:

it is right on the ring road and it is tiny. Yet, a year and a half ago

it would have sold for circa the asking price whereas now I doubt

the owner is getting any viewings at all. Before reason sinks in,

sentiment must change and there are lots and lots of examples

in OX and everywhere that sentiment is indeed changing rapidly.

[popeye]

This is speculation of course, but IMHO the reasons are:

-no newbuilts

-a nicer place to live (than Cambridge for example)

-good link(s) with London (bankers galore)

-town *and* gown seeking roof

-conservativism = takes longer for the message to hit home

-a "core" of very high quality and value houses that are

lending glamour to the rest (North Oxford).

As far as the £500K --> £400K property I posted, I agree with all posts:

it is right on the ring road and it is tiny. Yet, a year and a half ago

it would have sold for circa the asking price whereas now I doubt

the owner is getting any viewings at all. Before reason sinks in,

sentiment must change and there are lots and lots of examples

in OX and everywhere that sentiment is indeed changing rapidly.

Oxford has an extra pressure caused by last year's flooding, which took a number of homes off the market for a prolonged period (say six months on average to collect insurance, dry out, redecorate, etc.) The floods affected mainly family homes, less so flats and student accomodation, and put extra pressure for this type of housing on other areas. The flooding may still be depressing sales in areas such as Osney and Botley Road - insurance may be tricky, who wants a house that may fill up with mud again, etc. It would be interesting to know if anyone has any statistics on this.

Another big difference from Cambridge is the hinterland: Cambridge has fairly poor rural areas (the Fens) whereas Oxford has the very affluent Thames Valley. I've lived in Oxford for many years and it has always been pooorer than Cambridge: you have to consider the town as well as the gown.

[popeye]

Oxford has an extra pressure caused by last year's flooding, which took a number of homes off the market for a prolonged period (say six months on average to collect insurance, dry out, redecorate, etc.) The floods affected mainly family homes, less so flats and student accomodation, and put extra pressure for this type of housing on other areas. The flooding may still be depressing sales in areas such as Osney and Botley Road - insurance may be tricky, who wants a house that may fill up with mud again, etc. It would be interesting to know if anyone has any statistics on this.

Another big difference from Cambridge is the hinterland: Cambridge has fairly poor rural areas (the Fens) whereas Oxford has the very affluent Thames Valley. I've lived in Oxford for many years and it has always been pooorer than Cambridge: you have to consider the town as well as the gown.

Sorry - slip of the fingers (and brain)! I meant Oxford has always been richer than Cambridge! Apologies all round!

[Miss Madam]

Sorry - slip of the fingers (and brain)! I meant Oxford has always been richer than Cambridge! Apologies all round!

Actually have a look at rents on propertybee, there are 50 and 100 quid being lopped off asking prices for a fair few properties and some of the houses have been on there for ages. Also bear in mind that most landlords wouldn't officially reduce their asking price on Rightmove but may well be open to negotiation. Lucy's new development at the ironworks in Jericho still seems half empty if you look at all of the places up for rent for silly money on Rightmove, if people refuse to buckle and pay silly money (hey we as the demand have to play our part and demand rent reductions rather than just agreeing to high rents 'because its Oxford') i reckon rents could come down even further, even BTLers would rather have a lower rent than a void. I mean where are nurses, shopworkers etc meant to live in this city, they already can't buy or rent on their own, are they meant to be priced out of shared housing too? Landlords need a reality check, rent is nowt to do with their dumbass 10x salary mortgage, but rather dictated by local wages.

[Melvin]

Oxford is a city, and the county town of oxford shire, in south east england. It has a population of 134,248. The rivers cherwell and thames run through oxford and meet south of the city center. For a distance of some 10 miles along the river, in the vicinity of oxford, the thames is known as the isis.

[popeye]

Still got a long way to go before something like that's value for money: Looking at the map its pretty much slap-bang on the ring road. Not great for 400,000 nicker.

This house is in Sunderland Avenue, which is associated with Philip Pullman's books. The road is lined with hornbeam trees, referred to in 'The Subtle Knife'. That may be why it's so expensive - if you want to pay for the ssociation!