TheCountOfNowhere Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 I was just wondering if any of the long time bears on here are still actively look for houses ? I for one have stopped...did 3 viewings this year and was shocked at how bad they were, gave up after that. The record asking prices and the fact that people are clinging on to these asking prices, for me, makes it pointless or impossible to continue looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 This last weekend. There are a couple of houses coming up in auction that I have my eye on and might bid on them in the next 2 months when the auctions happen. But unlikely. Turning more towards investing my cash now and looking to work overseas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil324 Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Yes see my post in the Halifax thread. I also made an offer 4% below asking 2 months ago which was refused and it has since sold, the house was marketed at 2004 prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCountOfNowhere Posted June 7, 2012 Author Share Posted June 7, 2012 Yes see my post in the Halifax thread. I also made an offer 4% below asking 2 months ago which was refused and it has since sold, the house was marketed at 2004 prices. 4% below...you got to be kidding me. It's sold quickly then do you have a land registry entry for the sold price ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil324 Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 4% below...you got to be kidding me. It's sold quickly then do you have a land registry entry for the sold price ? Takes a few months to feed through. Its was pitched at 2004 levels and to be fair was a bargain compared to the shite I see people willing to accept a life of slavery. I have said on here before that anything set at 2004 levels sells and sells fast. So you have enough willing and able buyers, willing banks and hey presto a floor in prices. That's the situation here in Birmingham. Very sad but that's it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest_James Toney_* Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 i am now, but i do not care if it takes me a year or so to find the right one, i have come to the conclusion that it will take years for house prices to get to a realistic level and i cant wait many years, maybe 2 at the most for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCountOfNowhere Posted June 7, 2012 Author Share Posted June 7, 2012 Takes a few months to feed through. Ok, so not sold, let us know when it has. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckmojo Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 I actually only recently started looking and decided I'll be waiting another year. Then I'll buy the best I can buy very comfortably. I could do this now, but being North East based I am sure better opportunity will be available in 1 year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manchester50 Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Viewing fairly regularly as our rented place is up for sale, and we'd prefer to buy rather than rent again if we can find a house where we don't find the asking price offensive. Clearly houses with inoffensive asking prices may as well have pig-wings. We're looking with the attitude "let's take a look whilst we're in the area, if it's ok it stays on the list to keep an eye out for future drops in the asking". Did offer on an informal tender last month but the vendor did not accept any of the offers. Most of the houses we look at we would consider semi-seriously with a 15-20% asking cut, and very seriously with a 25% cut, which would take them back to ~2003/4 prices. 75% of our savings are readily accessible, 25% locked down medium to long-term, which reflects the fact that we'd buy if the right house/price came up, but have no intention of stretching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Bart' Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 I've not looked for a long, long while but have recently started to look a bit more actively on Rightmove. At 46 I have to think about what sort of mortgage I could get. 15 years would be OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libspero Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 I was just wondering if any of the long time bears on here are still actively look for houses ? I for one have stopped...did 3 viewings this year and was shocked at how bad they were, gave up after that. The record asking prices and the fact that people are clinging on to these asking prices, for me, makes it pointless or impossible to continue looking. We would buy if we could find something we liked at a sensible price.. we're in a position to do so now. We've done a few viewings but nothing coming on that ticks the boxes. If we don't buy soon we may never as our long term view isn't restricted to the UK. Complicated by the fact that we'd want kids first but the place we're currently renting isn't big enough for a family. We are toying with renting somewhere bigger but we would be paying two or three times the amount we are now (presumably competing with higher levels of HB for 3/4 bed houses). Unfortunately life makes buying a house so much more complicated than just picking the bottom of the market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manchester50 Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 We would buy if we could find something we liked at a sensible price.. we're in a position to do so now. This must be a split on the site? i.e. those who can afford to buy something suitable (right size/area etc) but are wanting better value for money, and those (possibly younger?) who cannot afford to buy anything suitable due to higher student debts/limited deposit savings/limited employment opps/limited mortgage availability Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19 year mortgage 8itch Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Looking? Yes. Expecting to find one? No. 3 houses viewed recently, one which looked 'cheap' in local market but has micro-local issues, gone SSTC. Others still for sale in dead man's land of £250k-£285k Would need a good 20% off asking prices before I seriously think about rent vs buy again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caveat Mortgagor Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 I hate myself for renting from a couple of teachers (real amateur landlords). Also we got s21'd last year after 4 years in last place. Current LL deserves a bad tenant - in fact looking st the state of most rentals that become available, most LLs in the area deserve bad tenants. However, its not enough to make us want to buy at current prices. I monitor the local market quite actively for signs that prices are reasonable. In general they are coming down, but painfully slowly. Most stuff locally sits on the market in no-mans land. The vendors are deluded and dont want to give it away, the buyers either cant afford or baulk at the insane prices. (Annoying anecdote alert), I saw a 3 bed semi come onto RM over the weekend. In a cul de sac, at the entrance to the park. Location looked pretty good when viewed on RM, price seemed to me to be 25% higher than it would sell for. When i walk past with my dog you can hear the dual carriageway to quite an annoying level. Oh, and the wall has been knocked down to make a through lounge diner - which merely masks the fact the dining room was tiny to begin with. So, on the plus side, a pleasant view when stood in the front garden, downside, when in the garden its noisy, its cramped and too expensive. It was listed on RM on Fri and was showing as sold before the weekend was over! Now is not the time to view houses. I'm resigned to at least another 2 years of bailing out a couple of canny business minded teachers. :angry: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin Allegro Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 I moved abroad for the foreseeable future last year, although I had given up any realistic hope of buying a place before that. My wife owns a flat (almost outright) and together with my savings we will hopefully buy a house and some land overseas in the next couple of years. Quite frankly, the ludicrous British housing market can go **** itself. I am pretty sure now that prices will never seriously drop, or be allowed to drop, in the UK. It would be like a cure so strong that it killed the patient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bradbury Robinson Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 We're both mid-thirties, not looking at the moment but, after renting for coming up to four years, I think it may have to start soon. We have some cash saved up for a deposit, probably about 10% of maximum we could pay plus a bit more to cover fees and costs. In the two postcodes that we would want to live in we could probably go low-end for a pokey little place or middle-of-the-road which would get a pretty standard three bedroom semi-detached or something similar. The third option is to top out what we can afford and get a bigger place which, in all likelihood, we would never have to move out of again. By the top end I mean what we have calculated we could afford should one of use lose our job or have to take a pay-cut for some reason, not what some commission based mortgage advisor will tell you you can borrow. If I'm honest I can't really say I'm looking forward to any of the process of buying a house, I find it tiresome having to go to a shop and buy a new pair of jeans and that involves minimal human contact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montesquieu Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Yes. Had an offer of 15% off (£50K) accepted but amazingly it was the wife who wobbled and we withdrew from the sale. We are half-heartedly still looking but a little confident of more of a bargain come the winter. At the moment it all seems very delusional. Land registry says sold prices in this bit of Berkshire are on average a few percent below 2007 peak, but asking prices in our target range are anything up to 20% above (annoyingly, some of these houses have been shifting so abusing estate agents for fantasy valuations isn't quite as much fun as it was for a while). Totally unsustainable of course, but short of a total Greek style bloodbath suddenly coming out of nowhere, people here don't seem to be affected by the doom and gloom. Waitrose is still busy and there are as many plonker wagons sorry Range Rovers as ever being badly driven around the country lanes. There have been some redundancies at the likes of HP and Accenture driven by global considerations but it all feels a bit unreal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Monk Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Yes, I'm using my STR fund to buy one of these at the weekend. A 500bhp Renault Magnum. I'm going to live in it, rent and mortgage free and earn money with it travelling all around Europe pulling other peoples trailers. Win/win! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
“Nasty Piece of work” Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Canny business minded teachers don't exist - half wits do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecrashingisles Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Canny business minded teachers don't exist I think you'd have to call Salman Khan a teacher and he's certainly canny and business minded. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khan_Academy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parkwell Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 I'm always interested but circumstances have constantly stopped me. Living quite a transient life due to work. Was originally planning to buy in 2007/8 (good time at start of longer contract than normal) but for obvious reasons decided to wait and see. Glad I did because I'm moving town again soon and wouldn't want to have to sell now. Will wait at least 18 months more as I move and learn the new area. I am seriously sick of renting though. The housing market is doing nothing to encourage me to settle down. Way too pricey everywhere I've been. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buccaneer Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 I was just wondering if any of the long time bears on here are still actively look for houses ? I for one have stopped...did 3 viewings this year and was shocked at how bad they were, gave up after that. The record asking prices and the fact that people are clinging on to these asking prices, for me, makes it pointless or impossible to continue looking. Considering buying a smaller, cheaper place than I would otherwise want as a hedge against inflation and insurance against banks going bust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim123 Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 I'm still looking, but only at properties that are priced competitively. Though it is rare that I see one that matches my "must haves", let along the desirables. Usually they are repos in poor condition [1]. Currently looking at a couple under 100K, as I'm more flexible on my offer there. For a 10% over-priced house, at 90K I'm not going to notice paying 5% over the odds, and the vendors is not going to notice 5% off, like we would at 250K. tim [1] Currently looking at one originally sold for 138K now priced at 95K! This isn't the "normal" local discount, it was blatant (and IMHO obvious) overpricing when originally sold (but the banks valued it and some mugs paid it!). Someone's taking a hair cut whether it sells at 90K or 100K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priced_Out_GenXer Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 (edited) Not a chance. I really do feel we’re on the edge of a precipice, and although I’m a long time bear all the indicators now suggest we’re getting very close to the end game. If in eighteen months time the tide hasn’t turned then I may reconsider. So long as I’m happy and I can keep on adding to my deposit fund there’s no reason to buy right now and every reason to sit tight and wait to see what happens. Even if I wanted to buy there’s very little on the market where I live in Milton Keynes and the properties that are available are mostly over priced and have been on the market for several months or years. Edited June 7, 2012 by monstermunch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wurzel Of Highbridge Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 We have been so let down by the UK that we decided to leave. I have found a good software job in Galway, Ireland with an international company and will be moving over on Thursday into a rental property (4 bed detached 15mins from Galway city €700/m). The property prices are good compared to the UK, the wages are also comparable. The Euro is looking dodgy but I feel that the social and economic fundamentals will workout better for us than the second choice which would have been living in Somerset and commuting to Bristol. The nice things about moving to Ireland are the countryside, friendly people and it's only an an hour from Shannon to Bristol airport. (oh yes and we finally get to live in a reasonably priced property).. Overall I am very anious about the move however I am sure that it will turn out for the better in the long run. If the worst comes to pass we can always move back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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