Laura Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 .... there are not many property prices & pics to be found? ---- & what would be the point of them anyway with values off a cliff? I'm back to my daft wasteland scenario, only now it doesn't look like a crystal ball image, it seems much closer? The majority of EA offices whitewashed. Surviving lenders with a load of property of their own, as well as B&Bs BTL junk, drip feeding into auctions..... ...... & then just as another wave of mass redundancies are reported & lenders become even more nervous & Nationwide wont touch new business at all..... ... a brave TV programme states how much of a liability at any price & just how lousy the good life is in an ex-executive inner city apartment, & that some of them are so cheap that mortgages are not needed. Tell me why it wont happen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosh Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 Laura, i`m with you on this. My best guestimates of a crash are now turning into a dead market, not much on offer, no point in selling, hardly any agents to sell the ones that do pop up through the usual deaths, divorces, repos etc. I know two couples that have taken there houses from the market and given up any hope of selling at a price `they` see as reallistic. So many properties that have been marketed for months/years already and still no sale and many who refuse to drop prices. Thousands of inner city flats empty or filled with squatters I can feel a song coming on Ghost Town, Specials 1981 "This town, is coming like a ghost town, all the clubs being closed down" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worzel Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 I look forward to picking up a cheap inner city flat, will ease the daily commute a few times a week and provide a bolt hole after a night out. Obviously depends on me keeping my job and not having my primary residence repossessed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speak&Spell Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 Well somethings got to give! They days of 100% mortgages is over. House prices still might take a while to reach an affordable price point. I too am waiting but we might be waiting a long while yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lets get it right Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 (edited) .... there are not many property prices & pics to be found? ---- & what would be the point of them anyway with values off a cliff? I'm back to my daft wasteland scenario, only now it doesn't look like a crystal ball image, it seems much closer? The majority of EA offices whitewashed. Surviving lenders with a load of property of their own, as well as B&Bs BTL junk, drip feeding into auctions..... ...... & then just as another wave of mass redundancies are reported & lenders become even more nervous & Nationwide wont touch new business at all..... ... a brave TV programme states how much of a liability at any price & just how lousy the good life is in an ex-executive inner city apartment, & that some of them are so cheap that mortgages are not needed. Tell me why it wont happen? I live in an affluent part of the South East. In a town that is often listed at the top of 'the best places to live in Britain' polls. The small high street has been intensively re-developed over the last few years with a number of swish 'executive flats' with equally swish glass and chrome shop units underneath. Astonishingly, 3 of these shop units have been occupied by our old friends the Estate Agents. Even without the credit crunch the need for High Street offices has diminshed - courtesy of the internet - so you have to question the intelligence of Estate Agents renting premises that I would think are costing them 50k a year. But they plough ahead anyway. Confidence is a great thing. One of the agents, Waterfields, is a very small agent - just a few local branches - but they obviously thought it was time to reach for the stars and, in an act of startling originality, bought some dark green Minis and plastered adverts all over them - and they occupied one of the swish new offices. Their strategy (they're new in my town, only there for 2 years max) seemed to be to overprice even more than the others. In one local street there are 2 3 bed bungalows for sale. Waterfields priced theirs at 460k. The other was 385k. They are both 'worth' about 300k tops. Well, well - as I have been exclusively predicting to my long suffering wife - 'Waterfields will not last until Christmas' - I am happy to report my prediction is out. Driving past yesterday the windows are bare and the office is empty. Wonder how long the lease is. Paying 50k a year rent for the next 7 or 14 or 21 years will be a laugh for them. I'll be interested to see if they manage to assign the lease. Can't see what you could run there in a very small town that would make enough profits to pay the daft levels of rent they asked. I down, 5 to go. 2 more by Christmas I'm hoping. Edited July 10, 2008 by Lets' get it right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 As I have said before, I think we are going to go right through till this Autumn, and perhaps to next Spring, with sellers and EAs in denial. At some point though I expect a shock - Iran being bombed - to cause a sudden and drastic fall in house prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bug16 Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 I live in an affluent part of the South East. In a town that is often listed at the top of 'the best places to live in Britain' polls. Somebody remind me why Cambridge is so desirable? It's an overpriced dump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 As I have said before, I think we are going to go right through till this Autumn, and perhaps to next Spring, with sellers and EAs in denial. At some point though I expect a shock - Iran being bombed - to cause a sudden and drastic fall in house prices. Well I don't know about anyone else, but to see 2-3% MoM falls like we are at the moment is good enough for me! I think we've had the catalyst (the credit crunch) for the crash - we don't need a war in Iran to augment it. It's on course to fall heavily and quickly as it is. Yes, some may still be in denial and take their properties off the market, but those that are selling will be at reduced prices and it's these properties that set the market value, NOT those that've been taken off. With ref to the OP, if EAs don't wise up to the falls and talk the market down, they'll go under. New businesses will suffer first and those who haven't made provisions for hard times....although I'd love to see a few less multi-coloured minis in North London, too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin Allegro Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 I think we'll still see the long-established family firms of EAs (some of them have been around since the eighteenth century) as well as the small, backstreet operations that didn't blow their money on expansion. There will also be more private sales and internet sellers not requiring overheads. The frothy nonsense of Foxton's wine bar type places will go though, probably replaced by squat shops (remember those from the 90s?) or charity shops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betterToDo Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 Tell me why it wont happen? Because life goes on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeryMeanReversion Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 Somebody remind me why Cambridge is so desirable? It's an overpriced dump. So true (I work there but couldn't face living in it at any price) VMR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Baron Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 Somebody remind me why Cambridge is so desirable? It's an overpriced dump. Absolutely right - I grew up there so I should know. Cambridge is a shabby little fenland town; without the colleges it would be nothing. It's also a puffed up little place, full of its own importance, and home to some of the rudest EAs in the country incidentally. Cambridge prices will plummet - just like they did in the last three property crashes I have witnessed..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huw Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 The majority of EA offices whitewashed. And lots of other bubble/froth based businesses too. Surviving lenders with a load of property of their own, as well as B&Bs BTL junk, drip feeding into auctions..... Can't see them drip feeding; in a falling market they'll want to realise whatever they can ASAP. Plus they'll need to raise cash. ...... & then just as another wave of mass redundancies are reported & lenders become even more nervous & Nationwide wont touch new business at all..... ... a brave TV programme states how much of a liability at any price & just how lousy the good life is in an ex-executive inner city apartment, & that some of them are so cheap that mortgages are not needed. Mortgages won't be needed by those with savings, but the victims of those waves of mass redundancies you mentioned (and anyone relying on the economy in which the blood bath is happening) is unlikely to be in that position IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Barlow Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 I look forward to picking up a cheap inner city flat, will ease the daily commute a few times a week and provide a bolt hole after a night out. Obviously depends on me keeping my job and not having my primary residence repossessed. You will be like the working man version of the Omega Man. You will need a special compound for your car with direct access to your fortress flat. Instead of battling mutants disfigured by biological warfare it will be hoards of detritovore chavs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Omega_Man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bug16 Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 (edited) It's also a puffed up little place, full of its own importance I think it's this that makes me hate working and living here the most. The attitude of the people here is absolutely staggering. Roll on me working back up north! Edited to add: thinking about EA's I've not had a free Cambridge property paper for a month now. Anybody know if this is still being produced? Edited July 10, 2008 by Bug16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worzel Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 You will be like the working man version of the Omega Man. You will need a special compound for your car with direct access to your fortress flat. Instead of battling mutants disfigured by biological warfare it will be hoards of detritovore chavs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Omega_Man Will indeed need a compound for the car, think I already do. Someone keyd mine the other week the bar stewards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunroamin' Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 I think it's this that makes me hate working and living here the most. The attitude of the people here is absolutely staggering. Roll on me working back up north!Edited to add: thinking about EA's I've not had a free Cambridge property paper for a month now. Anybody know if this is still being produced? I'm with you there...we've lived here 18 months and find the people to be generally unfriendly, rude and generally unpleasant....middle class chavs basically who rejoice in telling you how much their house is worth and how you can't get a decent house in Cambridge for less than £1 million. We can't wait to leave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash4781 Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 Do a poll.. 'how low will bOE approvals for home purchase (NSA) go?' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Posted July 10, 2008 Author Share Posted July 10, 2008 Because life goes on. Points for brevity. I just wish I understood you Fraccy. __________________________ The wasteland with a big uni? Hell, that east wind Was the area ever meant to be inhabited? At least Cambridge may have an alternative future. Hint:- the first three letters are w e & t Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloo Loo Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 Its not as if the sales have come to a halt, its just that theyve halved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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