Stupid property prices.

One of the myriad benefits of being a member of The Great Unwashed is that you get to watch some day-time telly.

Loads of day-time telly.......

A bit too much, if I'm honest.

One such piece of required daily viewing is Homes Under The Hammer.

Every day I settle down with a brew and a few digestives, in anticipation of seeing some plucky "developers" secure a neglected gem and then transform it into something fantastic and desirable.

(Well, that's how the BBC peddle it - the more prosaic truth is you see a daily procession of chancers snapping up run down dumps, slapping some cream paint on every available vertical surface, sticking a new bath in and then waiting for the estate agents to give them a new, hopefully higher, valuation.)

Which brings me to the point of this thread:

I've just seen some bloke do the absolute bare minimum in terms of "development" on a two bed-roomed flat in somewhere grim like Wandsworth and he yet added roughly £100,000 to its value by sticking some new carpets in and tarting it up a bit.


It was a pokey hole that you could barely swing a cat in but it was valued at £365,000 and honestly, I lived in more salubrious digs as a student in Birmingham in the 80's.

I know London's in its own bubble, but where on earth do these valuations come from and how the hell do people find the money to buy these houses?

Surely, this can't be sustainable and I've been waiting for the latest property crash for a while now (so I can laugh heartily at these pricks), but it doesn't look like it's coming anytime soon.

It's madness.......

It is madness but the housing market is one of the few ways that the "great unwashed" can dabble with their personal finances and have as much success or failure as a stock market investor if you have renovation skills and an understanding of the market.
I met a police woman who has amassed 8 rental properties in 4 years by buying 2, selling one and keeping one. She's worked very hard to do it - basically giving up all her off-duty time to renovate s***holes and flog them - but the mortgages will be paid off early and she'll than have a £4500 month income. She could get more if she flogs them and sticks the money in a Unit Trust which could pay up to £200k pa pre-tax. Personally I'm hoping that the market rises steadily until I sell up next summer. After that it can plummet

I worry for the youngsters today who are planning on getting married and buying their own place. How the hell are they supposed to get a mortgage? London is a bloody joke and I'm just glad I never have to live there.

I love the house prices at the mo

The wife works with a woman who couldn't be further up her own ricker if she tried.

She and her husband bought a house in Lostock about five years ago and the mortgage is killing them.

From the outside, it looks great because they've spent what little free cash they have on keeping the gardens nicely appointed, but inside it's a different story.

They've no carpets in half the rooms, most of the internal doors are missing because they can't afford to get matching ones "all through", they haven't been on holiday since they moved in and they live on jam butties, with beans on toast as a treat on a Sunday.

My wife asked her about it recently and she said it was a struggle and they had loads of rows about money but then she looked at the post-code and it all seemed worth it.

Fucking idiot.

Reebok Trotter wrote:I worry for the youngsters today who are planning on getting married and buying their own place. How the hell are they supposed to get a mortgage? London is a bloody joke and I'm just glad I never have to live there.

We are obsessed with owning our own homes in the UK whereas 70% of French people live in rented accommodation. Young people can rent off me so I can retire. Win-Win.

An Englishman's home is his castle - and his ball and chain.

i had this issue when i moved to Manchester, the house prices compared to Bolton were a real shocker for me and it has landed me with a big mortgage. For the price i paid for a 3 bed semi in Burnage god knows what i could have bought in Bolton for the same price! This was 7 years ago so things may have evened out a bit but i'll bet i could still get more for my money in sunny Bolton.

I'm in the process of selling and buying. I accepted an offer and bought a bungalow.

In 15 years the value of my property has risen from 162K to 418k.  Today I saw a Jaguar XF, only £19500, and 3 years old. I went in, had a drive, bought it, and paid cash.
I like this buying and selling of properties

Breadman wrote:The wife works with a woman who couldn't be further up her own ricker if she tried.

She and her husband bought a house in Lostock about five years ago and the mortgage is killing them.

From the outside, it looks great because they've spent what little free cash they have on keeping the gardens nicely appointed, but inside it's a different story.

They've no carpets in half the rooms, most of the internal doors are missing because they can't afford to get matching ones "all through", they haven't been on holiday since they moved in and they live on jam butties, with beans on toast as a treat on a Sunday.

My wife asked her about it recently and she said it was a struggle and they had loads of rows about money but then she looked at the post-code and it all seemed worth it.

Fucking idiot.

 made me laugh that but it's so true, i know people like this as well funnily enough.

gloswhite wrote:I'm in the process of selling and buying. I accepted an offer and bought a bungalow.

In 15 years the value of my property has risen from 162K to 418k.  Today I saw a Jaguar XF, only £19500, and 3 years old. I went in, had a drive, bought it, and paid cash.
I like this buying and selling of properties

But are you really happy?

I would like to be able to purchase a house one day, however I think I may be priced out of it when I'm ready.

Nice one, Glos.

Ya bastard.........

3.0 Litre V6 or the dirty diesel?

boltonbonce wrote:

gloswhite wrote:I'm in the process of selling and buying. I accepted an offer and bought a bungalow.

In 15 years the value of my property has risen from 162K to 418k.  Today I saw a Jaguar XF, only £19500, and 3 years old. I went in, had a drive, bought it, and paid cash.
I like this buying and selling of properties

But are you really happy?

Probably not he's a dwarf and can't reach the pedals.

Well, he's not replied.

Do we think he's inadvertently locked himself in it and can't figure out how to get out?

gloswhite wrote:I'm in the process of selling and buying. I accepted an offer and bought a bungalow.

I just bought a bungalow but won't be selling this place until next year at the earliest. That's mainly because the bungalow needs about a year's work and 70 grand spent on it just to make it habitable. Really not expecting to see any profit for a long, long time but it will free up equity so I can spend it on me and the missus - the kids have had enough of me already. So just booked a holiday in Havana for January (think it's the hurricane season but not certain) and we'll take it from there - but hoping house prices continue to rise until at least next summer.

Hmmm............

If anyone wants to leave me their house in their will I wouldn't mind folks. Just putting it out there.

wanderlust wrote:

gloswhite wrote:I'm in the process of selling and buying. I accepted an offer and bought a bungalow.

I just bought a bungalow but won't be selling this place until next year at the earliest. That's mainly because the bungalow needs about a year's work and 70 grand spent on it just to make it habitable. Really not expecting to see any profit for a long, long time but it will free up equity so I can spend it on me and the missus - the kids have had enough of me already. So just booked a holiday in Havana for January (think it's the hurricane season but not certain) and we'll take it from there - but hoping house prices continue to rise until at least next summer.

No hurricane season finishes end of November.

MartinBWFC wrote:

wanderlust wrote:

gloswhite wrote:I'm in the process of selling and buying. I accepted an offer and bought a bungalow.

I just bought a bungalow but won't be selling this place until next year at the earliest. That's mainly because the bungalow needs about a year's work and 70 grand spent on it just to make it habitable. Really not expecting to see any profit for a long, long time but it will free up equity so I can spend it on me and the missus - the kids have had enough of me already. So just booked a holiday in Havana for January (think it's the hurricane season but not certain) and we'll take it from there - but hoping house prices continue to rise until at least next summer.

No hurricane season finishes end of November.

Ta Martin. Hoping for a fairly clement 25 degrees or so - a proper rum supping temperature.

Breadman wrote:Hmmm............

Never mind about hmmmm-ing young man! If you've nowt to do all day long you'd be welcome to come to Norfolk and earn a few bob digging trenches, knocking down walls and vaulting ceilings. Bungalows don't renovate themselves you know. I pay minimum wage plus as much Cromer crab and samphire as you can eat and a free boat trip to see the seals at Blakeney Point every weekend. Cash in hand you understand?