20% drop in house prices in next year

[WeeBitWobbly]

Did anyone read this in today's paper.

What do you think?

But without whoring yourself out I presume?

That comes later when the interest rates rise

Yep seven years away. My whoring efforts would I fear not raise much cash.

this is really interesting to read, as we have found a house we want to buy, and have chain in place behind us, but the one we want is overpriced... we CAN afford it, but know we'd be paying over the odds for it... but now i'm starting to think maybe we should stop worrying about it and just enjoy the fact that we've found a place we'd like to call home...

mrsravelstein - Nooooooo
There will be another house, in fact I bet that house will still be there in 2 years time if they refuse to budge on price.
On the other hand my house is going on the market next week for £25k more than I expect to get for it on the off chance that one of you guys comes along and gives me more than the house is worth

traceybath put up some heavy curtains, they are just as effective at insualtinas PVC double glazing your landlord would undoubtedly inflict on you, and much nicer.

Unfortunately thick curtains aren't an option for us, as the landlord has supplied flimsy curtain poles and we aren't allowed to put up different ones. Renting is a joy.

And we have PVC units; they're just dreadful.

But on the other hand that would be 2yrs of your life that you won't get back when you could have been enjoying living in your new house.

If the person needs to sell they will drop it but if they don't they could wait it out or someone else could buy it.

When we moved up north there was a house on the market which was still on at the same price when we sold ours 3yrs later to move back down south!

in the street we're looking there are 3 similar houses which have been on the market for a year, no price reduction, and the one we want we've offered 95% of asking but they won't take it. the problem is, we HAVE to move, we've been looking for a year, and we need to be settled by september latest as we have to apply for reception school place for ds2 and year 7 place at 2ndary school for ds1... if we wait, we are committed to staying in our current area for at least another 2 years which is a hellish thought

So you are only living your life if it's in a house you own ? I find that most strange and actually since we bought our house we do a lot less living and much more DIY :(

Mrs - why not move into a rented house within the catchment and then if the school turns out to be crap you can move again. I know people who paid £££££ for a ofsted outstanding school catchment house, the school turned out to be totally unsuitable for their child and now they are all stuck and miserable.

We're cash buyers with nothing to sell and we're also finding that people want unrealistic offers. They are still expecting t

They obviously don't want to sell that much heir houses to sell at 2008 prices, even though their house has been on the market since since 2008!

Every house will sell at the right price and if its been on the market for ages, the price is too high

In your case, I would just go for it but only if it will be a long term house. Unless there is a good range of rentals in the catchment you want.
What does the EA say? Did she recommend your offer or does she thing the house is worth more?

My friends who are looking to buy this year are willing to pay a little more simply because, like you, they need to be in catchment by the autumn.

That's what I meant earlier about life needing to take priority over getting the absolute best deal. Nobody wants to be shafted but life is too short to put everything on hold just to save an extra 20k IMO.

Thing is though Dusty, you can't possibly get annoyed that they won't drop the price just because you think they should. It may well be more than the market can take at the moment but that doesn't mean they should have to drop their price. They may be quite happy to sit it out.

Like the programme says, it's Location Location Location.

Some places are attractive to live for various reasons and people will become ever more desperate to live in them. Prices may well drop in certain areas but I don't think there will ever be a bargain to be had in some places.

Also, if prices were to drop significantly there would still be a lot of people out there with cash who'd take a punt on a buy-to-let or just holding the property, so that would stop the bottom dropping out of the market in popular locations.

They may be quite happy to sit it out.

Which is why buyers must be prepared to sit it out too, I guess it depends what £20k means to you, if you had to hand over £20k plus 5% interest for 25 years in cash i bet people would be more reluctant to do so but because they are just numbers on a sheet people think they aren't important.

mama, because the only vaguely suitable house to rent where we want to live is 2800 pcm... by the time we've rented that for a year, we might as well have paid 25k more for the house we actually want to live in and without the hassle of moving a family of 5 twice... it's a very difficult decision at the moment!

also our mortgage is going to be tiny, so the interest payments don't really factor into it. if we rent we'll have 600k cash sitting around from our house sale earning no money because we'll need to have quick access to it in case we do actually find a house. i just worry that we could spend 30k renting a place for a year, and then end up buying a place that ok might be 30k cheaper than it is now, but we'll end up breaking even so what's the point

I wish we had the luxury of choosing whether to buy now or wait. Unless the Market drops by at least 30 - 40% we will never be able to buy. And we have good household income and savings. We do live in London though, but have little choice in that because dh's job can only be here. Can't even afford to buy a big enough house in a shifty small town within commuting distance. And by big enough, I mean three bedrooms.

Everyone I know of my age or younger who missed out on property boom is in the same position, unless they have massive deposits given to them. So I don't see how the Market can do anything but fall.

Btw, I have no idea why my iPhone caps up Market!

Fruitsalad, have you thought about somewhere like Peterborough or Milton Keynes?

They may seem too far away but DH has lots of colleagues who live in both. As the trains are intercity, they can still be in Town within the hour.

We have thought about it, and as h works in north London it could work. But it's v dependent on him working where he does now - if he lost his job he would not have much flexibility on where he could work. And if the Market does drop, we would be stuck with a house we couldn't sell. He works in v specialised industry.

Mama _ i really don't know why you think we're just a daft bunch of chequebook wavers. The place we jusf bought was on at 145, empty for a year (divorce). We got for 120 which is a fair lop off. They still owed the bank. I've just cooked a very garlicky meal - in the flat neighbours put in official complaints about smell.

I wasn't being patronising. I just know that DH works in the City and lots of colleagues live further out than you would expect. His boss is always saying how living in St Albans means she gets into work quicker than living in London. I appreciate StA isn't that far out but I guess it doesn't matter too much if the transport links are good.

Yes I agree Alpine - we're paying 20% under the asking price and I think we've got a good deal.

Thick curtains wouldn't have worked due to the curtain pole situation here too. I did put some thicker ones up in our bedroom and the curtain pole fell down as its basically fitted onto the crubliest plaster ever - we then had to pay to get it fixed and re-plastered

Honestly if there were more decent landlords out there renting decent family sized rural properties we would possibly have rented for longer but there just aren't. And never again would I rent a house which was the family home/the landlord is emotionally attached to - its just too much hassle.

I didn't think you were, sorry if you got that impression. We just can't afford to live close like st Albans, and far out really limits options. And commuting is expensive too.