artep

An estate agent doing his best????? Don't make me laugh!!! I've yet to find an estate agent that hasn't made his career out of permanently talking out of his arse.....that's when he's not sitting on it drinking coffee...

chatty34

LOL Yeah or in our case picking the phone up on Saturday 5 times and putting it straight back down again. Reason: we were sooo busy!!! Yeah, not with selling my house you werent.

artep

don't you also find that when you phone them up for progress reports etc that they tell you a different story each time??
'Oh yea...blah blah housing market moving quicker now...lower end of market going quick...knock on effect to higher end....crap...crap...
Then when you phone up again and they say 'oh nooo its been really quiet no interest in anything....it's not just YOUR property its everyone....bullshit...bullshit..

chatty34

Yes yes yes
Think we may just buy a caravan in Oz, that has got to be easier to sell if we ever move on.
And silly me thought that this would be an easy sell because we were end of chain. ha ha ha

artep

I think a caravan's a fab idea!! Saves all this cr*p doesn't it??
And yea silly you....being at the end of the chain means you have no blo*dy say in it at all!!!!

chatty34

Exactly. Why didnt I think of that. Probably cause I believed the Estate Agent telling us we were in a good position.. ha ha just fell of my chair laughing. Oh well, we live and learn.
Just wish family/mates/work would all stop asking me how the house selling is going, so fed up of repeating myself and looking silly when I tell them oh yeah looks like we have found a buyer... and then oh no, false alarm

Kayser Soze

Well I don't want to sound like I know it all cos I don't but having moved out of UK 3 times have yet to find Brits, Poms, (whatever you get referred to as), sitting pennyless at the side of the OZ, NZ or Spanish roads cos they don't have enough money.

I'm sure some do go belly-up, mostly because their planning has been dream like or non-existant or they have been watching too many 'escape to the sun' programmes, but most make a success of it.

Let's face it if you are making a go of it in UK why should it be otherwise outside UK.

If you are floundering in UK cos your financial management is poor or life expectations completely unreasonable when you get abroad guess what...... :scared: :scared:

K.S.

chatty34

Hi Shell

Oh that is good to hear, although scared to say that, in case someone jumps on my back
It is bloody freezing today isnt it, doesnt help that my hubby does not feel the cold and is walking around in a T-Shirt and hates central heating. Roll on Oz...
My plans have gone a bit pear shaped. As you know I was planning to go to Perth on the 27th for the validation trip but am flying staff standby. Just found out today that there are embargoes on flights via singapore and Bankok for staff, so will now fly to Tokyo and then to anywhere in Oz that has 3 seats available on a flight and a man with a stamp. Bit scary with 2 children and no husband but has to be done. The last time I did it, I got stuck in Bankok for 5 days but I am so mean I cant stand paying the full ticket price when I have a chance of doing it for a few hundred.
Although could be false economy if we get stuck for a long time!!

Hope your house sale is still floating along well

Sharon

shecha

Hi Sharon,

That's a right pain in the arse having embargoes on flights via Singapore & Bankok!!! I wonder how long that will go on for???
I think you are really brave going all that way with 2 kids on your own - I would be really nervous - but like you said it has got to be done!!!
I also agree about worrying about stating anything about house prices etc - it does provoke some strange and over-the-top reactions.
Our house sale is still going ahead - but you know how it it - I'm not holding my breath!!!
I really hope you get a decent flight that doesn't cost too much!!!

Shell

eatstatic

You bought your first place nine years ago, at the start of the house price bubble. If that house was the price that it is in 2005, would you have had any chance at all of affording it?

Relative my arse, it is now impossible for young buyers, unless they have rich parents to bung them a huge deposit.

All the people selling now, claiming it is still affordable for first time buyers should question whether they could have afforded their house, at the current asking price, on their wages back then (allowing for inflation). The answer will usually be no, what does that imply then about the affordabilty and social consequences of current house prices (UK and Australia)?

Zentack

There's nothing like money to get the old emotions going, and houses require plenty of it. And judging people on their net worth is a very Pommy thing to do, so stop doing it. Having moved over to Oz in November 03 I've spent the last 12 months researching the Brisbane property market (that and starting a family), and know that when it comes to the state of the market everyone is biased in one way or another. My bias is that I'm a FTB (rented in the UK) and desperately want house prices to become more affordable so that I don't end up with a killer mortgage, but saying that I really feel for you guys who are trying to sell so that you can start you're new Australian life. I hope it works out for everyone, sooner rather than later.

I agree that house prices in OZ are a bit higher than in the UK, with an average Bay Side 4 bedroom property on 700m2 costing between $400 (160k GBP) to $500k (200k GBP), and this also surprised us. On the forums there's a lot of talk about a "crash" being imminent for both Oz and the UK. But crash makes it sound like it will happen over night, whilst in reality a crash can take 5 - 10 years (or in Japan's case 16 years and counting). The other thing the pro crash group don't tell you is that trading volumes also drop, so whilst houses will get more affordable it will take longer to find one you like. So where does that leave me? We'll I plan to rent for the next 6 months and then see what the market is doing, but neither the prospect of renting for 5 years or loosing 30% of the value of my new home fills me with joy.

On the positive side, renting here is cheaper than the UK and it’s the landlord who has to pay the council rates and water. So I'm paying $300 pw for the same 4 bedroom 700m2 Bay Side property. And hey its Queensland so its always going to be sunny and the beach is only a short drive away.

Last rant I promise.... The good ship UK sinking? Do me a favour.... You don't think that Australia has the same problems? Or do those just evaporate when it gets past 35 degrees ;-)

One tip, while your waiting for your house to sell get your teeth fixed. Lets just say that dental cost in Oz have zero subsidy from the government and so can be a little high.

Good luck to everyone waiting to move!! It's definitely worth the wait.

natty

Hi K.S


I really hope house prices do go down and of course if they did then I would sell for less.

I know there is a lot of greed in selling and I really think that we put the house on for a realistic figure so it would sell . The agents told us that the price was too low and during the valuations, one agent said it was worth £30 grand more than what we are asking for it- The trouble is that you do constantly see people asking stupid money for houses - I didnt want to do that.

The two buyers who pulled out did so for personal reasons and not because of price so I am hoping that I wont have to drop the price yet- It is important to remember that a house is only worth what someone has to pay for it so if I have to drop the price I will ( as long as I still have enought to get to Oz !!! )

By the way, with regard to house prices- we are heading for Tasmania and the prices there seem to be going up and up !!!!! Maybe they will slow soon but a lot of mainlanders seem to be buying there as they realise that they can get a lot of house for their money and this pushes prices up !!

Despite all this stress, the dream is still alive- I WILL get there sometime this year !!!!

Nat

Jimbo9

Using the middle price of 450k, the mortgage on the property (25yrs 6.75%) is $717 p/w - more than twice the rent !!

Kayser Soze

Hi Nat,

Funny thing is we are moving back to UK in April from NZ (family reasons and cos NZ is a little for my liking)...and are looking to live around Cambridge (family are in N Herts).

Hope you have sold by then but we might be just the house viewers you need.

K.S.

odaat

To give some on this thread the correct data on prices that property actually *sold* for recently across the UK try www.ourproperty.co.uk/

no need to listen to the estate agents blah blah anymore.

and yes .... property prices are falling in the UK and in Oz.

odaat