Margaret3

Will you marry me.

Wendy

Margaret3

I know which suburb he stays in wendy

Wendy

Cool. I'll tie him down, you marry him quick!

ukecadet

Yee Har! I'm always up for a bit of role play.

Boobops

Yeah there is a catch, there is hardly any work in these areas and lower pay.

Boobops

Have to slightly disagree with you there. I've been looking since July and don't see the bargains. The "cheaper" ones are usually in areas of low unemployment or areas that aren't particularly nice and that's why they are cheaper. I could get more for my money in Swindon or somewhere up north.....but wouldn't want to live there. Try anywhere in the Cotswolds and you'd be lucky to get a good sized property for less than 250,000 so it all depends on area.

We put in two offers on one property where the couple paid over the odds for in 2007 but they wouldn't budge. Agent told me they don't want to lose too much money! I for one haven't seen the bargains people talk about!

calliope

I would be very surprised if you could get a nice house with four beds in the south for less than 250k, detached anyway. I look from time to time and it seems to be mainly three bed semis in not amazing areas for 250k. As expensive as Australia is I'm wondering if it's still better value.

Beoz

Chris tends to justify his decision to move back to the UK and is often quick to jump on and exaggerate the reasons for his choice. I keep a good eye on the UK property market. With the exchange rate the way it currently is and the slim gaps between mortage repayments and rental income, I would like to buy a investment property in London with my Aussie dollars. I also keep an eye on country areas the far south east. Neither of which have shown a drop in the past 2 years.

chris955

I agree to a point, just like here many cheaper houses are in not so good areas but of the places we have looked at online it certainly isnt true of all of them by any means.
The Cotswolds is a fantastic area and you would expect to have to pay more there.
The level of unemployment isn't an issue for us.
As I said earlier because of the 250k cut off where you start paying stamp duty we have noticed quite a few places that were say 270k dropping down to the lower price.

chris955

Well be prepared to be surprised

calliope

I'm certain that whatever you buy won't hold its value for sure because prices are only going one way in Britain and Australia. It's just all abut time. This isn't a problem for people who don't have a mortgage but could be a problem for big borrowers.

Boobops

You will have no trouble finding a reasonable property under £250,000 in areas of high unemployment and if unemployment isn't an issue then that's great. If it wasn't an issue for us then I would be looking at Devon/Cornwall area. I've looked at hundreds and hundreds of houses in Hampshire, Wiltshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire and cannot find a decent sized property for £250,000 and under in a reasonable area. People don't appear to be dropping massive amount on the asking prices and in my opinion there aren't the bargains out there that we are led to believe.

The houses on the street we sold in 2006 are still going for the same price or slightly higher. I wish we didn't have to worry about work as there are some gorgeous properties we could buy in Devon/Cornwall and probably still have a little change out of £250,000!

Boobops

Almost impossible.

calliope

You should wait to buy for a little while because it looks like next year is going to be quite bad for Britain with another possible recession. How house prices have stood up there I have no idea but they surely can't survive anything else!