Val W

Wouldn't dream of handing in our notices at work yet. I think we will probably rent here for a couple of months before we go, and only hand our notice in after we have left this house. Thanks for the advice Albert, it's appreciated.

El Capitan

Thanks Hillybilly, yes I might be surprised and maybe it will be possible.

OK, Albert, that is obviously not how I read it but even half the deposit at 5% of asking price is nowhere near the amount people are actually saying that they are dropping to sell, 20% or more. I had to drop once in Scotland by almost 30% and if that is the way the market has gone, you dont have much choice and the buyers will not feel they have to be at all generous to get a deal.

gallerie9

Two examples I know of persionally in the Uk this month

One house valued at 210 in 2003 sold this week for 140
Second house valued at 390 at christmas with offers of 375 on the table waiting for buyer to sell own property.
Sold for 250 no chain
I rest my case
Bil is right.

Sam Greenfield

Yeh on our estate one house was sold last year for 380 the same house style in a different postion is now up for sale for 250
Our house has lost about 60k we reckon going off similar houses in the area so at the moment i wouldnt be prepared to sell up

bil

Those sort of price drops are enough to make me feel physically sick.

I just thank the gods that we sold when we did. Otherwise I just don't know what we would have done.

gallerie9

I agree Bil, but I thought when we sold our house 2 years ago that an initial investment had gone up 130 percent in 7 years, that the price increase was unsustainable, the property we had before had only increased 7 percent in 6 years and we has spent approximately 15 perecent on the house, so in real terms a loss.
It is a time when the housing market needs to be more flexable.
I blame the banks, they have lent money with out a second thought, in my opinion I think it will take 10 years to get back to the prices before the New year and wages and the cost of living will have to change dramatically.

bil

Yep. I look back at our situation, and my blood runs cold. We took the middle estimate from the three estate agents, and only ONE buyer was interested, so we were very lucky, and we must have got the maximum price available on the day, and to be honest, since.

Even so, they jerked us around, and the deal took a lot longer than we really wanted (each month having to make a crippling mortgage payment - we ended up having to borrow to make the last couple of payments.)

Grasping, stupid bankers, and a commission system that guaranteed the granting of ridiculous mortgages to clients unlikely to be able to repay ensured that we ended up where we are now. They of course will go on their merry way regardless, while the rest of us get to pay for the privilege.

As you say, I suspect we will be awhile crawling out of this hole. The ones that really benefit will be those who have surplus money, ie rich b*stards, as they will be able to fill their boots buying while the market is at an all time low.

Sam Greenfield

Oh god Sharon - i so hope not - the thought of having to wait that long is a very depressing thought - may think about renting out if thats the case

bil

Well, we have rented for the last two years. It is as boring as bat sh*t, as I have nothing to do, I can't work on the house, and the garden isn't worth investing much effort in. On the plus side, anything wrong, I just snap my fingers for the landlord.

10 years? Who knows. It's certainly possible. The more grossly overpriced things have been (and I have heard quite a few people saying in the past that property was WAAAAAYY higher than it should have been) then the longer it will take. On the plus side, recently when the market has dropped, it has recovered much quicker than I would have thought possible. Whether that was just part of the bubble, or whether that bodes well for the future, I can't tell.

All I do know is that the more the threat of a serious recession is talked up, the worse it is likely to be.

Having said that, we are in a different world to the one devastated by the original depression, so we will just have to wait and see.

Sam Greenfield

Feel free to come and have a go at mine whenever the urge takes you lol

bertibassett

I didn't want the excitement to disengage the brain.

Albert.

bil

Thank you for the kind offer, but I will fight the temptation.

One of the things I like about my Spanish garden is that it is very sandy. All the gardening I have done in the UK has been a bit on the muddy side.

One interesting thing I note is that the Spanish don't seem to do much composting.

tim hortons man

unfortunatly prices HAVE TO reflect wages, a rather depressing thought when you realize how low wages can be

Nosherlot

In answer to your first comment of what do we consider the price is for a FTB property.....Well 2 estate agents have recently valued our 2/3 bed victorian end terrace in Sittingbourne at £110,000 to £115,000.
With magnolia walls and fully double glazed they say its worth £130,000!
This makes it worth while to wait till spring whilst we save for and install the double glazing and decorate it ourselves. Also we need to wait until the purchase of our Spanish place is complete before burning all of our boats. We think that there will be more buyers able to reach £130,000 than several hundreds of thousands of pounds for the bigger places and it also depends on the local market.

As for the suggestion about selling now for less, we think it is worth waiting for a bit in the hope of better prices. In the UK we both have jobs and can guarantee to cover all of our bills and are slowly reducing the mortgage. In Spain we will have 1 income, will have more 'unknown' expenditure and will be taking greater risks we believe.

Pugsy

God, some people just like to argue, contradict themselves and quote needlessly. Whatever. Houses are not selling not everywhere because of price, but of affordability of mortgages and deals. BMV is great but those deals are hard to find and close. Most would-be-sellers just test the market to confirm what they already think they know. That no amount of price reduction, save one of negative equity will sell their house (an investor will take it). The finance deals are not around for buyers.