how do people afford to buy houses nowadays?

be careful of the "little modernisation" con that estate agents use! they usually end up needing thousands of pounds of work... always worth getting a homebuyers survey done at a minimum. Whatever you do unless it's a new house don't get the standard valuation as you get no information back, you are paying a premium purely for the lenders convenience!!

[Sid Squid]

Originally Posted by BillyC

One bed flat, North London - £250k

One bed flat, my road - £327,000 last month.

Originally Posted by Gnan

be careful of the "little modernisation" con that estate agents use! they usually end up needing thousands of pounds of work... always worth getting a homebuyers survey done at a minimum. Whatever you do unless it's a new house don't get the standard valuation as you get no information back, you are paying a premium purely for the lenders convenience!!

erm its not the first time ive bought a house.

I just got off the ladder as quickly as i got on and made a tidy sum. The little modernisation i was thinking would be modifications id make along with a new kitchen and perhaps bathroom. Not rewiring, doubleglazing, central heating etc....

Originally Posted by Sid Squid

One bed flat, my road - £327,000 last month.

is it made out of gold?

[Biker Biggles]

More millstone than gold at that price IMHO.
These prices are unsustainable.It's OK for the super rich to pay silly money for palaces in The Bishops Ave,but the rest of us have to service our borrowing out of income.If income is rising much more slowly than debt,then sooner or later something has to give.I believe our whole economy is based on "virtual" wealth bolstered by property values,because there is no longer enough "real"wealth creation going on in Britain,but I'm really thick,and await an economist to tell me what claptrap I've just written.

You should try living here lads...

Average wage in the Valleys ?? = £10,000 a year.. yes its crap!

new houses being built around here.. average price?? = £250 K

Old crappy house that 5 years ago would have gone for £8K yes thats £8000 now go for £50,000.

No one that lives and works here can afford a house here.....

Most houses are going at about £100 K these days, and these are your typical Welsh Valleys terraced houses..... nothing special. lots of them requiring a hell of a lot of maintenance to them!

[timwilky]

I was reading in yesterdays local paper that prices are actually dropping due to a sudden glut of houses for sale in advance of these damm stupid house information packs that the goverment want vendors to provide.

[Sid Squid]

Originally Posted by Gnan

is it made out of gold?

No.

It is quite nicely finished, recent good quality kitchen and bathroom etc etc.

But not £327,000 nice, no.

Originally Posted by Kate

I disagree. I have no kids and when I bought my place I was single. Its an investment and there is nothing like the feeling of coming home to your home. When I was renting, I was always aware its kinda temporary and its not really my place, just somewhere I happen to be.

i completly agree kate i bought my 3 bed house for 75k and although i sometime worry about things going wrong and have to do diy its the first place that has felt like home.

i do also think that some peoples standards for a first house is too high. many of myt mates at work who aren't homeowners sniffed at the thought of living in bradford- which was my compromise.

my dad bought his first house for £8000 and had nothing. they sat on crates instead of chairs etc etc, there seems to be an unwillingness to compromise people want the luxury they see on the telly

Originally Posted by jenni

...there seems to be an unwillingness to compromise people want the luxury they see on the telly

All too true.


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