Author Topic: Stonework, Masonry and buildings - ancient and modern.  (Read 27334 times)

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Offline Ian

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« Reply #30 on: January 06, 2011, 07:41:06 am »
I'm not certain, but I seem to remember that the ballooning of house prices is London-led.  What's happened in the past, anyway, is that foreigners have bought homes in London, paying well above the odds, and that has led to a lot of folk becoming very cash-rich, very quickly, which in turn has sparked a ripple effect, as they buy houses for their relatives or in different pars of the country and so on.  There are several examples that I know about here in Llandudno.

The most common event has been those in the public services- teachers, nurses, doctors, etc., who've had modest semis in London, sold up and bought small mansions here. That sort of thing simply fuels the price rises, and has the ridiculous knock-on effects that we're seeing, where our own young folk can't possibly afford to buy.
Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know.  ― Michel de Montaigne

Si hoc legere scis, nimis eruditionis habes.

Offline MrFalafel

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« Reply #31 on: January 06, 2011, 01:15:12 pm »
House prices are meaningless if there are no buyers. I've had my house for sale for the last 3 years, have knocked the price down many times and have followed the advice of many different estate agents and experienced house sellers with no luck at all. I've had a lot of people say they would love to buy the house but can't get a mortgage or cannot sell their current house or have reconsidered having a second home in the economic climate. I've also had a few gazunderers and other unsavoury transaction attempts. Lucklily I am in a position where I do not have to sell so I can take my time. But I do feel sorry for several people who are literally locked into where they are now with no hope of selling for anything near what they paid for it for many years.

On the other hand, the rental market is comparatively booming. However, the market is only booming for houses in the £400 - £550pcm range. if you are trying to rent a house for more than that you may struggle to find tennants.

I remember talking to estate agents about the golden days 10 or so years ago where they didn't even bother putting 'for sale' signs on houses for sale within the town walls as they had a list of buyers they could call whenever a house came up for sale. Not so anymore.

It is nice that there is more affordable housing but if there aren't many jobs around whats the point of having an affordable home with no job?


Offline Hugo

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« Reply #32 on: January 06, 2011, 01:59:24 pm »
That new tactic of gazundering must be very stressful for anyone that has got to sell their house and the practise should be stopped.  Any negotiation about the price should have been sorted out before contracts are due to be exchanged.
 I believe that Scotland has different laws regarding buying and selling houses and I wonder if they have a similar problem up there.

Offline Fester

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« Reply #33 on: January 06, 2011, 04:23:31 pm »
To Mr Falafel and others in that situation, I too had my previous house for sale for a long, long time... and dropped the price numerous times.
Eventually, even when I did get lucky and 'sold',  the buyers would only complete if I reduced it by another £5000 at the last minute.

Strictly speaking I didn't NEED to sell, but I had no real choice as I was coming to live in Llandudno and most of my possessions were here.
I also figured that while I waited for another buyer, I would have had to fork out £5000 in bills and house prices were still falling anyway.

To Ian, I would say that its no ones fault that local prices have been fuelled by incoming people.
I was paying large sums to visit Llandudno, and figured that a mortagage on a house here was actually CHEAPER than the money I was paying to hotels!
The house I bought was for sale for a long time, and was priced at a level deemed fit for the local market (presumably by the owner and the estate agent)
So really any house can be bought for the asking price by anyone.  Maybe the REAL fuel for the house price boom was greed?
I certainly got carried away with what I thought my previous house was worth! ... but eventually I realised it was only worth what someone finally paid.

To Dave I would say, even £70,000 for a semi will still be out of the reach of many, simply because no one can borrow it.
I agree that house prices are still falsely high, I wouldn't buy one now....
Maybe the REAL driver of the property price boom was easy borrowing?

A combination of these reasons is the truth.



Fester...
- Semper in Excretum, Sole Profundum Variat -

Offline MrFalafel

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« Reply #34 on: January 06, 2011, 04:59:24 pm »
Yes, I agree that some people still have unreasonable ideas about what their houses are worth probably based on how much they paid for them. If someone bought in this area 5 to 9 years ago they probably bought at the height of the overinflated pices and are now wondering why no one wants to pay anything near what they paid for it. I'm glad I bought a fixer-upper a few years before the prices went crazy. I'm also forunate that I live in a house filled with houses almost exactly like mine so all I need to do is to see what others are selling their houses for and price accordingly (or less). Someone selling vrey near to me with a house almost exactly like mine is asking 40% more than me. But then again, they bought just before the housing bubble burst.

I think if my gazunderers had asked for £5k I probably would have gone for it but they demanded a 15% price reduction the day before we were about to exchange contracts which was totally unacceptable.

As far as the ridiculous rise in house prices I do think it was caused by a combination of irresponsible lending by mortgage companies and greed. How many people were dreaming of riches by buying a house and selling it 6 months later at inflated prices? Totally unsustainable.

Offline Fester

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« Reply #35 on: January 06, 2011, 05:42:06 pm »

As far as the ridiculous rise in house prices I do think it was caused by a combination of irresponsible lending by mortgage companies and greed. How many people were dreaming of riches by buying a house and selling it 6 months later at inflated prices? Totally unsustainable.
[/quote]

But that is exactly the tactics used by Estate Agents to get people to buy houses in this country and abroad!
When Mrs Fester and I were looking for a place in Spain, I was turned off by the Agents saying ''buy it now, and it will be worth 30% more year on year etc...''
It was always an unsustainable load of crap.  But thousands of 'lemmings' fell for it, (We nearly did) and they are all now trapped in negative equity.
Fester...
- Semper in Excretum, Sole Profundum Variat -

Offline Ian

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« Reply #36 on: January 07, 2011, 07:53:06 am »
Historically, in the UK the house price rhythm has continued unabated for about fifty years. We're currently experiencing another low point of the sine wave pattern, but it's likely to recover in time. The only difference this time around might be if the banks and building societies remain excessively cautious in their lending. However, that only controls prices from UK nationals who need mortgages. If there's significant immigration from wealthy foreigners, it always tends to start in London, and will inevitably push prices there much higher. That can't help but fuel general house price rises, because sellers will find it easier to sell and move out of London. 

Over the past fifty years, that's exactly what has happened.  And when the egregious Mrs Thatcher relaxed controls on lending in the eighties, house prices soared very shortly thereafter.  It's a combination of lending and immigration that does it.  You can control the one, but not - it seems - the other.
Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know.  ― Michel de Montaigne

Si hoc legere scis, nimis eruditionis habes.

Offline Ian

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Housing and house prices
« Reply #37 on: January 07, 2011, 07:57:22 am »
Discussion about housing in the area and further afield
Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know.  ― Michel de Montaigne

Si hoc legere scis, nimis eruditionis habes.

Offline Bri Roberts

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Re: Housing and house prices
« Reply #38 on: January 07, 2011, 08:53:39 am »
I was turned off by the Agents saying ''buy it now, and it will be worth 30% more year on year etc...''

Maybe estate agents should be regulated and then they would think twice before making such a careless coment.

Offline MrFalafel

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Re: Housing and house prices
« Reply #39 on: January 07, 2011, 09:46:10 am »
I was turned off by the Agents saying ''buy it now, and it will be worth 30% more year on year etc...''

Maybe estate agents should be regulated and then they would think twice before making such a careless coment.

I'm not so sure estate agents are the culprit here. If you go into a shop or a car dealership the salespeoples job is to convince you that the items they are selling are the best around and value for money. Its up to the customer to discern hype from reality.

Back in the old days a bank manager had the control over who got mortgages and who didn't. A bank manager could assess the applicant, the housing market and the local economic sitiuation with a long term view and make a balanced call. This was a defacto regulation of the market and kept prices realistic and kept people from getting mortgages they couldn't afford. Recently mortgage applications were completed via telephone call centre and only the briefest of credit checks are made before handing mortgages out like candy. I personally think the banking industry needs more regulation.

Offline Bri Roberts

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Re: Housing and house prices
« Reply #40 on: January 07, 2011, 12:09:51 pm »
FYI, there is a Mortgage Marker Review (MMR) just around the corner.

As for your comments about the briefest of credit checks being made I would add there was also the briefest of income checks being carried out for quite a while by lenders.

The ultimate mortgage was a self-certified 95% LTV  mortgage that accepted a 5% vendor cashgift.

Unbelievable and I certainly kept well away from it.






Offline DaveR

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Re: Stonwork, Masonery and buildings - ancient and modern.
« Reply #41 on: March 06, 2011, 07:19:42 pm »
Went round the Orme to look at what they are doing with the new building at Abbey Lodge.  I was amazed to see what looks like a circle of standing stones between what will be the house and the cliffs edge.  Anyone know if it is genuine?  Is it on any old maps?  Few feet away from what is left of the Bishop's Palace so don't know if access to public is available.  Hopefully if it is genuine there is some sort of preservation order on it.  Maybe it's just a folly? ???
The new house at Abbey Lodge is nearly finished now - tasteless nonsense that overpowers the plot it is on:

Offline marlin

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Re: Stonework, Masonry and buildings - ancient and modern.
« Reply #42 on: March 07, 2011, 11:13:31 am »
Its good to find that the Forum has such house design experts that are so willing to cast judgements such as "tasteless nonesense" on others homes, I wonder what masterpiece of design the contributor lives in, it must be an outstanding piece of architectural good taste, perhaps they would be kind enough post a picture of their home so others can comment!

brumbob

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Re: Stonework, Masonry and buildings - ancient and modern.
« Reply #43 on: March 07, 2011, 11:24:23 am »
It's certainly a strange and unsymmetrical higgledy-piggledy design and most definitely doesn't fit in with it's surroundings but I'd be thrilled to own such a house where ever it was located.

Offline DaveR

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Re: Stonework, Masonry and buildings - ancient and modern.
« Reply #44 on: March 07, 2011, 01:07:48 pm »
Its good to find that the Forum has such house design experts that are so willing to cast judgements such as "tasteless nonesense" on others homes, I wonder what masterpiece of design the contributor lives in, it must be an outstanding piece of architectural good taste, perhaps they would be kind enough post a picture of their home so others can comment!
Well, it's not someone's home is it? It's a building in the course of construction.

So you think it is a good piece of architectural design, I take it?