Bears In Despair part 2......

Spiv_2

Warning of new housing crash as prices 'soar too high'

An "autumn drought" of flats and houses has sent London property prices soaring, creating a dangerous mid-recession boom and raising fears of a new crash.
Agents say they are dismayed by the failure of the usual rush of September sellers, leaving frustrated buyers chasing a tiny pool of homes.
In some parts of London prices have already risen to levels beyond the highs of two years ago.
Across the capital they have bounced by around 10 to 15 per cent from last winter's lows.
Ivor Dickinson, managing director of central and west London agency Douglas & Gordon, said: "We had 500 properties to sell last August and in the peak months it was probably around 800. Now we have 230. I am concerned. I expected to be flooded with properties in September and I'm not."

He warned the current market was "a disaster waiting to happen" unless the Government stepped in to encourage more sellers.
Research by agency propertyfinder.com suggests that the number of homes on the market this autumn is at its lowest at least since the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. It found agents within the M25 have an average of 26.4 homes to sell, compared with 32.2 in March and 41.8 last September.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23745828-details/Warning+of+new+housing+crash+as+prices+%27soar+too+high%27/article.do

IveSeenTheLight

ruggedtoast wrote: »

For good tenants this means you never really feel like you have any security and feel a lot of pressure to leave and buy somewhere. Ironically this is the problem that good landlords have - no matter how well they do their job their tenants probably dont want to stay.

Could a longer tenancy not be negotiated?
Would this provide the tenants with the security they want?
Would tenants want a longer term tenancy?

So far, I have only had 12 month maximum agreements with my tenants, however if any of my good tenants wanted longer, I'd be happy to negotiate.
I'd even consider letting them have a 3 month notice to vacate even within the extended tenancy agreement (2, 3, 5 years). That's more than enough time to get a replacement tenant in.

mewbie_2

My friend mainly lets out rooms for cash to illegals. No documentation required, no questions, and no complaints either. Makes a damn sight more money than buying a BTL flat for 330k and getting 1k a month rent if your're lucky!

StevieJ

carolt wrote: »

This contrasts with the situation where a lousy tenant who never pays a penny in rent, can take months to evict from a rental property. Whereas a good tenant - who wants to abide by the rules - can be removed from their home with just 2 months notice.

To my mind, there should be much greater protection in law for those who do pay their rent, and much less protection in law for those who don't.

Don't forget the, try any excuse to keep the deposit :eek:

the_ash_and_the_oak

Kinda bit stunned at that thread - I know sentiment barely dipped at any point during the last 2 years so its not particularly surprising to see bullish sentiment at large - but kinda surprising to see that from people who were bearish enough to STR (my gparents did this in late 2004 so theoretically should be in complete despair but its worked out brilliantly for them - and their experience over the last 5 years seems markedly different from the experiences of those on the hpc thread in a much shorter time

The characterization of bears seems to be that the time 'will never be right' but reading that it seems that for many the opposite is true - not a problem of cautiousness, but a problem of impatience

nembot

julieq wrote: »

By the same token, 2007 is unlikely to be the top of the market either.

Obviously not, but for the next 7 to 8 years it was...

IveSeenTheLight

mewbie wrote: »

My friend mainly lets out rooms for cash to illegals. No documentation required, no questions, and no complaints either. Makes a damn sight more money than buying a BTL flat for 330k and getting 1k a month rent if your're lucky!

I hope this is another of your jokes.
Otherwise your friend is a criminal and could be sent to jail.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/4698062.stm

Being the moral sort of person you are (non pension stealing, non puppy drowning) I assume you have pointed out your friends errors and given them the chance to redeem themselves else you would have to advise the authorities

I once showed my flat to an Iranian who had an interpreter with him.
Apparently he was coming to the UK to attend an Oil and Gas training course (but couldn't speak English, 1st concern), then he asked if we could provide more beds in the living room. This was a second concern as although the reason was for him to bring his wife and children over also may have been genuine, my concern was over sub letting. I politely advised it was a 2 bed flat and I was only going to provide 2 beds.

In the end, although they offered what I advertised, I chose not to rent to them. The concerns were weighing too much on my mind.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

nembot wrote: »

Obviously not, but for the next 7 to 8 years it was...

Some properties are already selling at peak prices or higher.

Some areas are already back to within a few percent of peak on average.

I suspect the best performing areas will cross peak average sales prices by this time next year.

And many more, perhaps even a majority, will do so by 2011/2012.

chucknorris

ruggedtoast wrote: »

The problem with renting in the UK (and Ive lived in other countries) is that it is always made very clear to you - in all sorts of ways - that you are in temporary accommodation that belongs to someone else.

I've always made it clear that my tenants are free to stay as long as they like (subject to me selling up and retiring in about 9-14 years depending on the market).

I usually allow them to stay on a periodic contract (unless they particularly want another fixed term, that is their decision not mine). So far I have had (over a number of properties) about 6 different tenants stay more than 4 years, and too many to count stay more than 2 years and ditto those that leave after one year saying they really would like to stay but circumstances don't allow them too. I have NEVER gave notice to a good tenant. Currently I have 3 tentants (from a total of 5) that have been in the property for more than 3 years.

ruggedtoast

IveSeenTheLight wrote: »

Could a longer tenancy not be negotiated?
Would this provide the tenants with the security they want?
Would tenants want a longer term tenancy?

So far, I have only had 12 month maximum agreements with my tenants, however if any of my good tenants wanted longer, I'd be happy to negotiate.
I'd even consider letting them have a 3 month notice to vacate even within the extended tenancy agreement (2, 3, 5 years). That's more than enough time to get a replacement tenant in.

Would you honestly want to live like that?