Buying in a buoyant market

leftieM

Over here in NI we are experiencing record property price inflation. How does one move up the ladder in such situations?
Is it better to wait until the market cools to avoid bidding wars?
Is it better to buy asap as the amount of money required to move up the ladder will keep increasing?
Is money better spent on an extension/ attic conversion to improve the accommodation in the short term?
I hope you can give some advice!

Sapphire

leftieM wrote:

Over here in NI we are experiencing record property price inflation. How does one move up the ladder in such situations?
Is it better to wait until the market cools to avoid bidding wars?
Is it better to buy asap as the amount of money required to move up the ladder will keep increasing?
Is money better spent on an extension/ attic conversion to improve the accommodation in the short term?
I hope you can give some advice!

I'm wondering the same thing myself, but given the madness in the property market at the moment, and the uncertainty surrounding the economy (mainly due to the horrendous debt figures and the heavy weight that large-scale immigration from Third World countries is imposing on Britain), I'm inclined to think that it's best to wait until the market cools if you want to move, and to improve your existing place to make it better for yourself and perhaps more saleable in the future.

lynzpower

I dont think "third world immigration" has recently been mooted as the reason for the uncertainty.

Most newspapers and internet news streams seem to be pointing towards large scale consumer debt as the reason for increasing uncertainty.

However, saying that its putting the interest rates up on the back of this, and hopefully creating some deflation. Another IR rise due in Autumn, and that was reported as "certain" not "it might , might not" .

Sapphire

lynzpower wrote:

I dont think "third world immigration" has recently been mooted as the reason for the uncertainty.

Most newspapers and internet news streams seem to be pointing towards large scale consumer debt as the reason for increasing uncertainty.

Third World immigration (or large-scale immigration of non-Europeans and their families) may not have been 'mooted as the reason for the uncertainty'. Perhaps this is because it is not PC to suggest such a thing - it appears to be popular to brand anyone who expresses such views a racist. However, it makes me personally uneasy for many reasons: drain on resources, threat of terrorism, errosion of indigenous culture, impact on education, etc. I can go into this further, but we will then probably get into a 'you are a racist' scenario, which I don't have the time and energy for this morning.

Yes, certainly, as mentioned large-scale consumer debt is another reason for increasing uncertainty.

Another reason for my own insecurity is my lack of faith in the government. It's reached the point where I can't even bear to look at Blair and Brown, or to listen to their constant spin - I simply do not believe anything they say, and they are too closely tied in to big business for my liking. And in London itself, I feel Livingstone is being given too much power.

I was talking to a friend the other day, and we both agreed that there's something rather uncertain/sinister about the whole political/economic scenario today, much more so than has been the case in the past . . .

FTBann

it's nothing to do with being PC! the fact is you are factually incorrect. if you had instead highlighted economic immigration as a factor and not 'third world non-european countries', you'd have made a more valid point. if anything the large influx of migrants are from eastern europe, especially poland.

and the immigration argument doesn't really stick, especially as most immigrants are in poorly paid jobs and live in bedsits or share a small property between a lot of them. that wouldn't really explain the sharp increases across the WHOLE of the property market, and in areas where traditionally overseas migration has never been an issue.

theGrinch

i would have thought the terrorist ceasefire and increased economic activity the main reasons for any boom. but it reality, its prices catching up to the rest of the UK. this in turn may have attracted workers.

leftieM

Whatever the causes behind an increase in property prices (I think some factors are investors looking for a safe pension pot, mortgage lenders changing their lending criteria and a general air of panic amongst FTBers) that doesn't really answer some of the questions I raised. Some of you will have been buyers during boom times. Was it a good move? Or, if you sat tight, were you pleased or did you feel it was a poor financial decision?

Sapphire

FTBann wrote:

it's nothing to do with being PC! the fact is you are factually incorrect. if you had instead highlighted economic immigration as a factor and not 'third world non-european countries', you'd have made a more valid point. if anything the large influx of migrants are from eastern europe, especially poland.

and the immigration argument doesn't really stick, especially as most immigrants are in poorly paid jobs and live in bedsits or share a small property between a lot of them. that wouldn't really explain the sharp increases across the WHOLE of the property market, and in areas where traditionally overseas migration has never been an issue.

In regard to your first paragraph, I am not 'factually incorrect' in the point I was trying to make, which is that there is an atmosphere of uncertainty in this country, and that I feel that immigration from non-European countries is one of the reasons for it. I wasn't saying that non-European immigrants are responsible for the sharp increases across the property market at all, but rather that they are a heavy financial burden on the country, and thus contribute to the atmosphere of uncertainty.

In regard to migrants specifically from Poland, the fact is that they are filling jobs that indigenous Brits do not want to do - they are industrious, on the whole honest, and want to work. There was a TV programme about them a couple of nights ago, and it clearly showed how they are actually propping up Brown's 'miracle economy', which would have been flat on its face without them. As an example, a Scot who owns a fishing business in Scotland said that he had tried to recruit other Scots as packers, had seen 20 applicants, of whom 6 turned up for work on a Monday, and by Tuesday the number had gone down to 2. He can only afford to pay the minimum wage, which the Poles are only too happy to take - it is worth four times to them than it is to an indigenous Brit. The Poles are also filling more skilled jobs for which there is a lack of applicants from the indigenous population - there is apparently a huge lack of qualified pharmacists in this country, for instance.

When it comes to the work that the Poles do in, say, the building trade, indigenous British builders do not exactly have good reputations in this area. I've experienced this myself. For example, I used a superb (indigenous British) builder to make a conservatory. He was very conscientious and a gem of a man to deal with. However, he has now left the building trade and works at Heathrow Airport because he couldn't find good, reliable people to work for him (he was the owner of the company). Just recently, I had a terrible experience with (indigenous British) builders who knocked down a wall for me. The job was very expensively priced, so I expected it do be well done. Meanwhile they left the walls completely unplastered with great holes everywhere - I had to pay someone else to fix their errors after they left - and the place was full of dust and dirt which they should have cleaned up. I have resolved never to use indigenous British builders again if I can help it. Meanwhile I have used Poles to do decorating and carpentry and they have been superb - professional, quiet, polite and conscientious, and much better value for money than the British cowboys.

As a rule the Poles are law abiding and hard working, and fit in well with the indigenous population - something that cannot be said of non-European immigrants. I've seen for myself how Somalis hang around all day on street corners; how my parents are intimidated by the African villagers who have moved in above them with their huge familes (also not working). And as for Muslim extremists, well I surely don't need to say anything about them. The trouble is that the cultures of non-Europeans are completely different from those of Europe - basically they are incompatible, and this is causing/will cause huge problems for Britain (so not just financial). I find this deeply worrying. Because of PC, people are hiding their heads in the sand. Meanwhile ever greater numbers of non-European immigrants are arriving on these shores. It is unsustainable . . .

Sapphire

leftieM wrote:

Whatever the causes behind an increase in property prices (I think some factors are investors looking for a safe pension pot, mortgage lenders changing their lending criteria and a general air of panic amongst FTBers) that doesn't really answer some of the questions I raised. Some of you will have been buyers during boom times. Was it a good move? Or, if you sat tight, were you pleased or did you feel it was a poor financial decision?

I did move in May last year, but feel there is more uncertainty now (perhaps it is only I that feel this). Financially, I am in a position to move up the property ladder, but don't really have the confidence to do so at the moment. I am waiting until spring, which is when my fixed mortgage deal stops, and will make a decision then.

The move I made last year was really excellent (lovely area, peace and quiet), and I feel it was an OK financial decision, since the prices in my area are still rising. I'm not that bothered about whether the prices go up, anyway, since I've paid off much of my mortgage (having been left some money).