more repo threads recently??

sciencegeek

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that there seems to be an awful lot more threads regarding repossesion purchases recently (compared to say 6 or 12 months ago).

epz_2

combination of people desperate to buy and interst rates going up getting people kicked out. ive seen a couple of reposessions but neither seemed that good value since the were is poor condition and the prices the went for pluss the cost of the work [1] could have bought a normal place that diddnt need a bunch of builders in.

in a perceved rising market even thers type of places go fast, but in a stagnat or declining market they will fetch a fraction of their worth.

[1] and i am only talking about major materials and specialist stuff like corgi plumers with the rest diy'd.

Woby_Tide

well a quick search says there has been about 3 threads since the start of the year, 5 last year and 2 or 3 in 2005, so if you desperately wanted to prove a point then yes the Daily Mail could run stories that repossessions are up 400% since 2005

keeperbear

sciencegeek wrote: »

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that there seems to be an awful lot more threads regarding repossesion purchases recently (compared to say 6 or 12 months ago).

Repossessions happen in rising and falling markets. Personally, I have not noticed an increase, but maybe you should check out the latest scaremongering headlines about a potential housing crash.

ukbondraider

People are possibly looking and talking about Repo's more because they cant pay or are not willing to pay the current prices and think it is a cheaper way to buy a house.

However they soon get bored of the idea when they realise that this is not the case given the fact that most repossesed houses will require a complete overhaul and will be on the market for not much of discount to a normal house.

Having been looking at home impovements myself I really can not see how a repossessed house can work financially given the costs of things.... £10K+ for a Kitchen, £5K+ for each toilet/bathroom etc etc.

I really dont know how those TV shows can claim to completely overhaul a complete house for something silly like £6K. Besides who would want to live in a place where your whole interior costs £6K.

Alan_M_2

Those programs on TV conveniently ignore the labour costs and only price the materials used, many of which are given free for the chance of a little advertising.

I generally get about 1 call every fortnight or so asking for free stuff for Grand Designs or any other number of property programs. They simply don't provide a realistic cost structure.

The only one that did was the Sarah Beeney one - the name of the programme escapes me.....

rebeccaj

Alan_M wrote: »

The only one that did was the Sarah Beeney one - the name of the programme escapes me.....

Property Ladder, iirc

ds1980

10k for a kitchen! 5 k for a bathroom!

We're doing up a 3 bed semi at present. Needs completing doing up and we're on budget of £20k that for everything floors, walls, kitchen, bathroom, garden, drive etc etc etc. Our budget is £3k for kitchen and £1k for bathroom and £1k for ensuite. It will look the b******s when we're done.

Of course it can cost that easily but you can get just as good a finish with a lot less.

majority of the work you can do yourself and anyone that wants to pay someone that is "skilled" to do these jobs must be mad.

You can become a plasterer in 10 weeks (equivilent of less than a weeks work in hours) and it costs £185 at college. How a plasterer can say they are a skilled worker and then charge accordingly is beyond me!

Alan_M_2

ds1980 wrote: »

10k for a kitchen! 5 k for a bathroom!

We're doing up a 3 bed semi at present. Needs completing doing up and we're on budget of £20k that for everything floors, walls, kitchen, bathroom, garden, drive etc etc etc. Our budget is £3k for kitchen and £1k for bathroom and £1k for ensuite. It will look the b******s when we're done.

Of course it can cost that easily but you can get just as good a finish with a lot less.

majority of the work you can do yourself and anyone that wants to pay someone that is "skilled" to do these jobs must be mad.

You can become a plasterer in 10 weeks (equivalent of less than a weeks work in hours) and it costs £185 at college. How a plasterer can say they are a skilled worker and then charge accordingly is beyond me!

This actually shows the general ignorance that a lot of the public have for skilled tradesmen.

Yes you can do a 10 week course on plastering, it will teach you the basics but you'll then require years of practice before you're fully skilled.

Plumbers, electricians and all fitters the same.

Also what each person perceives as a high quality installation varies wildly. Over the years I've had many a DIYer show me with great pride their efforts, which quite honestly if a tradesman had produced that work I would have expected them not to have been paid.

So whilst your points are valid to an extent it's all a matter of perspective and a healthy regard for the various regulations that are in place to stop people killing themselves and those who buy your property in years to come.

Before the business I have now I used to specialise in bathroom installations, an average fit was in the region of £8000, wet rooms started at £10,000. Like many other things, you get what you pay for.

Analogy - You either buy a Mondeo or a Bentley, one costs 10 times more than the other but fundamentally they do exactly the same thing. What you are is a Mondeo man that can't understand why someone would buy a Bentley when something at 10% of the price does exactly the same thing. (nothing wrong with that).

Fortunately for me, there are enough wannabe Bentley owners in this world who are willing to pay for a quality product.

ds1980

Alan when we move into our "home" then i will pay for better things and push the boat out.

But as we either rent these palces out or sell on after a very short time its not about making something look amazing at a price. Its about making something look amazing at a much lesser cost.

I appreciate what you are saying and we are lucky that our lasses dad is a master builder so he hepls out if we get stuck and gives us guidance. My grudges are aginst all the cowboys and ive seen a lot that take the p**s!

Im not saying that all are like taht but ive seen one decent tradesman in about 50! So in my calculations 98% of all tradesman are w****rs!

Don't get me wrong i use them just as much as they use you or i. Ive had 7 "specialists" around the new house to give me quotes and they all come up with different opinions!!!! I have quite a few friends that are tradesman and they all take the !!!! out of their clients because thats how it works unfortunately.

When we get our own place that we'll actiually settle down in for 2 minutes then ill be looking for people like you who obviuosly do a good job but itll take me a long time to find them i reckon which is why ill do most of it myself. Ive never done a days traingin in my life and im sure ill do a better job than these 98% of people because its in my interest.

Alan_M_2

When watchdog and the like film these programs such as Rogue traders, next time take a moment to listen to the detail that they are obliged to provide in order to be fair.

Often this is the TV equivalent of small print, but the average one will have had in the region of 30 or 40 call outs, all reasonable, all good, did the right job before they find someone who has them over.

The trouble is, the 39 out of 40 that do the job right don't make good TV.

98% of tradesmen are !!!!!!s? - you're figures are ludicrous, baseless and confirm the contents of my previous thoughts.

From a seller's point of view, 80% of my customers want a silk purse from a sows ear, have unrealistic expectations of what it will cost to reach the level of finish they want and in most cases are aspiring to a product or finish that is far beyond their means.

A good example this morning, Two phone calls, both customers have seen products they want to install from Fired Earth, both are in excess of £150 sq/m for flooring, they've called me to see if I can provide a similar product...their budget? £20 sq/m - Don't waste my time.