8 other Houses for Sale in My Street- what shall I do?

stratford_2

Ah, well I’ve never said that Stratford was the most desirable places close to central London, but it has been very convenient for me to get into town easily and has improved greatly over the last 4 years I’ve been there. There just aren’t that many places within zone 3 that have 2 tube lines, docklands light rail, 2 overland lines and a great big International station opening in 2007, not to mention the first phase of Stratford City due in 2009 and maybe even the Olympics. There is tremendous growth and regeneration in the area and more and more people are moving in because of the ‘relatively affordable’ property compared to other parts of London. (That said the price of some of the new build flats at crazy prices of up to 230-240k for a 2 bed flies in the face of this). I chose Stratford over Croydon (which had comparable prices at the time I bought) for the reasons above and it’s worth bearing in mind that some of the additional costs of living centrally are offset by savings in the costs of commuting from further out.

When I mentioned earlier that prices have gone down, they have a bit, and this will be down to the general state of the housing market – I’m not too worried, as I am looking to the long-term regeneration of the area and also because properties that have now been realistically priced are being sold very quickly. I agree though with some of the sentiments about prices being generally too high and that this doesn’t particularly help anyone unless they sell up.

Pal

kittygalore wrote:

But I've always found that wherever I want to buy is more expensive than where I'm selling, so I never end up in a neutral position!

This is a bit off topic, but I think we have all agreed that you should wait a little while then review your pricing, tidy up your garden and so on ....

My thoughts on "profit" from housing...

To end up in "profit" you need to be able to sell your old place and buy somewhere bigger and/or better while ending up with a SMALLER mortgage (without cheating by using extra savings to lower your mortgage amount). Only then are you really "in profit" and can say you have made money on the housing market.

If however you sell to move to a larger house and end up with a larger mortgage, you are simply spending more money to get a bigger house, something you could have done instead of buying the first house. You have not profited at all from your previous house price rise, as you have simply ended up using it all to help pay for your new house while still borrowing more money.

Unfortunately most people don't see that. They think that having some equity means they have made money. Unfortunately it is only paper money that is rarely converted into real cash. In fact most peoples solution to getting cash is simply to remortgage: They borrow the money from a bank!

The housing game is full of such misconceptions. Unfortunately our economy is almost entirely built on these illusions at the moment.

Pal

p.s. I don't live in CR5 - it was just an example from an area I know well.

kittygalore_2

Pal wrote:

p.s. I don't live in CR5 - it was just an example from an area I know well.

I would have forgiven you even if you did; someone has to!

GDB2222

Kitty - can I ask a couple of questions?

Do you have to move right now?

What are you going to do with the sale proceeds? Buy another property? If so, where?

FWIW, the boom in house prices in London seems to be over. Other areas further North are still rising, which is why average prices are still rising.

If you are going to move to another house in London, the chances are the vendors are in the same position as you, so you should be able to get a good deal on your purchase. That may be more important than the ancient history of what you paid for the house and spent on it.

If you are going to move to another area that is still rising, then you may be in a difficult position.

kittygalore_2

GDB2222 wrote:

Kitty - can I ask a couple of questions?

Do you have to move right now?

What are you going to do with the sale proceeds? Buy another property? If so, where?

FWIW, the boom in house prices in London seems to be over. Other areas further North are still rising, which is why average prices are still rising.

If you are going to move to another house in London, the chances are the vendors are in the same position as you, so you should be able to get a good deal on your purchase. That may be more important than the ancient history of what you paid for the house and spent on it.

If you are going to move to another area that is still rising, then you may be in a difficult position.

Yes, we really do have to move asap as one of the main reasons we're doing this is to be mortgage free, or at least to dramatically decrease our mortgage to a more affordable level. (Other reasons are work / health-related; quality of life, etc.)

Apart from the mortgage factor and after a lifetime in London, we want to leave altogether and head down to the South coast - as things stand at the moment at least, we would be able to afford the type of place we want. BUT where we want to go is incredibly popular and vibrant - not sure if it's actually rising though; however there are always literally hundreds of the type of property available that we are looking for, so fingers crossed, we should be ok, provided we can sell before the value of our present home is whittled away to a level where we would still need the same size mortgage to buy our next place, and thus defeating the main objective!

Our equity in this property is very high but the house cost us a lot of money to buy 3 years ago, probably when prices were still quite high and the market was bouyant. We then spent quite a bit to get it up to an acceptable standard.
We are not expecting to make a profit on it and probably won't; given the time again we would still have bought it because it's a lovely house and we have been very happy here; now it's just time to move on. All we want to do is to recoup what we have spent in order to make our lives easier and more affordable.

lady123_2

i've been looking at 3 beds in north chingford and they have been flying out the agents books within a few weeks, south chingford is within half a mile of north chigford so buyers that can't afford there may look south because what ever people say on this board people aren't lowering price's in north chingford, but i wish they would, lol, be patient, or have you considered renting out your home and renting somewhere on the south coast to see if you actualy like the area after living there for 6 months.

meanmachine_2

lady123 wrote:

i've been looking at 3 beds in north chingford and they have been flying out the agents books within a few weeks, south chingford is within half a mile of north chigford so buyers that can't afford there may look south because what ever people say on this board people aren't lowering price's in north chingford, but i wish they would, lol, be patient, or have you considered renting out your home and renting somewhere on the south coast to see if you actualy like the area after living there for 6 months.

Well, if properties are "flying off the shelves", it must be more to do with some kind of subsidence in the property. The market's dead, particularly in the south.

Remember, estate agents aren't always the most truthful of individuals. In fact, they'll say anything to give the impression that the market is bouyant and prices aren't falling. In fact, in London, they've been dropping for nine months solid, and have fallen by 3% since the Summer alone.

dougk_2

Certain areas within London are rising - others staying static and others are falling.

Personally I can understand why prices in London would drop, as its not somewhere I would want to live...perhaps many people are feeling the same?

Pal

Perhaps they are feeling the same. Alternatively perhaps they want to live in London but simply can't afford it, so are moving out to cheaper areas?