Debate House Prices


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Estate Agent told me not to buy for six months

:exclamatiYesterday I spoke to an off duty Estate agent in West London. He told my friends and I not to buy for at least 6 months. He stated that the market is completely dead and prices are falling fast. He also said to save as big a deposit as possible in the mean time.:exclamati

I won't name the estate agent or company a host of reasons and his own protection. However this was a honest confession he gave us at a time of weakness on his behalf. I respect him for giving a honest response rather than usual denial and spin vested interests usually give.
:T

Has anyone else got any information from honest estate agents, developers, surveyors etc.:question:
:exclamatiScams - Shared Equity, Shared Ownership, Newbuy, Firstbuy and Help to Buy.

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Comments

  • lostinrates
    lostinrates Posts: 55,283 Forumite
    I've been Money Tipped!
    Yep, an estate agent in farms/land said similar to me....OTR, of course.
  • The advice I've had from five estate agents and three mortgage brokers is exactly as the op mentions.
  • dubsey
    dubsey Posts: 357 Forumite
    We found out today that a friend of ours who is an area manager for a large chain of EA's (but she runs the mortgage/financial side as opposed to the buying/selling) has just changed jobs. She has gone to work for a bank as an area manager (headhunted apparently) as she said the EA business generally is very shaky atm. Not convinced there's a major difference in the business fortunes between banks and EA's, but she was certainly concerned about remaining in that line of work. She is the main income in their family so she said she needs to ensure her job is stable and she couldn't do that where she was.
  • abaxas
    abaxas Posts: 4,141 Forumite
    dubsey wrote: »
    We found out today that a friend of ours who is an area manager for a large chain of EA's (but she runs the mortgage/financial side as opposed to the buying/selling) has just changed jobs. She has gone to work for a bank as an area manager (headhunted apparently) as she said the EA business generally is very shaky atm. Not convinced there's a major difference in the business fortunes between banks and EA's, but she was certainly concerned about remaining in that line of work. She is the main income in their family so she said she needs to ensure her job is stable and she couldn't do that where she was.

    So that'll be 1 weeks notice for the first 3 months? Followed by 1 month for the next 2 years? Also 0 reduandancy if she gets layed off.

    It'll be a good gamble is it pays off, if not it's a 'life f**ker'.

    Good luck to her, but at least it proves she has a brain inside her head.
  • PasturesNew
    PasturesNew Posts: 70,698 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    dubsey wrote: »
    (headhunted apparently)
    I've done that job. I helped out a headhunting company back in about 1994. Placing people in £500k jobs as partners to solicitors - and head honcho at NHS Trust hospitals... and this is how it works:

    You have a job to fill.
    1] Grab the big heavy book where people like that are listed, with their brief biography. Usually professional association books have this info.
    2] Start at the beginning and skim through to see who might fit what you're looking for (specialisms/letters after their name).
    3] Make a big list.
    4] Phone them and ask if they might be interested in a job and give them a shady outline, with no details. Get them to send in a CV.
    5] Gather up the CVs sent in, then shortlist.
    6] Then interview.
    7] Then appoint.

    I bet Mr Zebedee rarely gets headhunted. But Mr Adams often does.

    For other roles further down the pecking order, the MO is similar. Say you wanted a bank manager:
    1] Make a list of all banks in the area.
    2] Find out the bank manager's name.
    3] Make a big list.
    4] Phone them..... .... and follow rest of list above.
  • oldMcDonald
    oldMcDonald Posts: 1,945 Forumite
    Not that I know him personally, but it is worth reading Secret Agents diary

    http://agentsdiary.blogspot.com/

    He is a manager of an estate agency and he talks honestly about the market in his area, other local estate agents, members of his staff, his family....

    His blog posts aren't always about the house selling market, but they are worth reading anyway - he is very....'dry', and his posts are an enjoyable read :D
  • apuleius
    apuleius Posts: 95 Forumite
    The EA I am dealing with in the sale of my mother's house told me today tat prices have fallen 10% in three months - this is in N.London/Herts area.
  • brit1234
    brit1234 Posts: 5,385 Forumite
    Back to what the estate agent told me. He also stated not to look at any properties in the mean time. He stated that there is a danger that you could get emotionally attached to the property and buy on that emotion rather than common sense.

    I tend to agree with him on this. There are plenty of examples on this forum alone that people have really got emotionally attached to a property. I have even seen this will friends who have bought houses off plan based on the show home even though house prices are falling fast and their home won't even be finished for a few more months.

    It could save you tens of thousands of pounds.
    :exclamatiScams - Shared Equity, Shared Ownership, Newbuy, Firstbuy and Help to Buy.

    Save our Savers
  • Triker
    Triker Posts: 7,247 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker Debt-free and Proud!
    Not that I know him personally, but it is worth reading Secret Agents diary

    http://agentsdiary.blogspot.com/

    He is a manager of an estate agency and he talks honestly about the market in his area, other local estate agents, members of his staff, his family....

    His blog posts aren't always about the house selling market, but they are worth reading anyway - he is very....'dry', and his posts are an enjoyable read :D

    I think I'm in love....this guy is soooo funny.

    Thanks for posting.:D
    DFW Nerd 267. DEBT FREE 11.06.08
    Stick to It by R.B. Stanfield
    It matters not if you try and fail,
    And fail, and try again; But it matters much if you try and fail, And fail to try again.
  • Triker
    Triker Posts: 7,247 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker Debt-free and Proud!
    The more I think of this the more baffled I am :confused:

    Why would somebody whose livelihood depends on selling houses say 'don't bother buying for 6 months'......don't get it meself, especially with the number of EA closures and the lack of mortgage products strangling the market.
    DFW Nerd 267. DEBT FREE 11.06.08
    Stick to It by R.B. Stanfield
    It matters not if you try and fail,
    And fail, and try again; But it matters much if you try and fail, And fail to try again.
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