John Doe

No, not well. Mainly lived worked in Coventry in those days. Although, worked next door in Castle Vale once (putting windows above the drying areas in the flats - and same job in Chelmsley Wood). Always made sure we got there first thing in the morning so we could escape before the locals woke up mid afternoon They even used to knick the offcuts! As far as I remember they never targeted the nice areas back in the last big recession as they knew the law would go all out to catch them if they did. Back home, they also knew the law never bothered too much about the crime on our estate. Also, most of the guys (I knew of) never went much further than about 1/2 mile when out "on the mooch". I always figured there would be real problems if they ever got organised. Same thing with the houses etc. A terrace back home couldn't be sold for £7000 in 1995. At peak they were ~£100k! Recently they were going for £75k. A 25% fall, but still way way overpriced. I agree that these will be the ones hardest hit.

I was talking about the mid 80's, Handsworth etc. It was a bit of a mess for a while. I worked in Sheldon for a while and you could practically guarantee witnessing a mugging or a fight once a week from the bus into town, the 159 IIRC, later became the 900. The swan at yardley usually had a good fight going on). Yes, they were at the gym that day as they were going to use it for the Please don’t make me cry" video. Ah Labour of love, what an album!

No problem, thought it might be something like that. Although, you had me worried for a moment. I know I'm in two minds about some things, but for a moment it looked like they had gone their own separate ways

Perhaps some of the guys in Brum should write a song about that.. Oh wait a minute Disclaimer if seen in bad taste. I was one of the one in ten back when the original came out, even met Ali Campbell once at Paddy Lynch’s boxing gym (Errol Christie days). Seemed an OK guy. To be honest, the situation in Brum wasn't much better even between the two recessions. One of the reasons we left the midlands.

Hey, I didn't write that! All I wrote was the first two lines????? What's going on mods?

Isn't that 14 extra? One every two days. Perhaps not such a bloodbath.

Could mean it's time to buy that old boarded up pub?

Yep, I remember when bankers and solicitors were respected. (Not so sure about EA's though ) Only joking, and good to have a view from an ex (honest) EA. However, to be honest, I have found every EA I have dealt with in UK over the past 25 years to be useless, bordering on incompetent and very nearly criminal. In France the notaires charge about 10% if IIRC, so compared to them they are cheap. They also only allow a set number of them to practice too (and they are all qualified to do much more than a UK EA).

Oh we tried with several (the original fee was 3%, and we got a discount on the package deal for advertising in the Herald), but it's a closed shop and here in the W End at that time, we were still in boom territory and even though the Rock had gone down, the mentality was that Scotland didn't have a crash in the early 90's, therefore, it wouldn't now. Of course, they never had a big boom in the 80's which was why they didn't have a bust (nominal) in the 90's. That wasn't the case in late 2007.

When we STR'd last time I was in a rush to sell (Northern Rock had gone down and I wanted to jump out the market before the SHTF) so we used an EA. They charged ~2% which was the going rate around here, charged upfront for printing schedules and charged for adverts in the paper. We did all the viewing, and in the end, a guy who knew one of our neighbours knocked the door, we went to the pub, negotiated the deal at an agreed price, shook hands and said if any problems re solicitors and EA's etc, that we would just phone each other and get it sorted directly. The bl**dy EA's then nearly scuppered the deal by phoning his solicitor, pretending to be me, to try and rush them by telling them that we would put the property back on the market if we didn't get the info needed within 24hrs. The first I heard was when the buyer phoned to ask what was going on. I went mad at the EA's and threatened to take them to court unless they immediately phoned the buyer and apologised (which they rightly did). So, we essentially did everything ourselves and still ended up paying the EA’s for their incompetence. I will seriously look into selling myself next time. PS The buyer told me that he expected the market to fall~10% but he had just sold a big house and was downsizing.

Actually, EA's have p**sed me off so many times in the past that I have been seriously tempted on more than one occasion to look into setting up an estate agency. I would call it the "Honest EA". Although I guess no-one would believe the sign . Yes I remember the Tesco issue. i think it was CML or Rightmove that argued that Tesco wasn't an official EA and so could not do this. At the time, Tesco said OK, we will become an official EA and undercut you by offering a flat £200 deal. Somehow, after that, they went into the operation with Haart instead. Anecdotally, around us things are picking up. Several Sold Subject Conclusive Missives appearing. (They had been on for a while, so I don’t know if they are taking lower offers or if people have decided to up their offers nearer to the asking price?)

Here we go, councils to help FTB's get "on the ladder". This is what you are up against. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12754818

As far as I remember, in the UK I can start trading as a business without having to inform anyone at all. Is there any reason why I couldn't start my own EA business and sell my own house?

I guess that explains the better margins, as I'm fairly sure the house prices aren't rising. Out of interest, what's the average going rate now (per 1000 or per m^2)?

Bovis reporting good results, dividend resumption and a good start to 2011. (Similar from Persimmon last week) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12729865

Sorry, I guess I misread your joke. But no, I am not bullish. I expect a nominal fall of about 10% over the next year or so (think it was about Sep/Oct 2010 that I made that prediction) and more in real terms. However, it does sometimes seem that, compared to many here, that my mildly bearish views put me on the bullish side of the posts. I just don't see the "end of the world" scenario happening and also see low rates continuing for a good while yet. I think inflation will fall back as the year progresses and the blip in IR rise talk will abate. I also think (from local evidence) that nice areas are holding up well and that the not-so-nice areas have - and will continue to - bear the brunt of the falls. There are still a lot of people with a lot of money that want to live in the nice areas (with the good schools etc) and are still paying over the odds to do so. So how come you're off to see a house? I'm guessing it's a BMV do-er-uper. I remember you are in the trade yes? We got a real bargain like that in the dip in 2009 after STRing, for the second time in late 2007, and I have to say, even with the falls I expect, for us it was absolutely the right thing to do. (Of course it helps that, due to luck and timing, we can absorb a drop in the market, from current value, of ~25% before we are in a loss position). PS I have always said that if a shock event causes rates to really rise (i.e. several percent) then all bets are off.

Don't know about forgone conclusions, but I think more printing is quite possible. Assuming you own your property outright, with inflation at 5% (at least) and long term fixed rates low, it might be an idea to leverage up to the hilt, then invest the money elsewhere. Of course, that's just what many rich people might just be doing.

Errm, Ok, so I have read the HPC thread. The number of approvals has risen massively (albeit, from a small base) and the number advanced currently is low. But, there is always a delay between approved and advanced. Advanced will, therefore, rise over the next few months. So what's your point exactly? Only a fool would leverage their selves to the hilt now. Did you mistake me for a bull? Read my previous posts. I am no bull, but I do believe in balanced views, instead of wishful group think.

BoE Jan figures 45,723 CML Jan figures 28,500 That's some seasonal adjustment You couldn't do something about the snow up here in bonny Scotland while you're at it, could you? (please )

Maybe, but then again, maybe not. It all depends whether it is bank or building society lending. The BoE (bigger sample and more mortgages) reported much higher than expected. http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/03/01/uk-jan-mortgage-approvals-up-idUKLNE72001Y20110301 That seems to show a switch away from BSs to Banks.

Be fair guys, the vast majority of people don't actually move very far from where they were born (UK, EU especially. Don't know about US but it seems the same from TV). Yes, the more ambitious, the high flyers and some of those with no kids, jet all around following their careers and their dreams. The rest find family, friends, good schools etc far more important. Who's right? (Disclaimer, I move quite regularly )

Yep, 60% of UK homes have no mortgage.

Not if you keep paying the mortgage and don't want to move. Then it really doesn't matter what happens to the price. After 25 years it is your house. Meanwhile, rents and prices have all gone up, while your savings have also grown. It really isn't as clear a case as some make out, especially if you get a US style 25 year fixed rate.

Halifax, down down down http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/Halifax-U...954286.html?x=0 Now that's more like CCS. Edit** oops, sorry MA, din't see your earlier post

Meanwhile, rents keep rising and the transfer BaB has been discusing continues. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12637242