Bob McC
Living the life of Riley
Maintenance and service charges are completely unregulated.
Even if they only increase by RPI that will be well over 10% this year alone.
They look to have only electric heating too. Ouch…
Housing market
- Thread starter matt j
- Start date
Even if they only increase by RPI that will be well over 10% this year alone.
They look to have only electric heating too. Ouch…
Ponty
pfm Member
No different to tradespeople carrying out maintenance and repairs on a freehold property.
Bob McC
Living the life of Riley
Rubbish.
You can choose who does that and shop around.
In those properties if they want a 25% increase you have to cough up.
Ponty
pfm Member
The fact is, many tradespeople have increased prices far more than inflation. Have you tried shopping around for a trade recently and haggling on price?
Tories not keen on plebs putting their prices up, even though their CEO and shareholder mates have been filling their boots through covid for basically f-all work eh.
Don't like it then there's nothing stopping you doing it yourself, after all if a pleb in a lowly trade can manage it then I'm sure it's a piece of cake for 'Men Of Industry' types.
Don't like it then there's nothing stopping you doing it yourself, after all if a pleb in a lowly trade can manage it then I'm sure it's a piece of cake for 'Men Of Industry' types.
hifinutt
hifinutt
went to one place with 30 flats .warden there 9 till 3 5 days week , communal energy costs included, insurance , water rates , maintenance etc etc . At 3.5k x 30 i am not sure how they do it . I do know there is a 1% charge when you sell to go into a contingency fund but still seems not enough to cover those costs
Joe Hutch
Mate of the bloke
We had a quote for some stonework recently. It was of the ‘I don’t really want this work’ variety, so I did the work myself. It took about a day all-told, maybe £30 worth of material.
I won’t do anything involving electricity, gas, or plumbing, but otherwise I’m happy to bodge most things up. Oh, and I’m not good with heights, so roofs are out as well.
I won’t do anything involving electricity, gas, or plumbing, but otherwise I’m happy to bodge most things up. Oh, and I’m not good with heights, so roofs are out as well.
Ponty
pfm Member
There are some well managed developments around. I have 3 places which are share of freehold where we have complete control over repairs and maintenance. We try to keep costs under control whilst maintaining to a high standard. The reality is, costs are increasing rapidly, often 20%+. If you want decent tradespeople, it is what it is and just gets passed on in the form of higher rents.
We moved in January, and I feel very fortunate that we managed to - it was a complete PITA trying to view places 70 miles away with an 18month old. We got to the point of flyering in the area - FYI, didn’t work in our case.
My brother recently had an offer accepted and is progressing after losing 3 others where he’d also had his offer accepted! The Wild West isn’t appropriate enough, it’s chaos out there.
But the only thing that was consistent with both of us, is that seeing lots, losing a few, actually made us more comfortable and aware of what we’d need to offer, and luckily in both cases, I think we dodged bullets of taking on places that needed completely gutting - which we wouldn’t be able to afford now. I’m certainly going to take time off and try and do more of the work on our place to try and make the costs work.
@matt j the perseverance will pay off - and makes the move-in even sweeter when it does happen!
My brother recently had an offer accepted and is progressing after losing 3 others where he’d also had his offer accepted! The Wild West isn’t appropriate enough, it’s chaos out there.
But the only thing that was consistent with both of us, is that seeing lots, losing a few, actually made us more comfortable and aware of what we’d need to offer, and luckily in both cases, I think we dodged bullets of taking on places that needed completely gutting - which we wouldn’t be able to afford now. I’m certainly going to take time off and try and do more of the work on our place to try and make the costs work.
@matt j the perseverance will pay off - and makes the move-in even sweeter when it does happen!
Thanks for all the kind words and pep talks folks, but honestly, it's not even close. Just had my usual casual browse of Rightmove and every house I wouldn't even give a second glance or consideration to is 50-75% or more over budget.
I think as a single bloke on an average wage I just have to come to terms that it isn't going to happen.
wulbert
pfm Member
Yeah, I started to idly think about a move 3-4 years ago....no rush.
Now, prices are crazy. Recently looked at a tiny, one-bedroomed semi, advertised at Offers Over £80k. Buyer said he had already been offered £110k and a similar property went for £130k a couple of months back. This is a house that last sold for £30k in 2012! Mad. Where is all the cash coming from?
wulbert
pfm Member
I've decided just to wait until houses are better value for money...the bubble can't go on for ever, especially with rising prices and maybe an interest rate hike. People have short memories.
That is what I keep wondering, we're supposedly all poor and living at food banks, can't afford the electric bill etc. and yet houses that are probably worth less than £100k are closer to 200. It can only be rich folk hoovering them up for rentals as I can't see how someone in the market for a small/average sized 100-135k house can afford 180-230k they're going for.
hifinutt
hifinutt
sadly people been saying that for years , the reality is they will keep rising due to demand .
Long term yes. However there will be dips of a few years. I could have bought a house in 2007. Glad I didn't.
@matt j If prices have changed by that much since you started looking, then yeah, that's gonna be tough. I reckon we saw a 15-20% increase over the year or so we were looking in, which was manageable.
Perhaps lots of the people buying are tradespeople making a killing at the moment? I've certainly considering doing some part-time handyman work to help pay for the garage that we didn't manage to get.
Perhaps lots of the people buying are tradespeople making a killing at the moment? I've certainly considering doing some part-time handyman work to help pay for the garage that we didn't manage to get.
Ponty
pfm Member
There are a lot of people who earn a lot of money.
There are a lot of people who inherit and want to put their money somewhere ‘safe’.
There are a lot of people who are receiving pension lump sums who again, want to put it somewhere ‘safe’ rather than volatile stock markets.
There are a lot of people full stop.
We have a govt who are hell bent on ensuring house prices always go up.
We have interest rates on the floor (despite token increases), money is incredibly cheap and a benign economic environment where people are bailed out at the slightest sign of choppy water to prevent forced sales and falling prices.
Against this backdrop, the madness will probably continue.
There are a lot of people who inherit and want to put their money somewhere ‘safe’.
There are a lot of people who are receiving pension lump sums who again, want to put it somewhere ‘safe’ rather than volatile stock markets.
There are a lot of people full stop.
We have a govt who are hell bent on ensuring house prices always go up.
We have interest rates on the floor (despite token increases), money is incredibly cheap and a benign economic environment where people are bailed out at the slightest sign of choppy water to prevent forced sales and falling prices.
Against this backdrop, the madness will probably continue.