[nickydwuk]

Stuff em Nickydwuk, what are they gonna do..... turn up in NZ and ask you for a tenner to cover the 19 days:D

Cath X

My sentiments exactly :D

[Red Devil]

Finally... we've sold (http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?p=236847#post236847) our French property to a nice Dutch couple.

Good luck to all others trying to sell :nice1

Simon

[JandM]

Oh, great news!:nice1

[nickydwuk]

Congrats Red Devil . All systems go now.

[victoria24]

excellent news!

[Rusty]

Great news. Escape this thread!

[Mickstim]

Great news. Escape this thread!


You never escape this thread!!

Bx

[Belmont Babes]

Too true Barb. It is almost like an addiction always checking in, in the hope that someone else has sold.

Well done Simon. Really pleased for you. Who's next???

[Janey]

Fantastic heres to another one keep them coming
Red have some of these you deserve it:clap:clap:raebanana:raebanana

[peebles16]

Great news. Escape this thread!


No escape - am noting down names for the big 'anyone on the market' BBQ :D
And there's gotta be a prize for the longest running, most posted thread surely :laugh

More sales please :yes

Karenx

[Red Devil]

Thanks all, its very much appreciated.

Good luck to all others and stay positive... its still possible in this so called global credit crunch.

Simon

[cathgates]

Really pleased for you Simon:cheers:)

Cath X

[YouMeAndThree]

Our buyers have now paid a second deposit so we should exchange next week. I will believe it when I see it!! I know what you mean about cancelling everything Janey. I have just started that and had a really obnoxious jobsworth at the TV licence place talk down to me. Our licence is due for renewal on 1st September - we leave on 19th. Got absolutely no help from them as it is my OH's name and they won't talk to me. So I thought s** them - I have just cancelled our direct debit. By the time they realise we would have left the country. Everything else is being cancelled just got to sort out the mail redirect.

I know this is ot, but I thought TV licence is paid 6months up front, therefore, by cancelling you will still be owed money :clap. Ours too is due to start again (1 sept), but this is for payments to cover from March 09 onwards. And also like you, they won't deal with me because it's in OH name, however we do have my parents set up as general power of attorney, which means they need to write - it's crazy isn't it :no they'll deal with someone because of an easy bit of paper but not his wife.

[catt]

great news Red.....wish it was us........:raebanana:raebanana:raebanana:raebanana

[macuser]

Congratulations.......another sale.

There's hope yet!!

Helen

[victoria24]

you can phone any organisation and give verbal authority for someone else to access and change any details on your account. after all it is "your" account! if you are refused then that is a breach of the data protection act and the employee is liable to a 3000 pounds fine and/or 6 months in jail. if you get fobbed off, ask to speak to the data protection officer. every operator should give you this info by law.

[tea drinker]

:clap from me too

[JayBee]

Well done Red Devil!

[JandL]

Well, would you adam and eve it! We just had our first viewing today. The misses had spent all day cleaning (as her normal cleaning day) and I was off work. With 1 hour of the phone call we had the garden mowed, threw things up in the loft and cleared up the kids rooms. They liked the place (it has a lovely view) but have loads of different properties to view before they decide. Fingers crossed ours is on their shortlist.

[victoria24]

good luck!

[JandL]

Oooo they just put in an offer on our house, £35k less that the asking price of £158k, cheeky!!

[JayBee]

OOOooo!
Wonder if they did that to all the ones they were viewing?
Lots of discussion in your household I bet!

[JandL]

Thats what I think, ask each one they like to see who is desperate enough to sell for pennies. Sheesh some people! (I might have done the same!)

[Andy-Dee]

Drinking a cold glass of Pinot Gris in Blenheim NZ as I type. House selling blues very far away this week. Still wishing you all loads of positive vibes from here though. Good luck - will catch up when we get back and the reality of the UK housing market hits again.

A PLAGUE on all estate agents!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have to say if the BBQ party Holland (Jade) is planning when all us 'oldies' eventually sell is a smidgen as good as the one StevieD and co threw for us ------ cant wait.

[Mickstim]

Drinking a cold glass of Pinot Gris in Blenheim NZ as I type. House selling blues very far away this week. Still wishing you all loads of positive vibes from here though. Good luck - will catch up when we get back and the reality of the UK housing market hits again.

A PLAGUE on all estate agents!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have to say if the BBQ party Holland (Jade) is planning when all us 'oldies' eventually sell is a smidgen as good as the one StevieD and co threw for us ------ cant wait.

I thought Karen (Peebles) was having the BBQ but maybe that's because Karen mentions it more often. Easier for us to get to Napier than to S Island anyway!!

BTW, very jealous of all the fun that happens in Cambridge.


Bx

[Belmont Babes]

Barb we're not far away, please let us know when you fancy a visit and we can always throw another BBQ together in honour of your company.:D

Dee the house selling BBQ is sure to be better :cheers

[thewoodies]

Oooo they just put in an offer on our house, £35k less that the asking price of £158k, cheeky!!

Its happened to us twice!!! there are people putting in low offers on lots of properties to try their luck - someone might be desperate enough to accept the offer. :wah

This has been the worse part of the process for me - we still havnt sold - chased the agent today on a women who liked our house but wasnt getting divorce money until september! If only she would buy it at a decentish price- i could then have a house like Sam B (see sam B building thread - really nice house). :roll

[IanR]

Oooo they just put in an offer on our house, £35k less that the asking price of £158k, cheeky!!

Maybe it's the asking price that's cheeky?
Especially when one appreciates just how much property values rose in the last 7 years?

We sold a family property in auction recently for 20% less than it would have fetched in March, that's the market we accepted it and moved on. And, as a cash buyer, I certainly would not, in a falling market, pay anywhere near an asking price set months ago... why should I?

After all, once you do sell you'll be in a similar position to negotiate downwards on a NZ property.

[victoria24]

seeing as house prices have dropped 10% in the last year and anything is only worth what someone would pay for it, that would lead me to believe that a house should be marketed at 10% lower than a rics valuation from last year and should be sold for the most you can get for it!!

[JandL]

Maybe it's the asking price that's cheeky?
Especially when one appreciates just how much property values rose in the last 7 years?

The original asking price was 170k, we have dropped it steadily with the market. The price they offered us is lower than the average price of a 1 bed flat in the area. I'm very realistic on the price and would have accepted an offer a good 15k less, but I know a cheeky offer when I see one! Just hope its not our only offer, if we dont sell, we dont go :(.

[nickydwuk]

After all the tooing & froing we have finally exchanged contracts on our house. :raebanana We can now look foward ot our move in 3 weeks without worrying that the buyer may pull out at the last minute. It also means we can go unconditional on our property in NZ. Looks like I will have to leave this thread and just pop in as a guest :D Good luck to all who are still waiting for buyers or even viewers :yes

[cathgates]

So very pleased for you Nickydwuk :cheers:raebanana

Cath X

[JandM]

:raebanana:clap:raebanana

[TrentBridge]

Congratulations Nicky, must be a huge relief :cheers:cheers

[JayBee]

:clap:clap That's great news - it seems to have taken ages for you to exchange. What a relief!

[Belmont Babes]

Fantastic news Nicki, chuffed to bits for you :raebanana:raebanana:raebanana

[Mickstim]

:cheers:cheers:cheers:cheers

Great news! Who's next???

[victoria24]

me i hope!!
congrats to nicky! doesnt seem that long ago you were dispairing, goes to show to all those negative housing market gurus that it can happen and with the government back next week with new measures, you never know!!

[catt]

Nicky here are the well earned bananas :raebanana:raebanana:raebanana:raebanana

[tea drinker]

:raebanana from me too

[Rusty]

Well done Nicky. :raebanana:raebanana
See you in ChCH in a few weeks for these :cheers:cheers.

[slider]

Congratulations Nicky :raebanana:cheers:raebanana

[nickydwuk]

Oh how I love all those banana's. Just goes to show if you hang in there long enough and hassle your agents & solicitors often enough it comes good in the end.

See you in ChCH in a few weeks for these :cheers:cheers.

Just 2!!!! I hope there are a few more waiting.:cheers:cheers

[Janey]

We completed on Friday phew although we did not know it as the solicitor did not even ring us it was only a panic call to the estate agents that told us it had gone throught and the buyers had picked up the keys yahoo!!!!! now just waiting for OH visas

[thewoodies]

:clap:nice1:raebanana:raebanana

[macuser]

Congratulations, must be a great feeling to be on your way.

Good Luck with your journey.

Helen

[Red Devil]

Congratulations Nicky... it sure is a great feeling to have that weight lifted off your shoulders :yes

OH and me are still floating on cloud nine after selling :D

Best of luck to all others trying to sell :nice1

[chocolate cake]

Still on the market since March here after having two sales fall through shortly after I first put it up for sale. Had the first viewings for ages last week but not anythings since.

I see the UK govts tempararily suspended stamp duty on house sales less than 175k
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7592852.stm
hopefully might make some difference as mine's only a tad more than that.

I think something had to happen after the chanceller's ridiculous panicky statement last week about "the worst economic conditions in 60 years". Hardly words to install any confidence.

[cathgates]

From first glance, the changes put forward by Brown, don't seem to be any that will help any of us. Saving someone a maximum of £1750 on a 175k house isn't going to suddenly make buyers come running from the woods. The interest free loans of up to 30% deposit looked promising at first untill you look closer and see it seems to suggest it's for new properties only. So they seem to want to keep the house builders happy, but none of the rest of us selling our houses. I think that if the local councils take up the initiative to help those facing repossession, this may help us a little, as there would be less repo houses on the market at a lower price, but I imagine that if any do, they won't put it in to practice tomorrow. If the housing associations and councils are allowed to buy up empty property other than excess developer stock, this would be at a lower than market value price, but if not, then I will leave my house empty like a shot and offer it to them:exit
But unfortunately, I don't think it will help any of us anytime soon:mad:

Cath X

[tea drinker]

Advertised on UK TV is a homebuyer company that 'guarentee' to buy your house (???)
You pay a fee for their valuation (??? no figure given - I have assumed it will be pricy IMHO))
Their offer will be below market value (???again no % given - I have assumed it will be much lower IMHO))

Make sense to anyone?
Anyone investigated this?

[cathgates]

Hi Teadrinker, it's usually about 80% of THEIR market value:mad:
Cath X

[NZ Hopeful]

I've been missing for a while, a member of family was quite ill so our plans were put on hold for a short while - but at long last the house is on the market as of today!! :clap

Don't know why I'm so excited as it couldn't be a worse time to sell! :roll

So if either of the fairies are available I wouldn't mind giving her a good shake around here :cheers

[Janey]

Hi teadrinker
and the rest we approached 2 companies they only go on local sales in your area, for similar houses in our case there were none! they offered us 75% of the last recent sale of the other house sold in our village which had one bedroom less no garage little garden and suseptiable to flooding unless you have a low priced house that is one of 20 or so the same in an area ie a 2 up/down Corrie type house forget it!

[Hejwitch_uk]

Just spent about an hour catching up on the thread - had a problem viewing it as I was set to hybrid display mode! Quick update - have had 4 viewings since May. 1st decided on another house nearer their outlaws, viewers 2 and 3 allegedly want it, but have their own to sell, and the 4th was a dream. They convinced us they were going to put in an offer (no house to sell, no mortgage needed and money in the bank!) They were going to move from Basingstoke to our wee village, as Mrs viewer was from the village and still has family here despite having lived away over 20 years. It took a week to let us know that their adult children were not happy about them moving once the reality of them having found a house hit them. (They assured us that their family members were happy about their move here...Gggrrrrrrr) Spent Friday and Saturday in tears, :wah and only just coming back to my 'old' self. I'm ringing the agent this afternoon to change the price from 'offers over' to a fixed price. Loads of people are doing the same here in Scotland, and I don't want to be amongst the last to do it. I really would like a fairy to come visit (not fussy whether a UK or NZ fairy) just to give us a boost. Alastair Darling wants a good talking to for his doom & gloom episode, and I for one would like to get hold of him and dye his eyebrows to match his hair at the very least..... as with all of you, trying to stay positive, as we don't have the option of renting. If we don't sell, we don't go. I was, however, delighted to see that some people have managed the seemingly impossible and sold - well done to you guys. On a positive note, even though we haven't sold, at least we have PR now, which is better than if we'd sold and then been refused the visa! Now I know how to get back into the thread, will visit more often. Fingers crossed for all those residing with us in limbo land!

[Hejwitch_uk]

Totally unbelievable - JUST had a call from estate agent - viewer at 6.30 tonight!!! Looks very positive - she's currently sitting with the mortgage advisor at the estate agents, and is renting in the village, and doesn't want to live anywhere else but here!
Wish me luck!!!!!

[JandM]

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

[Rusty]

Hey, have a lot of luck.

[Hejwitch_uk]

House looking and smelling lovely, am now sick with anticipation - possibly our best potential viewer yet! 20 mins to go......... will update later! thanks for the good wishes! (that's why I love this forum!) Time for a quick positive spell!!!!

[nickydwuk]

How did it go??? Don't keep us in suspense!!

[Hejwitch_uk]

Sorry for the delay.......... a rather nice bottle of wine later!! They [I]seemed[I] to like it, and said some promising things about how their furniture might fit, how houses this size very rarely come up for sale in this village, they've looked at others which are all too small, but would have liked a 2nd toilet (you can't have it all!)

Viewer let me know that estate agents are getting in touch with her tomorrow. Now I'm never going to sleep tonight!! Think I'll know more tomorrow and will post again. What a weird day..... :confused::o

[Hejwitch_uk]

:no No joy :wah despite having one of the biggest houses and gardens in the village, there's 'not enough room at the back' for her 3 dogs. Boo.

[JayBee]

Sorry to hear that - thought you were in with a chance.

[IanR]

Though I sold in early June with the intention of staying out of the market for a year or two I actually jumped back in and bought a smaller property today - I'm 'sort of' retired and spend 6 months in Auckland and 6 in the UK each year (a swallow I believe we're called) so a smaller hillside cottage suits me much better, as does a bit of extra cash ;o) - I had reduced mine quite a bit to sell and the one I bought was also reduced by 20% to attract my offer - but eventually deals were done.

I guess what I'm saying is that the market hasn't dried up completely but, unless you get very lucky, most people will only go ahead, at what they imagine, will be next years prices.

[lindreth]

So our house is officially up for sale as of yesterday ! Can't quite believe it! Feels like the first real, no-going-back-now moment of our decision to emigrate. Very, very exciting!! I can relate to this comment:


Don't know why I'm so excited as it couldn't be a worse time to sell!

The market where we are is not great either. Our realtor says that average time on the market here is 6 months... we'll see what happens... Here's hoping for the right buyer to stumble upon us!

:) Lindsay

[victoria24]

from the good news department.. official land reg figures: house price drop of 2% in last year.

[IanR]

from the good news department.. official land reg figures: house price drop of 2% in last year.

The LR and the Haliwide use quite different ways of measuring house prices. The weakness with the LR's Repeat Sales Regression method is that it's almost certainly picking up a much larger percentage of properties bought to do up, add value and turn over than the Halifax's Hedonic method.

It also measures property sales which are notified to the LR up to three months after the sale has taken place and about 4 months after the Haliwides data is put to use (which is from mortgage approvals).

[victoria24]

Likewise, the halifax figures are biased as they only include mortgage data whereas we all know that in the current market, cash sales are very important. if your going to take a view on data, you need to consider ALL the data which the land registry truly is. as we also know at the moment, mortgage approvals are misleading due to the high number of drop offs. again.. remortgage data from 1 lender is misleading as they only use one valuation company (colleys which is wholly owned by hbos) and due to PI claim concerns, rics surveyors tend to move to the lower of their 10% swing. amazing coincidence dont you think?

[macuser]

We should all email canvass the press to ask them to start reporting the truth(!!!) regarding the house price decline ie. 2% not 12%. Its becoming a self fulfilling prophecy. Most people do not understand how Nationwide/Halifax come up with their figures and how slanted/biased they are.

If they all started reporting that the facts are house prices have only dropped 2% in a year and that buyers are unlikely to get the rock bottom bargains they are all hoping for by waiting another year, the buyers may well start coming out to view again.

Good Luck to us all.

Helen

[cathgates]

Unfortunately Helen, bad news sells papers, and if they can make the 12% 'fit', then that is what they wil report, the best outcome as far as the papers are concerned, is for at least one of them to go under as a result of the economy - sweet justice me thinks:yes

Cath X

[IanR]

Four months ago the Haliwide's data showed the average house price as £185,000 - the latest figure for August was £172,000 - the data in the Land Registry August report is based on sales three to four months ago, since when the Haliwide, using those figures, have forecast a further 7% fall.

Personally I do know that, from attending auctions and also offering on a property, the annual falls in achieved prices I've seen are much closer to 20%+ than 2%.

However there are huge variances between areas, even those quite physically close together.

[victoria24]

im sure we had the same discussion last quarter so the time lag is taken care of as you poo pooed land reg then!

[thewoodies]

We have a viewing next weekend. Fingers crossed :)

[victoria24]

good luck woodies!

[macuser]

Good Luck with the viewing. Happy plumping!

Helen

[Silverwing86]

All fingers and toes duly crossed, good luck :clap !