Owning your own home

Recent stabbing in Sydenham?
Yep. That was right outside the house I'm hoping to buy.

Wells Park Road?

Wells Park Road?

Yep. Rode by the flowers last week, thought they were for a previous thing/accident.

I know it's unlikely, but it's not what I was expecting.

It is unlikely you will find many places with similar socio-economic profiles where something like that hasn't happened at one stage or another. Which is terrible but unless it's happening every other week on your doorstep, I don't think you should let the recentness* of this incident get to you.

mrs_com grew up in a mixture of Angel Town and Myatt's Fields Estates, she's alright, I suppose.

*internal thesaurus is broken - recentness might not even be a word

the chance of three seperate stabbings in the same area in a short window of time are low
you should be safe for a while chalfie

unless the gangs hold grudges

Which gangs do.

not so fast... where were you on the night in question, Mr Damo?

he's forcing prices down
good call

It is unlikely you will find many places with similar socio-economic profiles where something like that hasn't happened at one stage or another. Which is terrible but unless it's happening every other week on your doorstep, I don't think you should let the recentness* of this incident get to you.

mrs_com grew up in a mixture of Angel Town and Myatt's Fields Estates, she's alright, I suppose.

*internal thesaurus is broken - recentness might not even be a word

Yeah. I know. It's just looking around on the web there was a shooting in the same estate (last year).

This, in addition to seeing a beating outside my house in West Norwood a couple of weeks ago (car stolen afterwards, CID not following up), just makes me feel a bit "woah. wtf!?"

Go to http://www.murdermap.co.uk/ if you really want to scare yourself about where you live

Yeah. I know. It's just looking around on the web there was a shooting in the same estate (last year).

This, in addition to seeing a beating outside my house in West Norwood a couple of weeks ago (car stolen afterwards, CID not following up), just makes me feel a bit "woah. wtf!?"

'Broken Britain' ain't it. Whilst the middle classes plunge themselves into every increasing debt-slavery churning around the barrel of spiralling house prices the underclass continues to go to hell in a handcart, their world largely unnoticed but occasionally violently spilling over into the streets. Truth is one doesn’t have to walk too far in any area of London whether it’s West Norwood or Westminster and you’ll come across a sink-estate with the potential to unleash it’s unhappiness into the lives of the outside world. Something Boris seems to anticipating: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jun/10/boris-johnson-london-mayor-water-cannon-metropolitan-police

Not only London by the way house prices around our way have gone silly recently (not silly in London terms)

House the same as mine only completely renovated (which I'm currently in the stages of doing) sold for 80k more than I paid for mine last year. On a smaller plot too.

Not sure if I got a good deal on the purchase or if house prices really are going that mad.

All I know is I'm not moving.

Question about mortgage application form (I will ask my IFA also but I want to know if I am being completely stupid first).

They are talking about affordability and Income vs Expenditure etc. Mainly, usual normal monthly outgoings vs net income.

In this, they are asking for loan information. The only loan I have is a Student Loan, which is already paid before my Net income. So why take that away from my Net income again? Same for pension contributions?

When I was talking to Halifax, they asked specifically about those two. I'd call the mortgage company and ask where you should include such details.

So I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the recent cooling of the market in London - unless I've missed it?

Our upstairs neighbours are a great example: put their 3 bed in Clapton on the market last week, had viewings on Saturday. Only 7 or 8 people came. Asking price was £675k but they're determined to get £700k for it, has now been pulled from the market, at least temporarily (I haven't seen them since the weekend to ask them what's going on). The irony being that if they've pulled it to get more it could have the opposite effect, because the longer they leave it the less they might get, unless prices do just stabilise.

The agent showing people round told us that he has noticed a definite cooling off in the last month, people are not as willing to pay the crazy money (in his opinion). Another agent said yesterday he thinks there will be a 'correction' - that's coming from an estate agent!

This is from today's FT:

But new buyer inquiries, while still up, are now rising at the slowest pace since February last year. Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at Rics, said the change was “quite material”.

At a national level, Rics expects house price inflation to continue rising for the next six months, before beginning to slow towards the end of the year.

But for London, where instructions increased but new buyer enquiries fell for the first time in 14 months, Mr Rubinsohn said the data were pointing to a slowdown in property price increases “perhaps a little sooner”.
He added that some of the strong upward momentum had left the housing market, noting a “lack of supply, higher prices, more prudent lending measures and some of the talk from the Bank of England are creating a level of caution among sellers and buyers”.

He added: “In particular, we’re seeing the London market level off.”

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/32921832-f15b-11e3-9161-00144feabdc0.html?siteedition=uk#axzz34Ovuscqn (£)

Could we have already seen the top of the market?

We will never see the top of the market. Thats's how inflation works.

A 3 bed flat exactly the same as ours has been on sale for over twice what Simon paid last year a few doors down from us for a few months now. £450k to live on the Aylesbury Estate is a bit much (the agent has described it as an idyllic cul de sac!), I'm not surprised it hasn't sold, it's also in need of a lot of TLC. They put it on with one estate agent, pulled it then put it on with another. Some people are getting a bit greedy and I think buyers have started having enough of it.

I dont think that buyers are not prepared to pay the prices, I think it's because its difficult to get a mortgage now compared to a few months ago. I would have taken off the 3 bed place in clapton too and waited for conditions to change. I also don't buy the 'a correction is coming' theory. I think the so called crazy prices are the correction as the population of London has been steadily growing since the 80's and is set to increase even more. London property prices are now in line with other major international world cities.

Did I read up thread that Pisti's leaving London? Leaving drinks, surely...

Enfield's still London, isn't it?

Like Wantage is Liverpool.

I would have taken off the 3 bed place in clapton too and waited for conditions to change.

Hmm, so they haven't taken it off the market - they had 9 viewings, and zero offers. Nada. Zilch. 0.

I think they're a bit shell shocked. Their friends round the corner sold two months ago and got 30 viewings and 5 offers.

Must admit, I'm not as surprised as they are, but I am surprised.

We will never see the top of the market. Thats's how inflation works.

Good work.

Mortgage approvals are down significantly again : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27661403

Talk of interest rate rises.

Property web site traffic is down significantly.

There is no doubt things are cooling a little.

London property prices are now in line with other major international world cities.

I'm calling bullshit on this one.

Are you fucking kidding? Which other cities are these then? Name them please?