Estate Agents Rant!

[Mice!]

Your right, first house I bought cost me£43k around the mid ninetys last time it sold was around £110-120 if memory serves, don't think wages have gone up that much so its obvious the banks lend more. Estate agents give a higher valuation which someone pays and things keep going up.

 

So how are kids these days going to afford a mortgage???

[Dougy]

I used to be able to get a tinned loaf for 11d, and the bus fair to town was also 11d. Mars bars were 3d and loads bigger, you could get a cap gun for a few shillings.

 

And if you were old enough to drive you could get a new car for a few hundred £.

 

So you saying that house prices shouldn't increase in value.

[Mice!]

Increase yeah there always going to, but when they doubled over night in the 00s and have pretty much kept going there has got to be a con going on somewhere.

[Dougy]

That increase was nothing to do with estate agents.

[Dave-G]

Point to consider is that most estate agencies are in prime locations of a town or city which attract high rent and rates - that has to come out of turnover.

[Dougy]

Do away with them altogether then, and just sell and buy on that auction site.

 

May as well get rid of any business or company for that matter that's making any profit.

 

How dare people charge money and make any profit.

[AVB]

Increase yeah there always going to, but when they doubled over night in the 00s and have pretty much kept going there has got to be a con going on somewhere.

 

Do you understand even the basics of economics? When you have more buyers than sellers then the price will go up. Some estate agents might be shady but the house price explosion, which has been in most but not all areas, has got nothing to do with Estate Agents.

[Lloyd90]

My brothers a mortgage broker, he says to me you can lend 5x your income, minus expenses.

 

Now nurses and lots of other graduates are coming out of uni in approx £22-25k average. With the average UK house price in the U.K. At £250k you either need both people in a couple to be earning £25k each plus, or one of them to be earning lots more.

 

Apparently the average household income in the U.K. Is £28k. If that's the case a lot of these household will have to get used to the fact they'll never be able to afford to buy their homes.

 

Even with these council right to buy schemes, if the property value gets too high then the tenants would never be able to get a mortgage for that amount of money (even with a 40% discount).

 

In the future there will be plenty of people who never own their own home, their either won't be enough to go around or they'll be too expensive.

[BrowningB525]

 

Do you understand even the basics of economics? When you have more buyers than sellers then the price will go up. Some estate agents might be shady but the house price explosion, which has been in most but not all areas, has got nothing to do with Estate Agents.

Although you are correct. Most sellers will prefer to list their house with the agent that values it the highest. Pushing up (asking) prices

[daveboy]

I am a Landlord and so are a few of my mates.

​We have all found you get better tennants from estate agents than from gumtree ect.

I use an agent to find me a tennant (£279 plus vat) and then manage it myself from then on.

To be honest if a tennant can't afford to pay the fees and a bond and a month upfront I don't want them.

[das]

I used to be able to get a tinned loaf for 11d, and the bus fair to town was also 11d. Mars bars were 3d and loads bigger, you could get a cap gun for a few shillings.

 

And if you were old enough to drive you could get a new car for a few hundred £.

 

So you saying that house prices shouldn't increase in value.

Agree, but in those days, I remember them well, you only earned a few hundred quid .

[Mice!]

 

Do you understand even the basics of economics? When you have more buyers than sellers then the price will go up. Some estate agents might be shady but the house price explosion, which has been in most but not all areas, has got nothing to do with Estate Agents.

I realise that estate agents aren't entirely to blame and things go up in price but like I said I bought a house for £43k it would probably go on the market at £110k now, I sold it at £54k after 6 years I think and was happy with that, nothing in the area had changed no major infrastructure changes no new roads etc, so where is the justification in such a huge increase in price?

 

My point is the banks say sure have more money, the estate agents give much higher valuations and then people sell with the highest price because why wouldn't you.

 

This way everyone is in debt much longer, I would have been earning about 18-21k back when I bought that first house with a partner earning similar so glad I'm not starting now doubt it would be a 3 bed semi in an area I wanted.

[AVB]

I realise that estate agents aren't entirely to blame and things go up in price but like I said I bought a house for £43k it would probably go on the market at £110k now, I sold it at £54k after 6 years I think and was happy with that, nothing in the area had changed no major infrastructure changes no new roads etc, so where is the justification in such a huge increase in price?

 

My point is the banks say sure have more money, the estate agents give much higher valuations and then people sell with the highest price because why wouldn't you.

 

This way everyone is in debt much longer, I would have been earning about 18-21k back when I bought that first house with a partner earning similar so glad I'm not starting now doubt it would be a 3 bed semi in an area I wanted.

 

 

Just because an estate agent values a house at a particular value it doesn't mean it will sell at that price. It needs a buyer willing to pay that price. By the way I am not an Estate Agent but I do understand how market economies work. Your house went up from £43K to £54K because somebody wanted to buy it and was willing to pay that amount. Estate Agents don't make a market as they do not hold the houses on their books and therefore can't dictate the sellers price. They are simply a broker negotiating a sale between a buyer and a seller.

 

Although you are correct. Most sellers will prefer to list their house with the agent that values it the highest. Pushing up (asking) prices

 

Yes it influences asking prices but not selling prices. I have never sold a house through an agent valuing it the highest. I have sold mine through agents who can explain why they are valuing the house at a particular value by referencing it to sold prices for similar properties.

[Vince Green]

This is why Air BnB is becoming more popular when renting properties

Edited May 31, 2017 by Vince Green

[ph5172]

This is why Air BnB is becoming more popular when renting properties

 

A lad in the offices makes as much on his flat renting out for the weekends only, as he would having a tenant in all month, in the holidays he can easily knock out a few months rent in the 6 weeks.

He says that they also pay a contribution to a cleaning cost and this is accepted as the norm on air bnb, this coupled with a couple of extra quid means the cleaner will meet the client, hand over the keys and then at the end take the keys and clean up.

 

The flat occasionally gets used in the week by business or conference travelers.

[Lloyd90]

 

A lad in the offices makes as much on his flat renting out for the weekends only, as he would having a tenant in all month, in the holidays he can easily knock out a few months rent in the 6 weeks.

He says that they also pay a contribution to a cleaning cost and this is accepted as the norm on air bnb, this coupled with a couple of extra quid means the cleaner will meet the client, hand over the keys and then at the end take the keys and clean up.

 

The flat occasionally gets used in the week by business or conference travelers.

It's all good as long as you have a location that's in great demand

[Vince Green]

 

A lad in the offices makes as much on his flat renting out for the weekends only, as he would having a tenant in all month, in the holidays he can easily knock out a few months rent in the 6 weeks.

He says that they also pay a contribution to a cleaning cost and this is accepted as the norm on air bnb, this coupled with a couple of extra quid means the cleaner will meet the client, hand over the keys and then at the end take the keys and clean up.

 

The flat occasionally gets used in the week by business or conference travelers.

That's alright as long as he realises it probably invalidates his household insurance and is against the T&C of his mortgage and probably his lease as well.

 

Considering the number of fraudsters that use Air BnB as an accommodation address to set up bogus schemes, eg apply for loans etc he could well find his address appearing on credit blacklists or bailiffs turning up at his door. Its not without its risks.

[ph5172]

That's alright as long as he realises it probably invalidates his household insurance and is against the T&C of his mortgage and probably his lease as well.

 

Considering the number of fraudsters that use Air BnB as an accommodation address to set up bogus schemes, eg apply for loans etc he could well find his address appearing on credit blacklists or bailiffs turning up at his door. Its not without its risks.

 

I dont know the ins and outs to be fair

 

I do recall reading that a lady of the night had been using an Air B and B to ply her trade in an upmarket part of London, when she was rumbled she just moved again